microsoft presentation font size

How to Change Font Size in PowerPoint? [A Complete Guide!]

By: Author Shrot Katewa

Using the correct font size in your PowerPoint presentation is critical in making it legible! After all, you don’t want your audience squinting at the screen when you are presenting at an auditorium or even when reading it over an email. Thus, it is important to know how to change the font size in PowerPoint.

To change font size in PowerPoint, first, select the text. Then, click on the “Font Size Dropdown” option from the “Font” group on the “Home” tab in PowerPoint. Choose font size 16 or 18 for desktop presentations, and size 30 if your presentation will be seen on a big screen in an auditorium.

In this article, we shall understand how to change the font size in PowerPoint and what font size should you use. Plus, we will also learn how to change the font size of text across all slides within PowerPoint in one go. That, and much more!

So, let’s get started!

1. How to Change the Font Size in PowerPoint?

In Microsoft PowerPoint, you can add text to content placeholders on a slide or to an inserted text box. Once you select the text box or the placeholder, you can change the size of the text.

Besides, you can also change the font size of the slide layouts and the master slide that affects the entire presentation. You can do so by using the “Font” group in the “Home” tab in PowerPoint .

1a. Method 1 – Using the Font Size Dropdown

To change the font size, you have to first click on the text box in the slide. Then click on the “Font Size” box in the “Font” group of the “Home” menu.

You can click on your preferred font size from the dropdown list. You can also enter the font size directly in the “Font Size” box using your keyboard.

1b. Method 2 – Using the Increase or Decrease Font Size Buttons

You can also change the font size in PowerPoint slides by using the “Increase Font Size” and the “Decrease Font Size” buttons located at the right of the “Font Size” box.

“Increase Font Size”

The “Increase Font Size” icon looks like the letter A with an upward arrow. Clicking on the button will increase the font size by 2 points.

Alternatively, you can press the “Ctrl+Shift+>” keys on your keyboard. You can repeatedly click on the button until the text reaches the preferred font size.

“Decrease Font Size”

The “Decrease Font Size” icon looks like the letter A with a downward arrow. The font size of the selected text will decrease by 2 points when you click on the icon.

Alternatively, you can press the “Ctrl+Shift+<” keys on your keyboard. You can repeat the process until the text decreases to your preferred font size.

2. How to Change the Font Size on All Slides in PowerPoint?

Changing the font size on a single slide is what you most need. However, sometimes, you also need to change the size of fonts across the complete presentation. In such a scenario, changing the font size on each slide can become really monotonous and time-consuming.

In order to change the font size on all slides in PowerPoint, you will need to use the “Slide Master” in PowerPoint .

Here are the steps that you need to follow in order to change the fonts on all slides of your presentation.

Step-1: Click on the “Slide Master” option

The first step is to open the “Slide Master” view. To do so, click on the “View” tab in the ribbon menu located at the top of the screen.

Then click on the “Slide Master” option in the “Master Views” group of the “View” menu.

Step-2: Click on the master slide

In the “Slide Master” view, click on the master slide. It is the top slide in the slide layout pane located on the left side of the screen.

In the master slide, highlight a bullet level or the entire text to change its font size.

Step-3: Click on the “Font Size” box

Now you have to click on the “Home” tab in the menu ribbon. In the “Font” group of the “Home” menu, click on the “Font Size” box to type in your preferred font size.

You can also select a font size from the dropdown list.

Step-4: Click on the “Close Master View” option

Now all you have to do is click on the “Slide Master” tab in the menu ribbon of the “Slide Master” view.

Then click on the “Close Master View” button to automatically save the changed font size for all texts in the presentation and return to the normal view.

3. How to Change the Default Font Size in PowerPoint?

Microsoft PowerPoint allows you to change the default font size for a presentation. This will affect all the texts in the open presentation file.

3a. Change Default Font Size of All Text in PowerPoint

In PowerPoint, you can add text to either a text box or a placeholder. To change the default font size of all the texts, you have to change the default font size of the placeholder and the text box separately.

To change the default font size of all the placeholders in a presentation, you have to access the “Slide Master” view. Refer to section 2 for the detailed steps of the process.

To change the default font size of all textboxes in the presentation, refer to the steps mentioned in the subsequent section 4.

3b. Change Font Size of Selected Text in PowerPoint

To change the font size of a selected text in PowerPoint, you have to first click on the “Home” tab in the menu ribbon. Then click on the “Font Size” box to select the preferred font size from the dropdown menu, or type in the number inside the box.

You can alternatively press the “Ctrl+Shift+>” keys on your keyboard to increase the font size and the “Ctrl+Shift+<” keys to decrease the font size.

4. How to Change Default Font Size of Text Box in PowerPoint?

In Microsoft PowerPoint, the default font size is 18 points for all text boxes. To change this default font size of the text box, follow the 2 quick steps.

Step-1: Click on the “Font Size” box

The first step is to click on any text box in the presentation. Then click on the “Font Size” box in the “Font” group of the “Home” tab. You can now select a font size from the dropdown list or type in the preferred font size inside the “Font Size” box.

Consider making any other changes to the text or formatting the text as per your requirement before moving on to the next step.

Step-2: Click on the “Set as Default Text Box” option

Now all you have to do is “Right-click” on the text box with the changed font size. In the right-click menu, click on the “Set as Default Text Box” option.

Now all new textboxes will have the changed font size as default.

One thing to note here is that the font size of the text in any existing text boxes will not change in your presentation. However, the changes will be visible the next time you add a text box on your slides in PowerPoint.

5. How to Change Font Size Automatically in a Text Box?

Microsoft PowerPoint offers the “Shrink text on overflow” feature using the autofit text options that automatically decreases the size of the text with the size of the text box. However, there is no feature to automatically increase the font size with the text box.

To enable the “Shrink text on overflow” feature, follow the 3 easy steps mentioned below

Step-1: Click on the “Format Shape” option

The first step is to “Right Click” on the text box. Then click on the “Format Shape” option from the right-click menu. This will open the “Format Shape” options in PowerPoint on the right side of the screen.

Step-2: Click on the “Text Options” tab

In the “Format Shape” sidebar, click on the “Text Options” tab. Under the “Text Options” tab, click on the “Text Box” option which is the last icon and looks like the letter A in a paragraph.

