Convert Always

Decision guide

Best document format for sharing

A shared document must render identically for the recipient and open without a specific application. The engine weights fixed layout, universal support and metadata fidelity.

Short answer: DOCX ranks first (93/100) because Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS all open it without extra software.

The ranking, and the reasoning behind it

Scores are computed from structured facts in the knowledge graph, weighted for this specific question. Nothing here is written by hand, and every line of reasoning traces back to a recorded fact.

  • #1DOCX

    93/100

    DOCX is Microsoft Word's ZIP-packaged XML document format.

    Why it scores well

    • Operating system compatibility 100/100 — Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS all open it without extra software; most platforms handle it natively.
    • Printing suitability 100/100 — lossless data means no compression artefacts appear at print resolution; it is a page-description format built around fixed layout.
    • Open standards 100/100 — the specification is published openly.
    All DOCX facts

  • #2ODT

    93/100

    ODT is the ISO-standard open document format used by LibreOffice.

    Why it scores well

    • Operating system compatibility 100/100 — Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS all open it without extra software; most platforms handle it natively.
    • Printing suitability 100/100 — lossless data means no compression artefacts appear at print resolution; it is a page-description format built around fixed layout.
    • Open standards 100/100 — the specification is published openly.
    All ODT facts

  • #3PDF

    93/100

    PDF is the fixed-layout document format that renders identically everywhere.

    Why it scores well

    • Operating system compatibility 100/100 — Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS all open it without extra software; most platforms handle it natively.
    • Printing suitability 100/100 — lossless data means no compression artefacts appear at print resolution; it is a page-description format built around fixed layout.
    • Open standards 100/100 — the specification is published openly; an official specification document is publicly reachable.
    All PDF facts

  • #4Plain text

    93/100

    TXT is unformatted text, readable by every program ever written.

    Why it scores well

    • Operating system compatibility 100/100 — Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS all open it without extra software; most platforms handle it natively.
    • Printing suitability 100/100 — lossless data means no compression artefacts appear at print resolution; it is a page-description format built around fixed layout.
    • Open standards 100/100 — the specification is published openly.
    All Plain text facts

  • #5PPTX

    93/100

    PPTX is PowerPoint's ZIP-packaged XML presentation format.

    Why it scores well

    • Operating system compatibility 100/100 — Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS all open it without extra software; most platforms handle it natively.
    • Printing suitability 100/100 — lossless data means no compression artefacts appear at print resolution; it is a page-description format built around fixed layout.
    • Open standards 100/100 — the specification is published openly.
    All PPTX facts

  • #6RTF

    85/100

    RTF is a plain-text markup for formatted documents readable by nearly every word processor.

    Why it scores well

    • Operating system compatibility 100/100 — Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS all open it without extra software; most platforms handle it natively.
    • Printing suitability 100/100 — lossless data means no compression artefacts appear at print resolution; it is a page-description format built around fixed layout.
    • Open standards 100/100 — the specification is published openly.
    All RTF facts

  • #7HTML

    79/100

    HTML is the markup language of the web, structuring text, media and links.

    Why it scores well

    • Printing suitability 100/100 — lossless data means no compression artefacts appear at print resolution; it is a page-description format built around fixed layout.
    • Open standards 100/100 — the specification is published openly.
    All HTML facts

  • #8Markdown

    79/100

    Markdown is plain text with a light syntax that converts cleanly to HTML.

    Why it scores well

    • Printing suitability 100/100 — lossless data means no compression artefacts appear at print resolution; it is a page-description format built around fixed layout.
    • Open standards 100/100 — the specification is published openly.
    All Markdown facts

How this ranking is calculated

Each format is scored 0–100 on every dimension the graph can evaluate for it. For this question the dimensions carry these weights:

  • consumer usage ×3
  • os compatibility ×3
  • printing ×2
  • open standards ×2
  • metadata ×1

No machine learning is involved. The engine is deterministic: the same facts always produce the same ranking, and adding a new fact to the graph updates it automatically.