How to Change Windows System Font (80153)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 3.0
  • Microsoft Windows 3.1
  • Microsoft Windows 3.11
This article was previously published under Q80153

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
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:7/19/2005
Keywords:KB80153
©2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.