Step-3: Click on the “Shrink text on overflow” option

Now all you have to do is click on the “Shrink text on overflow” option in the “Format Shape” sidebar to enable the feature.

5a. How to Prevent Font Size From Changing Automatically?

You can also stop the font size from changing automatically with the size of the text box. All you have to do is click on the “Do not Autofit” option in the “Format Shape” sidebar on the right side of the screen.

6. How to Change Font Size of Notes in PowerPoint?

The notes in Microsoft PowerPoint can be used as speaker notes, or even printed out for your audience. Using the “Notes Master” in PowerPoint , you can change the font size of the notes.

Here’s a quick overview of what you need to do –

Step-1: Click on the “Notes Master” option

The first step is to click on the “View” tab to open the “View Options in PowerPoint” . Then click on the “Notes Master” option in the “Master Views” group of the “View” menu.

Step-2: Click on the “Home” tab

In the “Notes Master” screen, you have to now select the entire text or a bullet level in the placeholder to change its font size. Then click on the “Home” tab in the menu ribbon located at the top of the screen.

In the “Font” group of the “Home” tab, click on the “Font Size” box. Then select a font size option from the dropdown menu or type a font size in the box (as shown in the image in step 2).

You can also click on the “Increase Font Size” button next to the “Font Size” box to increase the font size. Click on the “Decrease Font Size” button to decrease the font size of the notes.

Step-4: Click on the “Close Master View” button

The final step is to click on the “Notes Master” tab in the ribbon menu located at the top of the screen.

Then click on the “Close Master View” button which is the last option in the “Notes Master” tab to save the changed font size for the presentation notes.

7. How to Change Font Size of Footer in PowerPoint?

In Microsoft PowerPoint, the footer present at the bottom of all slides in a presentation is editable in the master slide.

You can change the font size or even edit the footer in PowerPoint using the “Slide Master” view. Here’s what you need to do –

In the menu ribbon located at the top of the screen, you have to first click on the “View” tab. Then click on the “Slide Master” option in the “Master Views” group of the “View” menu. This will open the “Slide Master” view.

Step-2: Click on the footer

In the “Slide Master” view, click on the master slide which is the top slide in the slide layout pane on the left side of the screen.

Now you have to highlight the text in the footer section located at the bottom of the master slide.

The next step is to click on the “Home” tab in the menu ribbon. In the “Font” group of the “Home” menu, click on the “Font Size” box.

You can now select a font size for the footer from the dropdown menu or type in your preferred number in the “Font Size” box (as shown in the image in step 2).

Finally, you have to click on the “Slide Master” tab in the menu ribbon of the “Slide Master” view. In the “Slide Master” tab, click on the “Close Master View” button to save changes to the font size of the footer and return to normal view.

8. Change Font Size of Data Label of a Chart in PowerPoint?

Sometimes, you also want to change the font size of data labels on a chart in PowerPoint. Well, you can do that too. You can change the font size of each label separately or for the entire chart at once. Here’s how –

8a. Change Font Size of a Single Label

To change the font size of a single label in a PowerPoint chart, click on the label to select it separately. Then click on the “Font Size” box in the “Font” group of the “Home” menu to enter your preferred font size.

You can alternatively click on the “Increase Font Size” icon or the “Decrease Font Size” icon next to the “Font Size” box repeatedly until the label reaches your preferred font size.

8b. Change Font Size of All Labels

To change the font size of all the labels in a chart at once, click on an empty space inside the chart. This will select the entire chart on a slide.

Now all you have to do is enter your preferred font size in the “Font Size” box in the “Font” group of the “Home” tab in the menu ribbon. You can also select a font size from the dropdown list under the “Font Size” box.

9. What is the Minimum Possible Font Size in PowerPoint?

In Microsoft PowerPoint, the lowest possible font size is 1 point. You can click on the “Font Size” box in the “Font” section of the “Home” menu, and enter any number between 1 to 3600. However, the least possible font size available in the dropdown list under the “Font Size” box is 8 points.

10. Can’t Change Font Size in PowerPoint? Here’s What to Do!

If you cannot change the font size of a text box in PowerPoint, it is likely that the text box is inserted into the master slide or the slide layout.

In the “Slide Master” view, any inserted object except the placeholders is not editable in the normal view.

To be able to change the font size, you have to open the specific slide layout in the slide master view, select the text box, and change the font size of the text.

Step-1: Click on the “View” tab

The first step is to click on the “View” tab in the menu ribbon located at the top of the screen. In the “View” menu, click on the “Slide Master” option.

Step-2: Click on the text box

In the slide layout pane of the “Slide Master” view, click on the slide layout containing the uneditable text box. Then highlight the text inside the text box.

The next step is to click on the “Home” tab in the menu ribbon of the “Slide Master” view. In the “Font” group of the “Home” menu, click on the “Font Size” box. Now all you have to do is type in your preferred font size for the text.

Finally, you can click on the “Slide Master” tab in the menu ribbon. In the “Slide Master” menu, click on the “Close Master View” option to save the changes to the font size of the text box.

Credit to pressahotkey (on Freepik) for the featured image of this article (further edited)

Change the fonts in a presentation

You can replace a font in a single place, or you can make a systematic font change throughout your presentation.

Change the font on a single slide

Do one of the following:

To change the font for a single paragraph or a phrase, select the text that you want to change.

To change the font for all the text in a placeholder, either select all the text in the placeholder, or click the placeholder.

On the Home tab, in the Font group, select a font in the Font list.

Change the fonts throughout your presentation

(This feature is not available for PowerPoint for the web.)

On the View tab, in the Master Views group, click Slide Master .

In the left pane that contains the slide masters and layouts, click the slide master thumbnail or layout that contains the font that you want to change.

On the slide master or layout, click the title text or the level of body text that you want to apply a new font style to.

On the Slide Master tab, in the Background group, click Fonts , and then select a font from the list.

Repeat steps 1 through 4 for any other fonts that you want to change.

When you’re finished, select the  Slide Master  tab, then choose  Close Master View  to return to Normal view.

You can also use the Replace Font option to change a font throughout your presentation. Here's how:

On the Home tab, in the Editing group, select Replace and then select Replace Fonts .

In the Replace Font dialog box, in the Replace field, select the font that you want to replace.

In the With field, select the font that you want to use, select Replace , and then select Close .

