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What’s Calibri? - Microsoft's Old Default Font

April 8, 2024 1.2K views

Calibri is a font familiar to many, and even if you haven’t heard of it, chances are you've encountered it at least once in your lifetime. It's often the default font for text, making it widely recognized. Calibri font’s popularity extends beyond Microsoft Office; many other office suites rely on it for its simplicity and versatility. In this article, we explore the reasons on what makes this font unique and why it has remained the default choice for so long.

What’s Calibri? - Microsoft's Old Default Font


What’s Calibri Font?

Calibri is a modern sans-serif font widely used in Microsoft Office. It replaced Times New Roman in Word and Arial in PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, and WordPad when it was introduced in 2007. Designed by Luc(as) de Groot, Calibri has a rounded design, giving it a warm and soft feel.

In January 2024, Microsoft replaced Calibri with a new default font called Aptos after 17 years of Calibri's use.

Calibri is part of the ClearType Font Collection, a suite of fonts designed to work effectively with Microsoft's ClearType text rendering system, which enhances text clarity on LCD monitors. The other fonts in this collection include Cambria, Candara, Consolas, Constantia, and Corbel.

Types of Calibri Font in Microsoft Office:

  • Calibri Regular

  • Calibri Bold

  • Calibri Italic

  • Calibri Bold Italic

What Are the Characteristics of Calibri Font?

  • Subtly rounded stems and corners, visible at larger sizes.

  • Sloped form with true italic style, influenced by handwriting.

  • Characters from Latin, Latin extended, Greek, Cyrillic, and Hebrew scripts.

  • Utilizes sophisticated OpenType formatting, including ligatures, various figures, and alternate characters.

  • Some unsupported features in Office, such as true small caps and superscript/subscript glyphs.

  • Visible homoglyph, making lowercase letter "l" and uppercase letter "I" effectively indistinguishable.

  • Design similarities to TheSans family, with straight ends instead of rounding.

  • Potential addition of Bulgarian alphabet variant letterforms in the future, as mentioned by the designer.

Why Aptos Replaces Calibri as Microsoft Office's New Default Font?

  • Fresh Look: Microsoft aimed for a new default font to modernize its software.

  • Improved Readability: Aptos offers enhanced legibility, especially on high-resolution screens.

  • User Engagement: Users reacted strongly on social media, sparking discussions about fonts.

  • Brand Refresh: The change reflects Microsoft's desire to stay current and innovative.

  • Global Appeal: Aptos was chosen for its universal appeal and versatility across languages and cultures.

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How to Change the Default Font in Microsoft Office?

Aptos has now become the default font on Microsoft Office apps, but this doesn't mean you have to stick with it. Users can change the default font setting in each of the Office app settings individually. Let's take a look at how we can change the default font in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

Microsoft Outlook:

Step 1: The default font for composing emails in Microsoft Outlook is Aptos.

Microsoft Outlook Aptos as default font



Step 2: To modify this, navigate to the "File" menu located in the top-left corner of Outlook.

Microsoft Outlook File menu



Step 3: Next, access "Options" from the left-side panel on Microsoft Outlook.

Microsoft Outlook Options



Step 4: Next, in the Options dialog box, select the "Mail" tab, and then click on "Stationery and Fonts".

Microsoft Outlook Stationery and Fonts



Step 5: You can now adjust the default font for "New Mail messages" and "Replying or Forwarding messages" individually by selecting "Font”.

Microsoft Outlook New Mail font options



Step 6: In the Font dialog box, navigate to the "Font" tab and pick a new default font for emailing in the “Font” field..

Step 7: Once you've made your selection, click "OK" to exit the Font dialog box.

Microsoft Outlook select new default font



Step 8: Finally, exit all remaining screens by clicking "OK" to return to Microsoft Outlook, where you'll observe the changed default font.

Microsoft Outlook


Microsoft Word:

Step 1: Let's create a new blank document on Microsoft Word, or if you look, Aptos is our default font.

Microsoft Word Aptos font set as default



Step 2: To change the font setting, click on the small downward arrow at the bottom right of the font section.

