Open TXT files in your browser
The simplest file there is: just characters, which any app on any device can read. Open one of any size right here, with line numbers and search. Nothing leaves your device.
Or drop it anywhere on this page
What you'll see
Your text opens with line numbers, its long lines wrapped to fit your screen.
- Line numbers • Files of any size
- Wrap long lines, or scroll them sideways
- Search • Every match counted and marked
- Encoding • UTF-8, UTF-16 and older code pages
About TXT
A plain text file holds characters and nothing else: no fonts, no colors, no layout. It goes back to the first computers, and every system, editor and app still reads and writes it. Notes, READMEs, lists, transcripts and settings files like INI and CFG are all plain text.
The characters are stored in an encoding. Most files use UTF-8, which covers every language, while older ones use UTF-16 or a code page such as Windows-1252, Shift JIS or the DOS code page of NFO art. Lines end with LF on macOS and Linux, and with CRLF on Windows.
Filepeek tells the encoding and the line breaks from the first bytes of the file, and lets you pick another encoding when the text looks wrong. It reads the file in pieces as you scroll, so a text of several gigabytes opens at once, and counts its lines in the background.
Plain text
.txt • .text • .nfo • .ini • .cfg • .conf • .inf • .reg • .properties • .env
Format
- MIME type
- text/plain
- Made by
- ANSI, then the Unicode Consortium
- Released
- 1963
Inside the file
- Encoding
- UTF-8, UTF-16 or a code page
- Line breaks
- LF, CRLF or CR
- Formatting
- None
- Size
- Anything up to many gigabytes
Opens in every browser
Every browser shows a text file you open in a tab, as one long page that stalls on big files. Filepeek adds line numbers, search and the encoding, and opens texts of any size.
- YouChromeShows it as one long page
- YouEdgeShows it as one long page
- YouFirefoxShows it as one long page
- YouSafariShows it as one long page
Questions
How do I open a TXT file?
Drop it on this page or choose Peek a TXT. It opens at once with line numbers and its long lines wrapped to fit your screen, with nothing to install.
Can it open huge text files?
Yes. Filepeek only reads the part of the file on your screen, so a text of several gigabytes opens at once. Its lines are counted in the background, and you can drag the scrollbar to anywhere in it.
How do I search the text?
Choose Search, or press Ctrl F, or ⌘ F on a Mac, and type. Every match is counted and marked on the scrollbar, and Enter goes to the next one.
Why do I see strange characters?
The file was likely saved in another encoding. Pick the right one next to the file's details, such as Windows-1252 or Shift JIS, and the text is read again.
Is my file uploaded?
No. The text opens inside your browser and never leaves your device.