If you’re using one slide master , and you change a font on the slide master, the new font choice appears throughout your presentation.

If you’re using multiple slide masters (for example, when you apply more than one template to your presentation), you must change the font style on each slide master.

Use decorative fonts from third-party vendors

Find and replace text

Change the fonts in a footer on a slide

Change the font

After you choose a presentation theme on the Design tab, you can change the font for your presentation in Slide Master view.

On the View tab, click Slide Master .

On the Slide Master tab, select  Fonts , and then click the font that you want for the theme.

You can change the fonts for your presentation at any time in Slide Master view.

When you're done, on the Slide Master tab, select Close Master View to return to Normal view.

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Microsoft Office

10 minute read

How to Choose the Best Font for PowerPoint Presentations

Saikat Basu

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An image on a slide may speak a thousand words, but you do need text to explain the finer details. And that’s where choosing the best font for PowerPoint presentations becomes a critical exercise. In short, if you want to make a flawless PowerPoint presentation , you must pay attention to your fonts.

The interesting thing about fonts is that each has a personality. It’s like the three-piece suit that will be out of place at a barbeque but is perfect for an evening at the Savoy.

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Why is choosing the right fonts so critical?

Slides aren’t like the pages of a book. They are billboards on the highway. 

When you run through your slides, they will linger for just a few seconds. The words on the slides have to capture interest, send the right message, and support the visuals in those few seconds.

Fonts influence your audience by setting the tone and atmosphere of the presentation. The right choice of fonts or font pairings can make your text stand out by separating it from other elements around it. Typefaces are also brand symbols that help the audience relate to it through the presentation.

Before you get into the deep end, let’s learn the distinction between two major font types.

What are serif and sans serif fonts?

Times New Roman is the classic example of a serif font. The letters have tiny extensions that appear to connect them together in words as one letter leads to the next. 

Newspapers and magazines use serif fonts for body text as they are easier to read. Serif fonts have distinct line heights that make them more legible in dense copy.

They lose this clarity if you pack them together in the body. That’s why designers recommend sans serif fonts for titles, headings, and captions in your slides.

The critical font pair: title vs body text

All Microsoft PowerPoint presentations by default start with two fonts — one font for the headings and one for the body text. This font pairing decides the entire look of the presentation. The theme plays an important role in the font choices and even blank presentations give you a theme to build upon.

The first question you may have to answer is how big your fonts should be? The simple answer is that it depends. Factors like screen size and room size dictate the limits of font size. Font sizes can hinge upon you emailing the presentation or delivering it live on stage or on a PC screen in a remote meeting. 

Also, all fonts have an optimum size for legibility. Arial is clear at 12pts while Times New Roman is readable at 10pts. 

Most presentation experts recommend these size ranges. The thumb rule — a larger font size with less text on screen is always good.

The default slide in PowerPoint starts with 60pts for section headers and 24pts for body font.

• Header Font: Between 26 and 42 point
• Body Font: Between 18 and 24 point

You can use the same font for both, but that can limit the visual impact of your slide.

10 tips for choosing the best font for PowerPoint presentations

Never sacrifice readability for style. With that motto in mind, follow these Microsoft PowerPoint tips to choose the best fonts for your business presentation or any other.

1. Choose two fonts

Three fonts can be a crowd. Choose two fonts wisely and use size, contrast, and color to combine them for visual interest. Font pairing is a critical part of PowerPoint presentations and you will have to spend a lot of time on this decision. The second font shouldn’t be too unlike or too similar to the primary typeface where you miss the distinction.

Tip: There are many font pairing tools available on the web. But play the TypeConnection typography game if you want to get better at it yourself.

2. Choose standard fonts

You want your presentation to look the same on all devices. Choose from standard fonts and you won’t have to rescue your slides from turning into a mishmash on another screen. You can be more imaginative if you are presenting to children or at Comic Con, but standard fonts are the safest bet always.

Tip: Here’s a complete list of fonts available on Windows 10 .

3. Avoid script fonts and decorative text

Script fonts like Lucida Calligraphy or Gothic fonts like Century are always difficult to read. You can use them if the topic of the talk demands it.

4. Create visual interest with serif and sans serif fonts

As we emphasized earlier, serif and sans serif fonts have their own advantages and disadvantages. You can pair them and tap into their strengths.

5. Select color and create contrast

Go for font colors that are a part of your brand. Using color swatches and precise Hexadecimal or RGB values ensures colors stay consistent across slides. 

Also, you might have to check your slide for accessibility for all as someone in the audience can be color blind and may not be able to decipher red or green.

Tip: There are many color palette generators available on the web for free. Try Coolors .

6. Have contrasting text and background colors

Fonts must stand out against the background. The higher the contrast between the two, the better the readability across the room will be. Use the color wheel to pick the background and the font colors. Opposite colors on the color wheel clash with each other and have the maximum contrast. For instance, orange on blue.

Always use the same background on each slide. Text against white backgrounds is not legible in a larger room. For the best results, opt for dark slides with light-colored text.

Tip: Go through a gallery of well-designed PowerPoint templates or use PowerPoint Designer as a shortcut to grasp the interplay of contrast.

7. Less is more with caps and italics

Don’t capitalize all the letters in the body text as it is difficult to read. Selectively use caps for acronyms and for emphasis. Similarly, choose italics sparingly for quotes or highlighting the names of books, authors, and journal titles, etc. 

You can make a creative choice by using italic text sparingly for impact or you can also substitute them with subtle formatting to the standard fonts.

Tip: Caps and italics may be able to work with specific fonts, but you may need access to those fonts. You can use Picsart's text editor to play around with text that may suit your presentation better.

8. Limit the use of animated fonts

Animated fonts can be distracting. Avoid animating your text or use it only if it serves a functional purpose. Ask yourself if it adds clarity to your data or is just a cute effect.

9. Keep an eye on font tracking and kerning

Learn these two typography terms and you will have an easier time placing your words on the slide. Kerning adjusts the spacing between two adjacent letters in a font. Tracking adjusts the space between all letters together. Both influence the readability of text.

For instance, you can avoid using narrow or condensed typefaces. Instead, pick a thicker font and tweak it with tracking and kerning within PowerPoint. 

For more on changing the spaces between text, read this Microsoft support article .

Tip: Play the KernType typography game to get familiar with the basics of the two principles.

