Textile to Ms Converter
Processing entirely on your device — large files may take a moment.
Textile is a lightweight markup language from 2002 that powered Redmine, Textpattern and a decade of forums: h1. headings, *bold*, _italic_ and bq. quotes — readable as plain text, renderable to HTML. Produce ms source when a document must run through classic troff/groff typesetting.
Because the whole conversion happens on your device, it is instant, unlimited and genuinely private — no accounts, no watermarks, no files on anyone's server. Multiple files are converted in one go.
How Textile compares to Ms
| Textile | Ms | |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | Plain-text markup (h1., *b*, bq.) | roff ms macros (.TL/.NH/.DS) |
| Types / schema | UTF-8 text, no binary payload | Plain text, troff grammar |
| Compatibility | Redmine, Textpattern, Pandoc | groff -ms, heirloom-doctools |
| Best for | Legacy wiki and CMS migration | Papers and memos via troff |
How to convert Textile to Ms
- 1
Select your files
Select your Textile file.
- 2
Convert instantly
The file is first converted to markdown (an interchange format that keeps headings, lists and paragraphs), then rebuilt into the target format.
- 3
Download results
Download the Ms — structure preserved, heavy layout simplified.
About the Textile format
Textile, written by Dean Allen in 2002, is the lightweight markup that taught the web that plain text could become HTML. Its grammar is compact and humane: "h1." makes a heading, "*bold*" and "_italic_" style inline, "bq." quotes, "* " builds lists, and "!image.png!" embeds pictures. Textpattern and Redmine standardized it, and thousands of forum posts and issue trackers were written in it through the 2000s.
Reading Textile back into an editable format is the real migration problem: the content is fine, the syntax is just no longer what new tools accept. Pandoc parses the full grammar — tables, footnotes, definition lists — and re-emit it as Markdown, Word, HTML or anything modern. Structure survives; only the plumbing changes.
+Strengths
- ✓Human-readable plain text — diffs and version control work naturally
- ✓Full-featured: tables, footnotes, definition lists, code blocks
- ✓Still the native format of Redmine and Textpattern installs
!Limitations
- −Effectively frozen since the 2000s — few new tools accept it
- −Smaller ecosystem than Markdown for converters and editors
- −Flavors differ slightly between Textpattern and Redmine
About the Ms format
The ms macros are the other great roff package: Bell Labs' general-purpose typesetting layer that produced papers, memos and books on Unix since the 1970s. Where man pages have one narrow shape, ms gives you .TL titles, .NH numbered headings, .DS display blocks — a full letterpress-grade document system in a few dozen macros.
ms remains the shortest path from plain text to a classically typeset PDF via groff. Generating ms from Markdown sources with Pandoc lets modern writing flow into that pipeline: the content is authored today, the typography comes from fifty years of Unix tradition.
+Strengths
- ✓Classic, reproducible print typography
- ✓Tiny macro set, no GUI needed
- ✓groff ships everywhere
!Limitations
- −Niche outside academic/Unix circles
- −No rich media
- −Learning curve comparable to LaTeX
Why convert Textile to Ms?
There is a concrete reason this conversion exists: Effectively frozen since the 2000s — few new tools accept it Ms sidesteps that — Classic, reproducible print typography If that is your situation, the tool above settles it in seconds, entirely on your device.
Frequently asked questions
Is this Textile to Ms converter really free?
Yes — completely free, with no sign-up, no watermark and no daily conversion limits. The site is supported by advertising.
Are my files uploaded to a server?
No. The conversion runs entirely inside your browser using WebAssembly, so your files never leave your device — that is what makes it instant and private.
Does it work on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android?
Yes. Anything with a modern browser works: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS. No software installation is required.
Is there a file size limit for Textile to Ms?
The only limit is your device's memory, since nothing is uploaded. Files up to a few hundred megabytes work fine on a modern desktop browser; very large files simply take a little longer.
Can I edit the Ms result afterwards?
That depends on the target: Ms is designed for what it does, and this converter reproduces its content faithfully rather than inventing editable structure. For heavy re-editing, work from a format built for editing and export the final version here.
Does the conversion work offline?
Yes. Once the page has loaded, the conversion itself runs entirely inside your browser — you can even disconnect and keep converting. No file ever touches a server.