Change the Font

A font is a collection of characters that all have the same basic design. Fonts are used to print text to various output devices and to display text on screen. When you begin a new Word document, you are using the default theme’s body font.

You can change the font by clicking the down-arrow next to the Font box. All of the available fonts appear in a gallery, which is divided into the following groups: Theme Fonts, Recently Used Fonts, and All Fonts.

Every document is associated with a theme. Every theme has a font set consisting of a headings and body font associated with it. The Theme Fonts section lists the headings and body fonts used by your document's theme. If your goal is to change the default fonts used by your document, change the font set used by the theme.

Recently Used Fonts are just what the name implies: a list of all the fonts you have used recently. All Fonts displays a list of all the fonts on your computer and available to you. As you move your mouse pointer over the fonts, Word displays any text you have selected in that font. This is called live preview. To select a font, click the name of the font you want.

Change the Font

1. Select the text that has the font you want to change. Word highlights your selection.
2. Choose the Home tab.
3. Click the down-arrow next to the Font box in the Font group. A gallery of fonts appears.
4. Move the mouse pointer over the list of fonts. Word provides a live preview.
5. Click the font name for the font you want. Word applies the font to the selected text.
6. Click in the text area. The highlighting disappears.

How do I change a theme's font?

When using Word, unless you made changes, you are using the default theme's font. Theme fonts consist of two fonts: one for headings and one for body text. When you use styles to format your document, styles Heading 1 through Heading 9 use the headings font by default. Most other styles use the body font by default. To change the theme's font: 1) Choose the Design tab. 2) Click Fonts in the Document Formatting group and then click to choose the font set you want from the gallery that appears. Alternatively, you can click Customize Fonts to create your own font set.

If you choose to create your own font set: 1) Click the down-arrow next to the Heading font field and then select a heading font. 2) Click the down-arrow next to the Body Font field and then select a body font. 3) In the Name field, type the name you want to give your font set. 4) Click Save. Word creates your font set. To learn more about theme fonts, see Lesson 4.