10. Make interesting shape effects

It doesn’t always have to be just about fonts and simple colors. The Shape Effects panel on PowerPoint gives you a lot of control over the finished appearance of text on the slide. 

For instance, you can adjust the transparency of the letters. You can also “texturize” the words by using pictures to fill the words instead of a solid fill color. 

• Select the word and right click. 
• From the context menu, click on Format Text Effects.
• The Format Shape panel is displayed on the right. 
• Select Text Options > Text Fill & Outline.
• Choose Picture or texture fill. 

You can now use an image or any texture to decorate your words. Picture or texture fills are a creative way to use standard fonts but still make them stand apart on your slides. Of course, never overdo it. 

Tip: Shape effects go well with thicker fonts.

15 of the most versatile fonts you can use in PowerPoint

These fonts (and a few more) are versatile because they are standard fonts and are available on both Windows and macOS. You don’t have to go after fancy typefaces just yet. Focus on your layout. Use the design pointers from the above list and give your slides an attractive makeover.

• Franklin Gothic
• Times New Roman
• Palatino       

Think of typography in PowerPoint as design

Practice with your eye. Play one font against the other for interesting unions. Typography isn’t just for selecting fonts and using them to occupy your slide with words. It is an essential design element in any place where visual communication matters. You can design your presentations faster once you work out how fonts work together and learn a bit about color theory. 

Want to learn more about how good design comes together? Start with some of the basic and advanced PowerPoint techniques .

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Saikat is a writer who hunts for the latest tricks in Microsoft Office and web apps. He doesn't want to get off the learning curve, so a camera and a harmonica claim an equal share of his free time.

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Presentation font size: Dos and don’ts

• Categories: PowerPoint design , Google Slides
• Comments: 1

It’s no secret that at BrightCarbon we generally recommend keeping text on slides to a minimum . The main reason you need to avoid lots of text in presentations is because it’s virtually impossible to read and listen to someone speaking at the same time. In a presentation, you want to allow the audience to listen to the presenter while looking at an appropriate visual or diagram with minimal words, so that it all comes together seamlessly. Whereas, with documents like reports – while you can create them in PowerPoint – they aren’t presentations; there won’t be anyone talking over them. So you can (and possibly should) have a lot more text.

So, when you are using text in a presentation or document, how do you decide what size it should be? We’ve found there’s no hard-and-fast rule for how big or small text on slides should be. Each presentation has its own unique requirements – it all depends on what you’re using the slides for, what you’re hoping to achieve with them, and how your audience will be viewing them. Accessibility considerations also come into play, as well as readability across different typefaces and devices.

Determining appropriate text size

One way to decide on the right size for your text is to consider the height of each line of text in proportion to the total height of the slide . For example, in a sales or training presentation, the height of the title (per line) should take up approximately 4% of the slide’s total height; headers around 3%; and copy text around 2%.

This principle can be applied to text appearing in other types of presentation, too. For example, in a keynote presentation, the height of the text should take up around 6.5% of the slide’s total height. And in a document or report, aim for the height of the title text to take up around 4% of the slide’s total height; headers around 3%; and copy text around 1.5%.

When deciding on the right font size for a face-to-face presentation, it’s also worth considering how close audience members should be seated to the screen in order to be able to read the text easily. Check out presentation expert Dave Paradi’s table on comfortable viewing distances for text in presentation visuals [1] for more on this.

Our text size recommendations

We called upon our team of designers to determine what size they would make the text in a set of example slides. To create the slides, we used PowerPoint’s default widescreen slide size (19.05cm x 33.86cm, or 7.5”13.33”), and Arial – one of the most commonly used fonts.

The examples covered three different use-cases where text is sometimes used:

• A sales or training presentation. Small amounts of text can be used to point out key features and emphasise value and benefits.
• A keynote presentation. You want the audience to focus on the presenter during a keynote presentation, so the amount of text on each slide should be kept to a minimum. This means any text you do use can be much larger.
• A document or report. Text can generally be slightly smaller in stand-alone, static documents like reports, as readers will jump around the page to find the information they’re looking for.

Based on our team’s responses, we’d make the following recommendations:

Use-case 1: Presentation font size for a sales or training presentation

Top tip : As a general rule, aim to keep the number of different font sizes you use across your presentation to a minimum – ideally, no more than three different sizes per slide. And try to use font sizes consistently. For example, if you’ve used 20pt for headers on one slide, make sure headers on other slides are the same size.

Use-case 2:  Presentation font size for a  keynote presentation

Top tip : If you’re also using text labels or callouts in a keynote presentation, then make sure the font is slightly smaller than the rest of your text – ideally no smaller than 28pt.

Use-case 3: Font size for a document or report

Top tip : It’s also worth using visual hierarchies to help readers navigate documents like these – check out our blog post for tips on how to do this.

Hopefully, our recommendations help you to decide what size text on your slides should be. Remember, every presentation is different and will have its own individual requirements – for guidance on your particular use-case, get in touch and we’ll be happy to look over your slides. And if you want more help with upping your sales presentations’ font game, have a read of our article packed with typography tips and tricks!

[1] PARADI, D. 2008. Comfortable Viewing Distance for Text on Presentation Visuals [online]. Available from: https://thinkoutsidetheslide.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ViewingDistanceTable16x9.pdf [Accessed 14 November 2022].

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Choosing the Best Font for PowerPoint: 10 Tips & Examples

There’s a fine art to creating a great PowerPont presentation that wows. With so many tricks and features in this little bit of software, it’s more likely to see a bad presentation than a good one (and you don’t want to be that person!)

While there are a lot of factors that contribute to the overall design , choosing a suitable font for PowerPoint is near the top of the list. The audience needs to be able to read the words on the screen with ease, to ensure that your presentation is as effective as possible.

So how do you do it? Where do you start when choosing a font for PowerPoint? We have 10 tips for you with a few examples of PowerPoint slides (and templates) that will impress your audience.

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1. Stick to Fairly Standard Fonts

One of the most fun parts of a design project is getting to sift through fonts and make selections that fit your project. When it comes to PowerPoint, that selection should be pretty limited.

To make the most of your presentation, stick to a standard font to ensure that your presentation will look the same everywhere – and on every computer – you present. If you don’t use a standard font, chances are when you pop the presentation in a new machine, you’ll end up with a jumbled mess of lettering. PowerPoint will try to replace all the fonts it does not recognize with something else.

