How to Make Plain Text the Default Format in TextEdit on Mac

Apple’s native TextEdit application has been an essential part of macOS for decades. While TextEdit is lightweight and versatile, its default out-of-the-box configuration creates new files in Rich Text Format (.rtf). For users who frequently edit source code, configuration files, shell scripts, Markdown notes, or plain web text, saving in rich text introduces unwanted font metadata, embedded styling, and proprietary file wrappers.

Fortunately, you can configure TextEdit to open every new document in plain text format (.txt) automatically. Making plain text the default setting ensures that your files remain lightweight, clean, and free from hidden formatting artifacts. This guide demonstrates how to change TextEdit’s default preferences, adjust text encoding, and disable auto-correct features that interfere with technical writing.

Why Set Plain Text as the Default Format in TextEdit?

TextEdit defaults to rich text to accommodate casual word processing with bolding, fonts, tables, and colours. However, for technical tasks, rich text poses several disadvantages:

• Hidden Markup: RTF documents bundle extensive layout code, rendering files incompatible with terminals, compilers, and standard command-line utilities like cat, grep, or sed.
• Smart Quotation Marks and Dashes: Rich text mode automatically replaces straight quotation marks (" and ') with directional curly quotes and double hyphens with em dashes, which break scripts, SQL queries, and configuration files (such as .yaml, .json, or .env).
• File Extension Inconvenience: In rich text mode, saving a file requires manual format switching to prevent macOS from appending .rtf instead of .txt or code extensions.

How to Make Plain Text the Default Format via TextEdit Settings

Adjusting the default format takes only a few seconds through TextEdit’s preferences menu:

1. Launch TextEdit on your Mac via Spotlight (Cmd + Space) or from your Applications folder.
2. Click TextEdit in the upper-left menu bar and select Settings (or Preferences on macOS Monterey and earlier). You can also press Cmd + ,.
3. In the settings window, make sure you are on the New Document tab.
4. Under the Format section at the top, select the radio button next to Plain text (instead of Rich text).
5. Close the Settings window.

From this point onward, every time you press Cmd + N or launch TextEdit, a clean, unformatted plain text editor window will open ready for typing.

How to Convert an Existing Open Document Between Rich Text and Plain Text

If you have an existing document already open in Rich Text mode, changing your default settings will not alter the currently active window. You can instantly toggle the active document’s format using a keyboard shortcut:

1. With the document open in TextEdit, press Shift + Cmd + T.
2. Alternatively, click Format in the top menu bar and select Make Plain Text.
3. TextEdit will display a prompt asking: “Convert this document to plain text? This will remove all formatting, including styles and attachments.”
4. Click OK to confirm.

The ruler and formatting bar will disappear immediately, converting your text into raw plain text. If you ever need to restore rich text capabilities to that specific file, press Shift + Cmd + T again (or choose Format > Make Rich Text).

Essential Settings for Plain Text Editing in TextEdit

To ensure smooth coding and script editing, you should also adjust a few supplementary settings in the TextEdit configuration dialogue:

1. Set Plain Text Font and Window Size

Under the New Document tab in TextEdit Settings:

• Under Font, click Change next to Plain text font. A monospaced typeface such as SF Mono, Menlo, or Courier New is recommended for clean column alignment and code clarity.
• Under Window size, you can define your preferred default window width and height in characters and lines (e.g. 80 columns by 30 lines).

2. Disable Smart Quotes, Smart Dashes, and Auto-Correction

Automatic character substitutions can silently corrupt scripts and code snippets:

1. In TextEdit Settings, stay on the New Document tab.
2. Under the Options section, uncheck the following checkboxes:
   • Smart quotes
   • Smart dashes
   • Correct spelling automatically
   • Check spelling as you type

3. Verify File Encoding in the Open and Save Tab

To avoid character corruption across different operating systems:

1. In TextEdit Settings, click the Open and Save tab.
2. Locate the Plain Text File Encoding section.
3. Ensure both Opening files and Saving files are set to Unicode (UTF-8). UTF-8 is the global standard across macOS, Linux, and modern Windows environments.
4. Optionally, ensure “Add .txt extension to plain text files” is checked so files automatically receive appropriate extensions.

How to Set Plain Text as Default via macOS Terminal

For system administrators configuring multiple Macs or developers who prefer dotfile automation, TextEdit’s default format can be configured directly from the macOS Terminal using the defaults command:

# Set default document format to Plain Text (1 = Plain Text, 0 = Rich Text)
defaults write com.apple.TextEdit RichText -int 0

# Set default opening and saving encoding to UTF-8
defaults write com.apple.TextEdit PlainTextEncoding -int 4
defaults write com.apple.TextEdit PlainTextEncodingForWrite -int 4

After executing these commands, restart TextEdit to apply the changes immediately.

Configuring TextEdit for plain text streamlines your workflow, prevents subtle formatting bugs in development environments, and provides a dependable, distraction-free scratchpad across macOS.