How to open .TXT files on Linux

To open .TXT files on Linux, double-click the file to open with the default text editor like gedit or Kate.

Step-by-step instructions

  1. Double-click the file to open with the default text editor like gedit or Kate.
  2. Use terminal commands like 'nano filename.txt' or 'vim filename.txt' for quick edits.

Recommended software

  • Microsoft 365
  • LibreOffice
  • Google Docs (web)

Alternative methods

  • Open .TXT in a browser-based viewer if desktop apps fail.
  • Try opening .TXT on Linux with a secondary app to rule out app-specific issues.
  • Convert .TXT only with trusted tools when direct opening is not possible.

Common issues

Unreadable characters

The file may display garbled text due to an encoding mismatch.

  1. Try opening the file with different encodings like UTF-8 or ISO-8859-1.
  2. Consult the file's source to determine the correct encoding.

Line ending issues

Different operating systems use different line-ending characters, which can affect how text is displayed.

  1. Use a text editor that supports line-ending conversion, like Notepad++.
  2. Convert line endings to the appropriate format for your OS (e.g., CRLF for Windows, LF for Unix).

Security note

Be cautious of TXT files containing suspicious links or commands.

Back to .TXT extension page