This can cause readability concerns and even make the presentation look like it’s error-filled (with words that are in odd locations or even missing).

10 standard fonts to try:

2. Incorporate Plenty of Contrast

White and black text is easiest to read. But no type is readable without plenty of contrast between the background and text itself.

Regardless of what font you select, without adequate contrast, readability will be a concern. Opt for light type on a dark background or a light background with dark text.

Consider the environment here as well. Do you plan to show the presentation on a computer monitor or big presentation screen? How these conditions render can impact how much contrast your color choices actually have.

3. Use a Serif and a Sans Serif

Most presentations use two fonts.

• Header font for headlines on each slide.
• Copy or bullet font for supporting text.

You don’t have to use the same font in each location. It’s actually preferred to select two different fonts for these areas of the presentation. For even more impact pair two different fonts, such as a serif and sans serif, so that the font change creates an extra level of contrast and visual interest.

4. Avoid All Caps

When picking a font, stay away from fonts that only include capital letter sets. All caps in presentations have the same effect as all caps in an email. It feels like you are yelling at the audience.

All caps can also be difficult to read if there are more than a couple of words on the screen. Use all caps as sparingly as possible.

5. Stay Away From Scripts and Italics

While scripts, handwriting and novelty typefaces might be pretty, they are often difficult to read. Avoid them in PowerPoint presentations. (There’s usually not enough contrast or size to help them maintain readability from a distance.)

The same is true of italics. Anything you do to a font to add emphasis should make it easier to read. While italics can be a great option online or in print applications, presentations come with a different set of rules. The biggest contributing factor is that text often has to be read from a distance – think about audience members in the back of the room – and any slanting can make that more difficult.

6. Make It Big Enough

One of the biggest issues with fonts in slideshows is often size. How big should the text in a PowerPoint presentation be?

While a lot of that depends on the font you decide to use, there are some guidelines. (These sizes work wonderfully with the 10 fonts options in top No. 1. As well.)

• Minimum font size for main copy and bullets: 18 points
• Preferred font size for main copy and bullets: 24 points
• Preferred font size for headers or titles: 36 to 44 points

Make sure to think about the size of the screen and room as well when planning font sizes. With a smaller screen in a larger space, everything will look smaller than it is. The opposite is true of an oversized screen in a small room. Think Outside the Slide has a great font cheat sheets for a number of different screen sizes.

7. Turn Off Animations

Don’t let all those PowerPoint tricks suck you in. Moving text, zooming words, letters that fly in from the side of the screen – they are all difficult to read. And really distracting.

If you want to use an effect, “Appear” is acceptable. But there’s no need to dazzle the audience with crazy font tricks. All this really does is distract people from what you are really trying to say.

The same mantra that we use with all other design projects applies here as well – KISS or Keep It Simple, Stupid.

8. Plan for Sharing

While many users work with PowerPoint regularly, chances are that you’ll be asked to share your presentation slides for others. This includes posting with tools such as SlideShare, emailing the PowerPoint (or putting it in a drop folder) or sharing via Google Slides.

When it comes to fonts, Google Slides is the most complicating factor because it has a different suite of standard fonts than PC or Mac operating systems. Make sure to test the presentation in this environment if you plan to share and use a Google standard font or make sure to include the font you plan to use in the customization options.

9. Think About the Notes, Too

The part of PowerPoint presentations that is often neglected is the notes section. If you plan to distribute a presentation file to the audience (digitally or via printouts), the font selection for accompanying notes is important.

Use the same typeface as for the main slideshow with related corresponding headers and body and bulleted text. The big difference here is size. Body copy/bulleted information should fall in the range of 9 to 12 points and headers should be 18 to 20 points. This is a comfortable reading size for most documents. (These sizes also help ensure clear printing on standard office machines.)

10. Use Fonts Consistently

You don’t need a huge font library to create great PowerPoint presentations. Having a couple of go-to fonts that you use consistently is enough.

Make sure to use fonts consistently within a document as well. Create a PowerPoint template file so that when you use different levels of bulleting and headers, the sizes, color variations, and fonts change automatically. (Web designers, this is just like using H1 through H6 tags.)

A clear consistent use of fonts makes your presentation about how it looks and how easy (or tough) it may be to read and more about the content therein. (And that’s what it should be about.)

If you don’t feel comfortable making your own PowerPoint presentation template, you can download one to get started. These options might have a more refined look than some of the software defaults (and all of the examples in this article come from these collections).

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Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Presentations > Different Types of Fonts And How to Choose One

Different Types of Fonts And How to Choose One

With so many types of fonts, how do you choose which to use and when ? Knowing how to choose the right font takes some knowledge of the different types of fonts and what they look like. Use our guide to learn more about fonts and how to decide on the best one for what you’re writing .

You’ll first need to understand the basic styles , which include:

We’ll go through each font style to highlight what it looks like, popular fonts in the style, and what they’re good for.

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What does it look like? The identifying feature of serif fonts is the tiny strokes or projections on every end of a letter. Serifs improve readability by making it easy to distinguish the difference between a lowercase L and a capital I. Some of the most used serif fonts include:

• Times New Roman
• Courier New

What’s it good for? Serif fonts have long been considered the most readable fonts. They’re commonly used in print newspapers, magazines, and books, and are recommended to be used in MLA format . Print media prefers serif fonts because it helps guide the eye along a single line of text.

Despite their readability in print, serif fonts can be problematic with digital media. The letters can blur together on low-resolution images and make it difficult to read. While computer monitors and smartphone screens have improved over the years, serif fonts are still not preferred.

What does it look like? Sans-serif fonts are what you’ll see most commonly in your day-to-day life. These fonts are aptly named as they don’t have the serif projections on the letters (sans means without). You’re probably familiar with some of the most common sans-serif fonts, which are:

What’s it good for? Search engines, websites, and social media platforms prefer sans-serif fonts because of their improved readability on a digital screen. Sans-serif fonts are the simplest fonts available and provide clean text that can be used across many platforms.

