Exporting and Converting Files in TextEdit: Best Practices

TextEdit vs. Advanced Editors: When to Use the Built-In App

Simple notes and quick drafts: Fast to open, minimal UI.
Basic rich text formatting: Bold, italics, lists, fonts, and basic tables without installing software.
Plain-text files for light use: Small scripts, config snippets, or README files when you don’t need syntax highlighting.
Exporting/format conversion: Quickly open or save RTF, TXT, and export to PDF.
Low-friction sharing: Good for users who need a familiar, standard editor available on macOS without setup.

Code development: Need syntax highlighting, autocomplete, linting, debugging, or project-wide search (use VS Code, Sublime Text, Atom, etc.).
Large documents or complex formatting: Word processors (Pages, Word) or desktop publishing tools handle pagination, styles, citations better.
Version control and collaboration: Editors with Git integration and real-time collaboration are necessary for team projects.
Automation and extensibility: If you rely on plugins, macros, or language-specific tooling, advanced editors win.
Performance on big files: Some advanced editors are optimized for very large files and large-repo navigation.

Need coding features (highlighting, linting)? → Advanced editor.
Quick note or simple RTF/TXT/PDF export? → TextEdit.
Collaborative real-time editing or Git integration? → Advanced editor.
Prefer zero setup and native macOS app? → TextEdit.
Working with long, formatted documents (styles, TOC)? → Word processor or advanced editor.

Switch between Rich Text and Plain Text via Format > Make Plain Text / Make Rich Text.
Use Save As or Export to create PDFs quickly.
For quick code viewing, enable plain text and use a monospaced font (Format > Font > Show Fonts).
If you outgrow TextEdit, migrate files easily—TextEdit uses plain formats compatible with other apps.

If you want, I can make a short comparison table with specific feature rows (syntax highlighting, Git, plugins, export types, collaboration).