Microsoft Word go to font settings



Step 3: This will open the "Font" dialog box, head over to the “Fonts” tab where you can select any new font of your choice in the "Font" field. Let's say we want to go back to the old Calibri font.

Microsoft Word font dialog box



Step 4: Then click on the "Set As Default" button at the bottom left of the dialog box.

Microsoft Word set a different font as default



Step 5: You will be asked if you want the changed settings to apply to all future documents or just to this document. Select "All documents based on the Normal Template" and then click on "OK".

Microsoft Word save changes for all document



Step 6: You will now return to your Microsoft Word interface, or you can see that the font is now set to the selected default font.

Microsoft Word new font set as default


Microsoft Excel:

Step 1: Start by making a new workbook in Excel. Currently, the default font is Aptos Narrow.

Microsoft Excel Aptos set a default font



Step 2: To change the default Font settings on Excel, click on the "File" menu at the top left.

Microsoft Excel File menu



Step 3: Then, click "More" on the left side panel, and then choose "Options".

Microsoft Excel Options



Step 4: In the Options menu, go to the "Display" tab and find "When creating new workbooks".

Step 5: Simply pick your preferred font in the "Use this font as the default font" box, then click "OK".

Microsoft Excel set new font as default



Note: You can also adjust the default font size.
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Step 6: Excel will ask you to restart to apply the changes, click on “OK” to proceed.

Restart Microsoft Excel



Step 7: Close and reopen Excel to see your new default font.

Microsoft Excel selected font set as default


Microsoft PowerPoint:

Step 1: Begin by launching PowerPoint and initiating a new empty presentation. Currently, the default font displayed in the font section is Aptos Display.

Microsoft PowerPoint Aptos font as default



Step 2: To alter the default font, navigate to the "View" tab and select "Slide Master".

Microsoft PowerPoint Slide Master



Step 3: Within the Slide Master view, locate the "Font" field on the ribbon and opt for a different font from the drop-down menu.

Microsoft PowerPoint Slide Master fonts



Step 4: Once done, exit Slide Master by clicking on "Close Master View".

Microsoft PowerPoint Close Master View



Step 5: Proceed to the "File" menu to save the template with the updated default font settings.

Microsoft PowerPoint File menu


 

Step 6: Select the "Save as" tab on the left side panel, or change the file type to *.POTX.

Microsoft PowerPoint  change file type to .POTX



Step 7: Click on "More options" to save the presentation as a template.

Microsoft PowerPoint more save as options


Step 8: Adjust the location to "C:\Users[Your Username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates" for saving the template.

Note: Substitute "Username" with your actual name in the location address.
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Step 9: Rename the file to "Blank" and then hit "Save" to finalize the change in default font settings.

Microsoft PowerPoint Save template


Step 10: Upon opening a new presentation, you'll notice that the default font has been updated.

Microsoft PowerPoint new default font

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However, with Microsoft Office officially changing its default font to Aptos, WPS has yet to follow suit. This is advantageous for users accustomed to working with WPS Office, as they can continue their workflow seamlessly without any additional costs. The download process is straightforward, allowing users to easily use WPS Office alongside Microsoft Office.

FAQs

Q1. Can Calibri be customized or modified in Microsoft Office?

Although users cannot directly modify the basic Calibri font itself, they have the flexibility to adjust its size, color, and formatting within Microsoft Office applications.

2. What's the process for changing the font in the Calibri body within Word?

To modify the font in the Calibri body of your Word document, navigate to Format > Font > Font. Alternatively, you can press and hold Ctrl + D to access the Font dialog box. From there, select the desired font and size you wish to apply.

3. Which font has replaced Calibri?

The font that has replaced Calibri is Aptos, introduced by Microsoft as the new default font across its Office suite.

Calibri Legacy Continues

While Calibri may no longer be the default font of Microsoft Office, its legacy remains strong as many people still prefer using it. Of course, you can manually change your text to Calibri in MS Word, but it's a hassle having to do it repeatedly every time you open your document. In this aspect, WPS offers convenience by having Calibri as the default font, allowing you to use it freely without any hassle. Download WPS Office now and experience its top notch ease.


15 years of office industry experience, tech lover and copywriter. Follow me for product reviews, comparisons, and recommendations for new apps and software.