What does it look like? Script fonts are inspired by handwriting and calligraphy. You’ll notice that most script fonts will look like they’re in cursive, but not every letter will connect or flow the same as if someone had written it in cursive. Letters will include swooping letters and curls, called swashes. Script fonts typically come in one of two styles in casual and formal fonts. Casual scripts are simpler and easier to read, while formal fonts are more embellished. Common script fonts you might see are:

• Harlow Solid Italic
• Brush Script MT
• Fairwater Script

What’s it good for? You’ve likely seen script fonts on wedding or baby announcements, event invitations, and award certificates. Overall, script fonts aren’t considered easy to read (as you can see above) but can look great and enhance your print when used in the appropriate setting.

What does it look like? Monospaced fonts are fonts that utilize letters that take up the same amount of space. For example, the space for capital A and capital I will occupy the same amount of space on a line as one another. Typically, the A and I don’t take up similar space on a line, but a monospaced typeface will format your text in this way. It also conveys a typewriter feel with its consistent spacing. You’ll also see that some serif or sans-serif fonts fit into a monospaced format as well. Examples of some monospaced fonts include:

• Lucida Sans Typewriter

What’s it good for? While monospaced fonts aren’t always the most appealing to a designer, they do have their place. Monospaced fonts make it easy to create a proportional block of text based on the number of characters you want to use. For instance, if you’re making a sign and have space for 20 characters on each line, monospaced fonts make it easy to count characters without trying to compensate for narrow letters like I and a lowercase L.

What does it look like? The fifth font type has many names that include display, decorative, fantasy, and others, but we’ll go with display for the sake of brevity. Display fonts are the diverse fonts of the bunch. This is where you’ll find different styles like thick scripts, stencils, ultra-light, ultra-bold, and others. The diversity of display fonts comes with their function with signage. Similar to monospace fonts, display fonts can come in serif, sans-serif, and script styles. While display fonts aren’t usually used in everyday writing or as a preferred font on a website, you might see these common fonts on logos and banners:

What’s it good for? If you’re not making a sign, logo, or banner, display fonts don’t have much practical use. They can be difficult to read when small and irritating as the novelty wears off after a few lines. Use display fonts when your project or signage calls for it, but we don’t recommend setting one as your default font for your outgoing emails.

What’s best for you? Knowing how to choose a font depends on how you’re going to use it. For those who regularly send emails, write a blog, or do anything else online, a sans-serif font is always going to be the best choice. Choose something that doesn’t fall under the display category because, again, it can be off-putting after a few lines.

A monospace font can look nice and give a vintage feel that comes with a typewriter but isn’t required for the medium. Someone who’s going to type and send a physical letter of any kind should stick with serif fonts because of their readability.

Knowing how to choose a font for what you need is important. Some types of fonts are considered unprofessional or difficult to read in certain situations.Use this guide to help you make the right decision about a font for what you need.

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• Add bullets to text Video
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• Change list formatting Video

Change font size, spacing, and indents

You created a bullets list, and now you want to change its look and formatting, including font size, line spacing, and indentation. Watch this video to learn how.

Use slide masters to customize a presentation

Apply and change a theme

We have created a bulleted list for our Agenda slide. Now, we’ll make some changes to its look and formatting.

Since I want to apply a different theme to the presentation, I’ll do that first.

Let’s click DESIGN and choose this theme called Facet .

That applies different styles and formatting to the list. So, now those are in place.

This theme uses a small font size for the text. Let’s increase it.

I’ll select the placeholder, click HOME , Font Size , and choose 24.

This font size is easier to see and makes use of the space on the slide.

Note that if you want to change the font size for every list in the presentation, you should change it on the slide master.

We’ll work with the slide master in Movie 3, Change list formatting on the slide master.

We have increased the font size. Let’s also increase the line spacing. To do that, I’ll select the placeholder, and on the HOME tab, I click Line Spacing , where I see that the current setting is 1.0, or single spaced.

And I see a preview of other settings. I don’t want quite so much spacing as 1.5. Let’s open Line Spacing Options .

This includes settings for indentation as well as spacing.

Under Spacing , the list is set to Single , but I can add space incrementally in the Before box.

I’ll change this from 10 pts to 20, and click OK .

So, I have added a bit more space to the single spacing, but it is not quite as much as the 1.5 spacing.

Now, because we have changed the font size and line spacing, I want to mention AutoFit, which can affect both of these types of formatting.

To demonstrate AutoFit, I’ll add one more item to this list. Watch closely as I type it: "Our support".

See how the list adjusted when I started typing? It got more compressed. It’ll continue to do so with each additional item.

That’s the result of AutoFit; it adjusts the line spacing and font size to fit all list items into the placeholder.

We’ll delete this last item.

Because you may not want the AutoFit. Whenever it happens, this control appears, called AutoFit Options .

Let’s click it.

To undo the AutoFit, I click Stop Fitting Text to This Placeholder . The line spacing returns to what it was.

I prefer that, so I’ll leave the AutoFit undone. And let’s say I want to turn off the AutoFit altogether.

I click the control again and click Control AutoCorrect Options .

In the AutoCorrect dialog box, I uncheck Autofit body text to placeholder , and click OK .

AutoFit is now off until I turn it back on.

Next, I want to move the list to the right a little bit, to balance out the slide more.

To do that, I’ll increase its left margin.

I right-click the text placeholder and click Format Shape . Then, I click Size & Properties , and TEXT BOX.

In the Left margin box, I’ll change the setting from .1 to 1.

The text moves to the right as I press the up arrow for the box.

I’ll close the Format Shape pane.

The new margin moves the list over nicely.

Now, if you ever need to adjust the space between the text and bullets, a great way is to use tab markers on the ruler.

To display the ruler, click VIEW , and check Ruler .

Now, let’s say I want to increase the space between text and bullets. I’ll select the text, and on the ruler, find this upper tab on the bottom of the ruler.

I drag the tab, and the dotted line shows where the text’s left indent will be.

To move the bullets, I drag the tab at the top of the ruler.

Now, note that if my list has more than one text level, I need to select the level of text that I want to adjust, and then move the tabs.

My Agenda list now looks the way I want it to.

Up next: We’ll change list formatting on the slide master.

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14 Fonts That Make Your PowerPoint Presentations Stand Out

Presentation fonts, more generally known as typography , are one of the most neglected areas of presentation design .

That’s because when presentation fonts are used appropriately and correctly, they blend so well with the overall design that your audience doesn’t even notice it. Yet, when your font usage is lacking, this sticks out like a sore thumb. 

