How to Fix Font Kerning and Character Spacing in Office for Mac
Question details
Users are experiencing unusual character spacing and incorrect font kerning across Office for Mac applications, particularly after a recent macOS upgrade.
- Product
- Microsoft Office for Mac
- Device & OS
- macOS
- Scenario
- Reading or composing emails in Outlook, or editing documents in Word after updating macOS.
- Observed behavior
- The screen or specific document areas display incorrect font kerning, resulting in compressed or overly spaced characters that are difficult to read.
Ensure your macOS and Microsoft Office applications are updated to the latest available versions, as font rendering bugs are often patched in subsequent software releases.
Isolate the App and Submit Diagnostic Feedback
Determine if the spacing issue is isolated to a specific app like Outlook or affects the entire Office suite, then report it directly to Microsoft developers.
Font spacing issues are often tied to specific application builds (such as version 16.54) conflicting with macOS rendering engines. Identifying the scope of the problem helps expedite a fix.
Open Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook to see if the font kerning issue persists across the entire suite or is isolated to a single app.
If the issue is in Outlook, check emails from multiple different senders to ensure the abnormal spacing isn't caused by the sender's specific HTML or font formatting.
Open the affected Office application, click on 'Help' in the top Apple menu bar, and select 'Give Feedback' to submit a reproducible example and diagnostic data to Microsoft.
If the issue only happens in Outlook, visit the Microsoft Outlook Support Community and post your specific version details for dedicated assistance.
Update Microsoft Office and macOS
Font rendering issues are often tied to OS-level changes. Keeping both your operating system and Office suite updated can resolve these compatibility bugs.
Try WPS Office for Seamless Document Editing on Mac
If you are struggling with persistent font rendering and character spacing bugs in Microsoft Office for Mac, WPS Office offers a free, lightweight, and highly compatible alternative. It provides a familiar interface optimized for macOS without the recurring display glitches.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my font spacing look weird in Outlook for Mac?
This usually happens due to font rendering conflicts after a macOS upgrade or an unresolved bug in specific Office versions (like 16.54). It can also be caused by the sender using a custom font that is not installed on your Mac.
Will reinstalling Microsoft Office fix the font kerning issues?
Reinstalling the application often does not resolve core font rendering bugs if the issue stems from an incompatibility between the current Office version and the latest macOS update. Waiting for a patch or submitting feedback is usually more effective.
How do I fix character spacing manually in a specific Word document on Mac?
If the issue is isolated to a single document rather than a system bug, select the affected text, go to 'Format' > 'Font', click the 'Advanced' tab, and adjust the 'Spacing' setting back to 'Normal'.
