TextEdit: Save As?

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TextEdit: Save As?

Apple used to have a "Save As" command in all of their applications. I never really found a good "explanation of why they changed it or how the new system works.

I have an app that really prefers to work with plain .txt files. Other formats cause formatting errors.

Apps saved on my Mac from other apps apparently have hidden formatting codes that can cause problems, even if they appear to be plain text. I'm looking for a way to open these files in, say, TextEdit and then "save as" plain text. How can I do this?

Posted on Jun 17, 2019 1:17 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,296 points

Jun 17, 2019 5:17 AM in response to Timothy Arends1

Open the questionable text file in TextEdit. If it is already plain text, there will be no TextEdit toolbar, just the text in a window. If there is a TextEdit toolbar, then press shift+command+T (⇧⌘-T) to make the document plain text, and then you can press the option key concurrent with File menu : Save As. The option key will toggle the Duplicate menu item to Save As… .

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Answer 2

Murvon

Level 2

196 points

Jun 17, 2019 1:20 AM in response to Timothy Arends1

Finish up your doc, then click the doc name at the top of the window. Select the format, location (or rename it), click anywhere outside, and just click the red Close button.

If you want to use .txt as the default format for TextEdit, go to TextEdit Preferences (Open the app and press Command + , ).

Hope this works.

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Answer 3

rcosta887

Level 4

3,604 points

Jun 17, 2019 1:42 AM in response to Timothy Arends1

If you change the TextEdit preferences to be "Plain text" it will switch from the default of rich text mode. It even changes the window menu bar of the document to reflect it's plain text-only now:

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TextEdit: Save As?

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