Over 30 million PowerPoint presentations are made daily. Therefore, when it comes to creating your own slide decks, you need to take every advantage you can get to make it stand out. Among other design choices, choosing the best fonts for presentations can provide a huge impact with minimal effort.

In fact, it’s one of the reasons why Steve Jobs was able to turn Apple into the brand it is today. His expertise in branding and design was fueled by the Calligraphy classes that he attended in his early years. This allowed him to find the best font family that accentuated his company’s brand and identity.

So no matter the subject of your PowerPoint presentation, the best font or font family will help you create a lasting impression and convey a powerful message. To help you shine through your next slideshow, here’s our cultivated list of the best fonts for presentations.

If you want to create a PowerPoint presentation but don’t have access to PowerPoint itself, you can use Piktochart’s presentation maker to create a presentation or slide deck and export it as a .ppt file.

Best Fonts for Presentations and PowerPoint

Before we proceed, you should know some basics of typography, especially the difference between Serif, Sans Serif, Script, and Decorative types of fonts. 

Serif Fonts

These are classic fonts recognizable by an additional foot (or tail) where each letter ends. Well-known Serif fonts include:

• Times New Roman
• Century 

Sans Serif Fonts

Differing from the Serif font style, Sans Serif fonts do not have a tail. The most popular Sans Serif font used in presentations is Arial, but other commonly employed renditions of Sans Serif typeface include:

• Century Gothic
• Lucida Sans

Script and Decorative Fonts

These are the fonts that emulate handwriting—not typed with a keyboard or typewriter. Script typefaces and decorative or custom fonts for PowerPoint vary immensely and can be created by a graphic designer to ensure these custom fonts are bespoke to your company/brand.

With these font fundamentals explained, you can also keep up-to-date with the popularity of such fonts using Google’s free font analytics tool here . Let’s now go ahead with our list of the best presentation fonts for your PowerPoint slides. 

• Libre-Baskerville

Keep in mind that you don’t have to stick with only a single font for your slides. You could choose two of the best fonts for your presentation, one for your headings and another for the copy in the body of the slides.

Without further ado, let’s dive into the 14 best presentation fonts.

1. Helvetica

Helvetica is a basic Sans Serif font with a loyal user base. Originally created in 1957 , Helvetica comes from the Latin word for ‘Switzerland’ where it was born. When you use Helvetica, the top-half part of the text is bigger than in other Sans Serif fonts. For this reason, letters and numbers have a balanced proportionality between the top and bottom segments. As a result, this standard font makes it easier to identify characters from a distance.

As a result of being one of the easiest typecases to read compared to different presentation fonts, Helvetica is great for communicating major points as titles and subheadings in a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation.

For these reasons, Helvetica is a popular choice for anyone creating posters .

If you are presenting live to a large group of people, Helvetica is your new go-to font! The classic Sans Serif font is tried and tested and ensures the legibility of your slide deck, even for the audience members sitting at the very back. Though it looks good in any form, you can make Helvetica shine even more in a bold font style or all caps. 

Futura is one of the popular Sans Serif fonts and is based on geometric shapes. Its features are based on uncomplicated shapes like circles, triangles, and rectangles. In other words , it mimics clean and precise proportions instead of replicating organic script or handwriting. Futura is a great default font for presentations because of its excellent readability, elegance, and lively personality. 

As one of many standard fonts designed to invoke a sense of efficiency and progress, Futura is best employed when you want to project a modern look and feel in your presentation. Futura is a versatile option ideal for use in both titles and body content, accounting for why it has remained immensely popular since 1927. 

3. Rockwell

The Rockwell font has strong yet warm characters that make it suitable for a variety of presentation types, regardless of whether it’s used in headings or the body text. However, best practice dictates that this standard font should be used in headers and subheadings based on its geometric style. Rockwell is a Geometric Slab Serif , otherwise known as a slab serif font alternative. It is formed almost completely of straight lines, flawless circles, and sharp angles. This Roman font features a tall x-height and even stroke width that provides its strong presence with a somewhat blocky feel.

Monoline and geometric, Rockwell is a beautiful font that can display any text in a way that looks impactful and important. Whether you want to set a mood or announce a critical update or event, you can’t go wrong with this robust font.

Verdana is easily a great choice as one of the top PowerPoint presentation fonts. Its tall lowercase letters and wide spaces contribute significantly towards boosting slide readability even when the text case or font size is small. That’s why Verdana is best for references, citations, footnotes, disclaimers, and so on. Additionally, it can also be used as a body font to extrapolate on slide headings to nail down your key points.

Besides that, it is one of the most widely available fonts, compatible with both Mac and Windows systems. This makes this modern Sans Serif font a safe bet for when you are not certain where and how will you be delivering your presentation. 

Raleway is a modern and lightweight Sans Serif font. Its italicized version has shoulders and bowls in some letters that are a bit off-centered. What this means is that the markings excluding the stem are intentionally lower or higher as compared to other fonts. 

This gives Raleway a slightly artistic look and feels without impacting its readability (and without falling into the custom or decorative fonts category). In fact, many professionals think the swashes and markings actually enhance the font’s readability and legibility. Moreover, Raleway also has a bold version which is heavily used in presentations and slide decks. 

The bottom line is that Raleway is a versatile typeface that can be used in a variety of presentations, either in the body copy or in titles and subheadings. When the titles are capitalized or formatted as bold, captivating your audience becomes a breeze. 

6. Montserrat

Montserrat is one of our favorite PowerPoint fonts for presentation titles and subheadings. The modern serif font is bold, professional, and visually appealing for when you want your headers and titles to really capture the audience’s attention.

Every time you move to the next slide, the viewers will see the headings and instantly understand its core message.  

Another major quality of the Montserrat font is its adaptability and versatility. Even a small change, such as switching up the weight, gives you an entirely different-looking typeface. So you get enough flexibility to be able to use the font in all types of PowerPoint presentations.

Montserrat pairs nicely with a wide range of other fonts. For example, using it with a thin Sans Serif in body paragraphs creates a beautiful contrast in your PowerPoint slides. For this reason, it is usually the first modern Serif font choice of those creating a business plan or marketing presentation in MS PowerPoint. 

Roboto is a simple sans-serif font that is a good fit for PowerPoint presentations in a wide range of industries. Well-designed and professional, Roboto works especially well when used for body text, making your paragraphs easy to read.

