RD File

What are RD files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a RD file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your RD files.

What is a RD file?

RD files have multiple uses, and Captivate Recording is one of them. Read more about the other uses further down the page.

Captivate Recording

These files are recordings from Macromedia's Captivate software application. Captivate allows users to record activity conducted within a specific application.

The software allows users to add text, animations, and audio to the activity recordings that are often used to create software training demonstrations, allowing users to watch step-by-step instructions showing how a software application works.

The RD files used by the Captivate program contain the finished Captivate files distributed to the end-user.

How to open RD files

We have identified one RD opener that is compatible with this specific type of RD file.

Programs that open Captivate Recording files

Last updated: August 10, 2026

All known file formats using extension .RD

While Captivate Recording is a popular type of RD-file, we know of 3 different uses of the .RD file extension. Different software may use files with the same extension for different types of data.

R Documentation

R Documentation files (.RD) are plain-text help files used by the R programming environment to document functions, datasets, classes, generics, and packages. They store information for the help system such as what a function is called, what its arguments are, what it returns, examples of use, cross-references, and overall description. These files are created by the author of the R package, either by hand writing .Rd files in the package's man (manual) directory or by generating them from specially formatted comments in source code using tools like roxygen2. During package building and installation, R processes .Rd files into HTML, plain text, and PDF help pages that users access via ?function or help("topic").

An .Rd file begins with sections such as \name{}, \title{}, \description{}, then more sections like \usage{}, \arguments{}, \value{}, and optionally \examples{}. The \encoding{} section may appear if text encoding is non-ASCII, and author/contributor information is included through sections like \author{} and \seealso{}. The content uses a markup syntax similar to LaTeX, including macros for linking, mathematical notation, and formatting. A parser in R checks syntax, enforces guidelines (for example no periods ending section titles) and supports conversion to formats suitable for display.

Technical identifiers: .Rd files are text files; signature patterns include the ASCII string \name{ at the very start, or the presence of \TITLE{ or \NAME{ somewhere in the content.

RD opener for Windows

We have identified one RD opener that is compatible with this specific type of RD file.

Reaction Data File

We know that one RD format is Reaction Data File. We have not yet analyzed in detail what these files contain and what they are used for. We're working on it.

While we have not verified the apps ourselves yet, our users have suggested ten different RD openers which you will find listed below.

Various apps that use files with this extension

These apps are known to open certain types of RD files. Remember, different programs may use RD files for different purposes, so you may need to try out a few of them to be able to open your specific file.

Help us help others

File.org helps thousands of users every day, and we would love to hear from you if you have additional information about RD file formats, example files, or compatible programs. Please use the links below or email us at submit@file.org to discuss further.