How to Change Windows System Font

 Last reviewed: November 21, 1994
Article ID: Q80153
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows operating system versions 3.0, 3.0a, 3.1, 3.11

SUMMARY

You can change the font that Windows uses to display text in menus, title bars, and dialog boxes by using the the SystemFont= setting in the [Windows] section of the WIN.INI file.

MORE INFORMATION

The system font that Windows uses to display text in menus, title bars, and dialog boxes is generally defined by the Fonts.Fon= statement in the [boot] section of SYSTEM.INI. However, if you add the line SystemFont=<fontname> to the [Windows] section of WIN.INI, Windows uses the font that you specify.

NOTE: Some dialog boxes cannot be changed, for example, the Exit Windows and Task List dialog boxes.

Valid font files are raster fonts with the extension .FON. For example, a valid WIN.INI entry on a VGA system would be: 

   SystemFont=coure.fon
This would change the system font to Courier. The file COURE.FON must be present in the WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory in its expanded form.

Choosing one of the Windows vector fonts (Modern, Roman, or Script) results in abnormally large screen text. Choosing the Symbol font results in unintelligible Windows system text.

For more information about fonts, query on the following words in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 

   discussion and Windows and fonts

REFERENCES

"Inside Microsoft Windows," The Cobb Group, November 1991

KBCategory: kbusage kbdisplay
KBSubcategory: win30 win31
Additional reference words: 3.0 3.0a 3.00 3.00a 3.1 3.10 default group
win31 win30 3.11

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Last reviewed: November 21, 1994
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