Roboto combines beautifully with several other fonts. When you’re using Roboto for body text, you can have headings and titles that use a script font such as Pacifico, a serif font such as Garamond, or a Sans Serif font such as Gill Sans. 

Bentham is a radiant serif font perfectly suited for headings and subtitles in your PowerPoint slides. It gives your presentation a traditional appearance, and its letter spacing makes your content really easy to read.

You can use this font in uppercase, lowercase, or title case, depending on how it blends with the rest of your slide. For best results, we recommend combining Bentham with a Sans Serif font in your body content. For example, you can use a font such as Open Sans or Futura for the rest of your slide content.

9. Libre-Baskerville

Libre-Baskerville is a free serif Google font. You can pair this classic font with several other fonts to make a PowerPoint presentation with a traditional design. 

One of its best features is that it works equally well in both headings and body copy. It’s clear and easily readable, no matter how you use it. And when used for headings, it works really well in uppercase form. 

Tahoma is one of the fonts that offer the best level of clarity for PowerPoint slides. It has easily distinguishable characters like Verdana, but with the exception of tight spacing to give a more formal appearance.

Designed particularly for screens, Tahoma looks readable on a variety of screen sizes and multiple devices. In fact, this significant aspect is what makes Tahoma stand out from other fonts in the Sans Serif family. 

11. Poppins

Poppins falls within the Sans Serif font category but is a different font of its own uniqueness. The solid vertical terminals make it look strong and authoritative. That’s why it’s great for catchy titles and subheadings, as well as for the body paragraphs. Poppins is a geometric typeface issued by Indian Type Foundry in 2014. It was released as open-source and is available in many font sizes for free on Google Fonts.

When you want something that feels casual and professional in equal measure, pick Poppins should be in the running for the best PowerPoint fonts. 

12. Gill Sans 

Gill Sans is another classic presentation font for when you’re looking to build rapport with your audience. Gill Sans is a friendly and warm Sans Serif font similar to Helvetica. At the same time, it looks strong and professional. 

It’s designed to be easy to read even when used in small sizes or viewed from afar. For this reason, it’s a superior match for headers, and one of the best PowerPoint fonts, especially when combined with body text using Times New Roman or Georgia (not to mention several other fonts you can pair it with for successful results). This is the right font for combing different fonts within a presentation.

13. Palatino

Palatino can be classified as one of the oldest fonts inspired by calligraphic works of the 1940s. This old-style serif typeface was designed by Hermann Zapf and originally released in 1948 by the Linotype foundry. It features smooth lines and spacious counters, giving it an air of elegance and class. 

Palatino was designed to be used for headlines in print media and advertising that need to be viewable from a distance. This attribute makes Palatino a great font suitable for today’s PowerPoint presentations.   

Palatino is also a viable choice for your presentation’s body text. It’s a little different from fonts typically used for body paragraphs. So it can make your presentation content stand out from those using conventional fonts. 

14. Georgia

Georgia typeface has a modern design that few fonts can match for its graceful look. It’s similar to Times New Roman but with slightly larger characters. Even in small font size, Georgia exudes a sense of friendliness; a sense of intimacy many would claim has been eroded from Times New Roman through its overuse. This versatile font was designed by Matthew Carter , who has successfully composed such a typeface family which incorporates high legibility with personality and charisma. Its strokes form Serif characters with ample spacing, making it easily readable even in small sizes and low-resolution screens. 

Another benefit of using this modern font is its enhanced visibility, even when it’s used in the background of your PowerPoint slides. Moreover, the tall lowercase letters contribute to a classic appearance great for any PowerPoint presentation.  

Final Step: Choosing Your Best Font for Presentations

Choosing the right PowerPoint fonts for your future presentations is more of a creative exercise than a scientific one. Unless you need to abide by strict branding guidelines and company policies, there are no rules for the ‘best font’ set in stone. Plus, presentation fonts depend entirely on the environment or audience it is intended for, the nature and format of the project, and the topic of your PowerPoint presentation. 

However, there are certain basic principles rooted in typography that can help you narrow down the evergrowing list of available PowerPoint presentation fonts and choose PowerPoint fonts that will resonate with and have a powerful impact on your target audience.

As discussed in this article, these include font factors such as compatibility with most systems, clarity from a distance, letter spacing, and so on. Luckily for you, our carefully researched and compiled list of best fonts for presentations above was created with these core fundamentals already in mind, saving you time and hassle.

As long as you adopt these best practices for standard fonts without overcomplicating your key message and takeaways, you’ll soon be on your way to designing a brilliant slide deck using a quality PowerPoint font or font family! From all of us here at Piktochart, good luck with your new and improved presentation slides that will surely shine!

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OneNote for Microsoft 365 (2024): How to change font size specifically in the left Navigation Panes

For readability ... I need to increase the font size of the text within the left Navigation panes in the most recent version of Microsoft 365 OneNote (as of May, 2024). NOT directions in "Options" for changing the default Font size in the note pane.

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• Microsoft Agent |

Hi! RRotter,  

Welcome to the Microsoft Community!  

I realize that you've encountered a problem with  want to change the font in the left navigation bar of OneNote instead of the font in the OneNote Notes Is my understanding correct? If my understanding is wrong, please point it out.   

Currently the font of OneNote's left navigation bar cannot be directly modified by certain settings. Thank you for your careful observation and suggestions, your ideas and suggestions are vital to improving Microsoft products, but this forum is primarily a technical communication platform, the Microsoft development team will not be concerned about this forum.  

If you have any ideas or suggestions for Microsoft Office applications you can use the dedicated feedback platform： Ideas · Community (microsoft.com) , where a dedicated developer will follow and comment on your feedback. After sending your feedback, you can share the feedback link in this forum so that other users with similar problems, including me, can vote for your feedback, and the more votes the easier it is to get the attention of the development team. The more votes you get, the more likely you are to get attention from the development team.

Or you can send your ideas and suggestions directly from within the Microsoft Word application so that the Office team will be able to get feedback directly from users and refine them. Open the Word application and click File - Feedback - I have a suggestion or click Help - Feedback - Make a Suggestion/Report a Problem in the function bar.  

Thank you for your understanding and support, Microsoft attaches great importance to the user's feedback, if you have any ideas and suggestions in the future you can through the above feedback channels for feedback.    

Best Regards   

Eddy | Microsoft Community Support Specialist   

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