Convert a Legal Transcript From Word to ASCII Text (.txt)

This article is for legal transcripts (court transcripts from a Rev legal transcription account). Many court reporting and transcript management programs need a legal transcript as an ASCII text (.txt) file that keeps its page and line layout. If you have a legal transcript in Word (.docx) and need ASCII instead, check below whether Rev can provide the ASCII file before you convert it yourself.

For standard (non-legal) transcripts, choose the file type when you download. See Download Your Files.

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Get an ASCII File From Rev

Instant Rough Draft or Human Rough Draft: You don’t need to convert the file. Download the transcript again from My Files and choose ASCII text (.txt) as the file type. See Download an Instant Rough Draft or Human Rough Draft.

Ready to Certify or Ready to Certify Premium: These transcripts are delivered in one format, Word or ASCII, based on your account’s preferred format. To get an ASCII version of a delivered transcript, or to have future Ready to Certify transcripts delivered as ASCII, email legalsupport@rev.com with your order number.

If you’d rather convert the Word file yourself, follow the steps below.

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Before You Convert

  • Windows only: These steps use Microsoft Word for Windows and the Generic / Text Only printer that comes with Windows. Word for Mac doesn’t have this printer, so on a Mac, use one of the options in Get an ASCII File From Rev.
  • Don’t use Save As > Plain Text: Saving from Word as Plain Text drops the page breaks, page numbers and line numbers. Printing to the Generic / Text Only printer keeps the page and line layout.

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Install the Generic / Text Only Printer

To check whether it’s already installed, open Word, go to File > Print and open the Printer drop-down. If Generic / Text Only is listed, skip to Convert Your Legal Transcript to .txt. If it isn’t, install it once:

Printer drop-down on Word’s Print screen, with Generic / Text Only selected and listed along with Fax, Microsoft Print to PDF and OneNote.
  1. In Windows, open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners.
  2. Next to Add a printer or scanner, click Add device. Wait a moment, then click Add manually (shown as “The printer that I want isn’t listed” in some versions).
  3. Select Add a local printer or network printer with manual settings, then click Next.
  4. Select Use an existing port, choose FILE: (Print to File), then click Next.
  5. Under Manufacturer, select Generic. Under Printers, select Generic / Text Only. Click Next.
  6. Keep Use the driver that is currently installed (recommended) selected and click Next.
  7. Keep the printer name Generic / Text Only and click Next.
  8. Select Do not share this printer, click Next, then click Finish. You don’t need to set it as your default printer or print a test page.

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Convert Your Legal Transcript to .txt

  1. Open your legal transcript in Word for Windows.
  2. Go to File > Print.
  3. In the Printer drop-down, select Generic / Text Only. Then open the drop-down again and select Print to File at the bottom of the list so it’s checked.
  4. Click Print. A save window opens.
  5. Under Save as type, select All Files (*.*).
  6. In File name, type a name that ends in .txt. For example, change 20241030 Hearing.docx to 20241030 Hearing.txt.
  7. Click OK. Word shows the progress in the status bar at the bottom of the window, and the .txt file is saved when it finishes.
Word’s Print screen with Generic / Text Only selected in the Printer drop-down, Print to File checked at the bottom of the list (step 1), and the Print button highlighted (step 2).
Save window from Print to File with All Files (*.*) selected in the Save as type list.
Save window with a file name ending in .txt, Save as type set to All Files (*.*), and the OK button.

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Check the Converted File

Open the .txt file in Notepad and check that the page breaks, page numbers and line numbers look right. Printing to text isn’t always perfect, so you may need to fix a few lines before you import the file into your transcript software.

If the file doesn’t look right, or you’d rather have Rev provide the ASCII file, email legalsupport@rev.com with your order number.

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