Desktop/Window Metrics seems to be ignored on Win11 23H2

Question

Desktop/Window Metrics seems to be ignored on Win11 23H2

Ladurner, Berthold 20

Hi Kirito.H,

I have a similar problem to the one posted in https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/3985486/desktop-window-metrics-seems-to-be-ignored-on-win1?forum=windows-all&referrer=answers&source=docs

Unfortunately the thread was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community, no nobody can answer my question there. So I post it again:

After changing the system fonts in the registry to "Courier New" and rebooting nothing happens:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics] "BorderWidth"="-15" "CaptionFont"=hex:f4,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,\ 00,00,00,01,00,00,05,00,43,00,6f,00,75,00,72,00,69,00,65,00,72,00,20,00,4e,\ 00,65,00,77,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "CaptionHeight"="-330" "CaptionWidth"="-330" "IconFont"=hex:f4,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,00,\ 00,00,01,00,00,05,00,43,00,6f,00,75,00,72,00,69,00,65,00,72,00,20,00,4e,00,\ 65,00,77,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "IconTitleWrap"="1" "MenuFont"=hex:f4,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,00,\ 00,00,01,00,00,05,00,43,00,6f,00,75,00,72,00,69,00,65,00,72,00,20,00,4e,00,\ 65,00,77,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "MenuHeight"="-285" "MenuWidth"="-285" "MessageFont"=hex:f4,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,\ 00,00,00,01,00,00,05,00,43,00,6f,00,75,00,72,00,69,00,65,00,72,00,20,00,4e,\ 00,65,00,77,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "ScrollHeight"="-255" "ScrollWidth"="-255" "Shell Icon Size"="32" "SmCaptionFont"=hex:f4,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,\ 00,00,00,00,01,00,00,05,00,43,00,6f,00,75,00,72,00,69,00,65,00,72,00,20,00,\ 4e,00,65,00,77,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "SmCaptionHeight"="-330" "SmCaptionWidth"="-330" "StatusFont"=hex:f4,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,01,00,00,\ 00,00,00,01,00,00,05,00,43,00,6f,00,75,00,72,00,69,00,65,00,72,00,20,00,4e,\ 00,65,00,77,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "PaddedBorderWidth"="-60" "AppliedDPI"=dword:00000060 "IconSpacing"="-1716" "IconVerticalSpacing"="-1128" "MinAnimate"="1"

And as well in the substitutes I substituted Segoe UI with Courier New (last line).

What can I do to get Courier New (or any other font I choose) as system font after the restart?

Best regards

Berthold L.

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Answer 1

Hello Berthold,.

Starting with Windows 10 and continuing in Windows 11, Microsoft has deprecated support for customizing system fonts through the WindowMetrics registry keys. Even though the registry values may save correctly, the system no longer applies them due to changes in how font rendering is handled in modern UI components.

To achieve a system-wide font change, you may consider using third-party tools like WinAero Tweaker, which offer safer interfaces for font substitution. However, please note that these tools are not officially supported by Microsoft and may not work consistently across updates.

If my answer is useful for you, please vote for it.

Best regards,

Domic Vo.