Change the default font in Word

If you need to have your documents appear with a different default font, and you don’t want to change the font every time you open a document, how do you do it?

Someone asked this question in a recent Tips and Tricks webcast. (Attend the Tips and Tricks for PowerPoint at 8 am or 11 am PST on October 21, 2009).

First, a little background. Word uses templates for each document. The default template is called the ‘normal’ template. Not sure why. (Someone needed some normal in their life that day?) You can change the normal template, or keep it and make an entirely new template to use for different documents. In the instructions below, I’ll assume that you are changing the normal template.

Now the how-to. Open a document in Word. You’ll see the current default font in the Font section. Click on the small arrow icon in the lower right hand corner. The official name is the Font Dialog Box launcher, but I prefer arrow thingie.

 

Next, select the font you want, and click on the Default button on the lower left side of the dialog box.

 

You’ll see a dialog box that asks if you really want to change the font. Click yes.

When you open a new document, the default font will be changed. I changed my default from Calibri 14 to Calibri 12. That's all there is to it. Easy smeasy.

 

Suzanne