It’s possible to customise nearly every aspect of Windows 10, but in many cases they add little to the user experience.
One potentially valuable change could be the font, particularly considering you read thousands of words every time you turn on your PC. The ‘Segoe UI’ default typeface is absolutely fine, but it could use a refresh every once in a while.
While there is a Fonts section in Settings, Microsoft removed the ability to freely change the default font in Windows 10. In this article, we’ll break down all the steps you’ll have to take.
Be warned: This tutorial involves making changes to the Registry of the PC, so only proceed if you’re confident you know what you’re doing.
How to change the default font on Windows 10
- Open ‘ Settings ‘ and head to ‘ Personalisation ‘
- Under the ‘ Font ‘ tab you’ll see a selection of different font families, including Arial, Verdana and Tahoma
- Click the one you’d like and keep the window open –
- In a separate window open the Notepad app (search in the Start Menu if you can’t find it)
- Copy and paste the following:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionFonts] “Segoe UI (TrueType)”=”” “Segoe UI Bold (TrueType)”=”” “Segoe UI Bold Italic (TrueType)”=”” “Segoe UI Italic (TrueType)”=”” “Segoe UI Light (TrueType)”=”” “Segoe UI Semibold (TrueType)”=”” “Segoe UI Symbol (TrueType)”=””
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionFontSubstitutes]
“Segoe UI”=”ENTER-NEW-FONT-NAME”
- Click ‘ File ‘ and then ‘ Save As ‘. The file type will be set as .txt, but you’ll need to change this to all files.
- Choose whichever file name you’d like, but make sure you end it with .reg
- Hit ‘ Save ‘ and then head to the file explorer to locate the .reg file.
- Right-click and select ‘ Merge ‘, before hitting ‘ Yes ‘ to confirm and then finally ‘ OK ‘.
- Restart your device and the new font should be applied.
How to restore the default system font
If you’d like to reverse these changes, it probably comes as little surprise that you’ll need to tweak the registry.
– Open up Notepad once more and paste the following into the text file:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionFonts]"Segoe UI (TrueType)"="segoeui.ttf""Segoe UI Black (TrueType)"="seguibl.ttf""Segoe UI Black Italic (TrueType)"="seguibli.ttf""Segoe UI Bold (TrueType)"="segoeuib.ttf""Segoe UI Bold Italic (TrueType)"="segoeuiz.ttf""Segoe UI Emoji (TrueType)"="seguiemj.ttf""Segoe UI Historic (TrueType)"="seguihis.ttf""Segoe UI Italic (TrueType)"="segoeuii.ttf""Segoe UI Light (TrueType)"="segoeuil.ttf""Segoe UI Light Italic (TrueType)"="seguili.ttf""Segoe UI Semibold (TrueType)"="seguisb.ttf""Segoe UI Semibold Italic (TrueType)"="seguisbi.ttf""Segoe UI Semilight (TrueType)"="segoeuisl.ttf""Segoe UI Semilight Italic (TrueType)"="seguisli.ttf""Segoe UI Symbol (TrueType)"="seguisym.ttf""Segoe MDL2 Assets (TrueType)"="segmdl2.ttf""Segoe Print (TrueType)"="segoepr.ttf""Segoe Print Bold (TrueType)"="segoeprb.ttf""Segoe Script (TrueType)"="segoesc.ttf""Segoe Script Bold (TrueType)"="segoescb.ttf"[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionFontSubstitutes]"Segoe UI"=-
– Hit ‘ File ‘ and then ‘ Save As ‘
– Select the ‘ All Files ‘ file type, naming it anything you want provided it ends with .reg , and then ‘ Save ‘.
– Locate the file and right-click before selecting ‘ Merge ‘. Confirm by clicking ‘ Yes ‘ and then ‘ OK ‘.
– Restart your device to restore the font back to how it was originally.
Want to install more fonts? Check out our guide to How to install fonts on Windows 10 .
Author: Anyron Copeman, Mobile Editor, Tech Advisor
Anyron is Mobile Editor at Tech Advisor, where he’s been a mainstay of the editorial team since 2019. In his current role, Anyron is responsible for all smartphone, tablet and mobile network coverage on the site. A BA Journalism graduate, he has experience with a wide range of consumer tech products and services, including smartphones, tablets, foldables, wearables and more.
Recent stories by Anyron Copeman:
- Windows 11 23H2 update: Everything you need to know
- Windows 12: Everything we know so far
- How to get the Google Play Store on Windows 11
