FileHint
JAEN

.txt

Low risk

Plain text

The simplest possible text file, with no formatting. Works everywhere, and is the default for logs and quick notes.

MIME types

  • text/plain

Category

text

What opens this file

  • Notepad
  • TextEdit
  • VS Code
  • Sublime Text
  • vim / emacs

How to open by OS

Windows

  • Notepad is stock. Prefer VS Code for larger files.

Mac

  • TextEdit — watch out for the rich-text mode flip.

Linux

  • gedit, kate, nano, vim.

Ios

  • Files.app preview or a dedicated editor like Runestone.

Android

  • Files by Google or a dedicated text editor.

Safety notes

  • Plain text is inert, but pasting commands from an unknown .txt straight into a terminal can execute anything. Read before you run.

Common mistakes

  • Notepad saves with CRLF line endings, which breaks Unix shell scripts. Convert to LF in VS Code or PowerShell.
  • Encoding drift — BOM UTF-8, plain UTF-8, and Shift_JIS all appear in the wild. Agree on UTF-8 without BOM for sharing.

Related extensions

References