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Fonts are missing from the Font list when you click the Font box on the Formatting toolbar in Word

Article ID: 276515 - View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q276515

SYMPTOMS

When you click the Font box on the Formatting toolbar or you click Font on the Format menu, the Font list may be empty or may display only a few fonts.

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CAUSE

This problem can occur when one of the following conditions is true:

No printer is installed.
An inappropriate printer driver is selected as the default printer.
Too many fonts are installed in Microsoft Windows.

Note These are the most likely causes of this problem; there may be other causes.

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RESOLUTION

To correct this problem, use one or more of the following methods appropriate for your situation.

Method 1: Install a default printer

If your fonts are missing in Microsoft Word, make sure that a printer driver is installed (even if there is no printer physically connected to your computer). The fonts that Word displays in the Font list are based on the specific printer that is installed in Microsoft Windows.

To install a default printer driver, follow these steps.

Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

Quit all instances of Word. If you use Word as your e-mail editor, be sure to quit Microsoft Outlook also.
Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers and Faxes.
Double-click Add a printer.
In the Add Printer Wizard, click Next.
Select either Local Printer or Network Printer, and then click Next.
If you receive a message asking whether you want to install a printer manually, click Next.
Select the port that you want to use, and then click Next.
In the Manufacturers list, select the appropriate printer manufacturer. In the Printers list, click the printer model that you want. Click Next.
Select any options that you want, and then click Next. Repeat this procedure for each panel of the wizard until you reach the end. Click Finish.

Method 2: Select an appropriate printer driver

If your fonts are missing in Microsoft Word, make sure that an appropriate printer driver is selected. An appropriate printer driver might be installed in Microsoft Windows; however, an inappropriate printer driver might be selected. For example, a fax driver or Generic/Text Only driver may be set as the default printer. To make sure that you have an appropriate printer driver selected in Microsoft Word, follow these steps:

On the File menu in Word, click Print.
In the Print dialog box, change the Name box, in the Printer section, to a specific printer that is installed on your computer.

Note For Microsoft Word to correctly display the available fonts on a computer, a printer must be selected even if a printer is not physically attached to your computer.
Click Close to close the Print dialog box.

Method 3: Remove unused fonts

There is a maximum number of TrueType fonts that can be installed in Microsoft Windows. The exact number of TrueType fonts that can be installed varies, depending on the length of the TrueType font names and file names.

If specific fonts are missing in Microsoft Word, you might want to remove unused fonts from Microsoft Windows. To remove unused fonts from your computer, follow these steps:

Quit all programs.
Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
Double-click Fonts.
To delete a font from your computer, click the font that you want to delete, and then click Delete on the File menu.

For more information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

131943

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/131943/ )

TrueType font limits in Windows 95/98/Me

133732

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/133732/ )

Missing TrueType fonts in Fonts folder or programs

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