Plain text

In computing, plain text is the data (e.g. file contents) which represent only characters of readable material but not its graphical representation nor other objects (images, etc.). It may also include a limited number of characters that control simple arrangement of text, such as line breaks or tabulation characters. Plain text is different from formatted text, where style information is included, and from "binary files" in which some portions must be interpreted as binary objects (encoded integers, real numbers, images, etc.).