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How to set the default font for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

  • Applies to: Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2016, Excel for Microsoft 365, Excel 2016, PowerPoint for Microsoft 365, PowerPoint 2016

This article provides detailed steps for administrators to set the default font for Microsoft Office applications, such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint.

Set the default font for Word

Note

There are no direct Group Policy Objects (GPOs) to set the default font in Word.

Follow these steps:

  1. Back up the existing template:

    1. Navigate to the %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Templates folder, and locate the normal.dotm file.
    2. Rename the file to normal.dotm.bak.

  2. Open Word, and then close Word. This action creates a new, clean normal.dotm file in the %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Templates folder.

  3. Open Word again.

  4. Open the %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Templates\normal.dotm file.

  5. Configure the font and style settings that you want for the default font.

  6. Save and close the file.

  7. Close Word.

The revised normal.dotm file now contains your customizations. You can distribute this file to other users by copying it to the same path on their computers.

For more information, see Change the default settings for new documents.

Set the default font for Excel

  • Set a cloud policy (for Microsoft 365):

    1. Create a font policy at Policy Management.

    2. Apply the cloud policy to a security group that the target users are members of.

      Screenshot of the edit policy configuration in Policy Management.

  • Set a GPO (for Excel 2016):

    File name Policy setting name Scope Policy path Category Registry information Part Default setting Possible settings Supported on Help text
    excel16.admx Font User Microsoft Excel 2016\Excel Options\General General HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel\options\font Name, Size
    Arial, 10    		 [ ] At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7 Specifies the "Standard font" font name and size.

    Screenshot to set Font Group Policy Object in Excel 2016.

Set the default font for PowerPoint

To set default font for PowerPoint, set a default theme, and save it as a .potx file.

Note

Setting the default template requires the following items:

  • The correct file name: Default Theme.potx
  • The correct location: %Appdata%\Microsoft\Templates\Document Themes

To set the default theme, follow these steps:

  1. Start PowerPoint.

  2. Open an existing PowerPoint template that you configured by using the font and styles that you want to set as the default.

  3. Select File > Save As.

  4. Select PowerPoint Template (*.potx) in the file type list. This selection automatically changes the folder location to Custom Office Templates (a personal template folder).

    Note

    Don't save the file here because this enables you to view your template under Custom Office Templates.

  5. Select More options to open a file name dialog box, replace the whole file name with %Appdata%\Microsoft\Templates\, and then press Enter.

  6. In the Templates folder, open the Document Themes folder. If you see a Default Theme.potx file in the folder, you can also make a backup of the file. To make a backup, select the file, press Ctrl+C, and then press Ctrl+V.

  7. Manually name the file "Default Theme", and then save it. If a Default Theme.potx file exists, you can also select the Default Theme.potx file, and then select Save to overwrite it.

  8. Close PowerPoint, and then select File > New. The default template is now displayed as an option.

    Screenshot shows the Default Theme that's displayed as an option.

For more information, see Change the default font in PowerPoint.