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How to open .RL files on Windows

To open .RL files on Windows, right-click the .RL file → Open with → choose a text/XML editor (e.g., Notepad) to see if it is XML (look for “<?xml” or “<resource-lists”).

Step-by-step instructions

  1. Right-click the .RL file → Open with → choose a text/XML editor (e.g., Notepad) to see if it is XML (look for “<?xml” or “<resource-lists”).
  2. If it is an RFC 4826 resource list, keep using your editor/XML tool; if it appears to be app-specific data, open it with the program that created it (FileInfo lists R.viewer as a creator for one .RL variant).
  3. If Windows prompts for an app and you don’t know the source, do not rename the extension—inspect as text first to avoid opening it in the wrong program.

Common issues

The .RL file won’t open or you’re prompted to choose an app

This often happens because .RL can refer to different formats, or your system has no app associated with application/resource-lists+xml (RFC 4826).

  1. Open the .RL file in a plain-text editor first to determine whether it is XML (RFC 4826 Resource Lists).
  2. If it is XML, continue using an XML-capable editor/viewer; if it is not XML, identify the creating app (FileInfo notes an .RL variant created by R.viewer) and open it there.

The file opens as garbled text

If a .RL file is not an RFC 4826 XML Resource List, viewing it as text may show unreadable characters because it is a proprietary or binary format.

  1. Confirm whether the file begins with XML text (e.g., “<?xml”). If not, treat it as application-specific data.
  2. Ask the sender which program created the file and open it with that program (for one known variant, FileInfo lists R.viewer).

Linux desktop doesn’t recognize .RL / wrong file association

Desktop environments typically rely on shared MIME databases to map extensions to MIME types; the mapping may be missing or overridden.

  1. Verify the file is an RFC 4826 resource list (XML) before changing associations.
  2. Review or update your MIME associations using your desktop settings; shared-mime-info explains how MIME and filename globs (extensions) are defined and used.

Security note

RFC 4826 .RL files are XML; while they are typically just data, XML parsers can still be exposed to maliciously crafted input (e.g., extremely large or complex XML). Prefer opening unknown .RL files in a simple text viewer first.

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