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How To Change the Default Font in Outlook (Desktop, Web, and Mobile)

Changing the default font in Outlook controls how your new emails, replies, and forwards look by default—so you’re not manually switching fonts every single time you write a message.

Outlook lives in a few different places—Windows app, Mac app, Outlook on the web, and mobile apps—and each one handles default fonts a little differently. Once you understand where those settings live, changing them is straightforward.

This guide walks through:

  • How default fonts work in Outlook
  • Step‑by‑step instructions for each Outlook version
  • What can affect whether your font actually shows up for recipients
  • How different user setups might make you choose different font settings

What “Default Font” Means in Outlook

In Outlook, the default font is the text style Outlook uses automatically when you:

  • Create a new email
  • Reply to or forward a message (these can use different defaults)
  • Type in the message body using HTML or Rich Text formatting

Your default font setting usually includes:

  • Font family (e.g., Calibri, Arial, Times New Roman)
  • Font size
  • Font style (bold, italic)
  • Color
  • Sometimes: paragraph spacing, alignment, and other formatting

A key detail: Outlook has separate defaults for:

  • New mail messages
  • Replying or forwarding messages
  • Plain text messages (which ignore fancy formatting like color and font family)

So you can, for example, use a slightly larger font for new messages and a more compact one for replies.

How To Change Default Font in Outlook for Windows (Desktop App)

These steps apply to the classic Outlook desktop app on Windows (commonly used with Microsoft 365 or Office).

  1. Open Outlook.
  2. Select File in the top-left corner.
  3. Click Options.
  4. In the Outlook Options window, select Mail from the left sidebar.
  5. Under Compose messages, click Stationery and Fonts….
  6. In the Signatures and Stationery window, look for the Personal Stationery tab.

You’ll see three sections:

  • New mail messages
  • Replying or forwarding messages
  • Composing and reading plain text messages
  1. For each section you want to change, click Font…:
    • Choose your font, style, size, and color.
    • Use the Sample box to preview.
  2. Click OK to close the Font window.
  3. Click OK again to close Signatures and Stationery.
  4. Click OK once more to close Outlook Options.

New emails will now use your chosen font settings.

Note on message format:

  • To fully use your font choices, make sure you’re composing in HTML (or Rich Text):
    1. Go to File → Options → Mail.
    2. Under Compose messages, set Compose messages in this format to HTML.
  • Plain text strips out font, color, and size—only basic characters remain.

How To Change Default Font in Outlook for Mac

Outlook for Mac uses a different menu layout.

  1. Open Outlook on your Mac.

  2. In the top menu bar, click Outlook → Settings… (or Preferences… in older versions).

  3. Look for Fonts (or Fonts & Colors, depending on your version).

  4. You’ll see categories like:

    • New mail
    • Reply or forward
    • Plain text

  5. For each category:

    • Click the current font setting (e.g., “Helvetica 12”).
    • In the font picker, choose your font family, size, and style.

  6. Close the Settings/Preferences window—changes save automatically.

New messages, replies, and forwards should now use your updated defaults, depending on which categories you changed.

If you don’t see a Fonts section, you may be using a new interface version where some defaults are tied more closely to themes and display settings; in that case, options may be more limited.

How To Change Default Font in Outlook on the Web (Outlook.com / Office 365 Web)

Outlook on the web has its own separate default font settings that apply when you use a browser.

  1. Sign in to Outlook on the web (Outlook.com or your organization’s Outlook Web Access).
  2. Click the Settings (gear) icon in the top-right corner.
  3. At the bottom of the settings side panel, click View all Outlook settings.
  4. In the left-hand list, select Mail.
  5. Click Compose and reply.
  6. Under Message format, find Message font.

Here you can set:

  • Font family
  • Size
  • Bold/Italic/Underline
  • Text color
  1. Adjust the font until the sample message looks the way you like.
  2. Click Save.

These settings apply to new messages and replies you write in Outlook on the web. They do not change your desktop or mobile apps; those have their own settings.

How To Change Default Font in Outlook Mobile (iOS and Android)

Outlook’s mobile apps (iPhone, iPad, Android) are more limited. They typically don’t offer a traditional default font picker like the desktop and web versions.

A few important points:

  • The Outlook mobile app usually uses system fonts and a simple formatting bar (bold, italic, bullet lists) rather than full font families and sizes.
  • You can format text in an individual email using the toolbar (e.g., bold, underline, highlight), but you generally can’t set a custom default font family for all emails from the app.
  • Some mobile environments allow limited font size or display adjustments through device accessibility settings, which can indirectly make text appear bigger or smaller, but that affects the whole device, not just Outlook.

So on mobile:

  • Per-message formatting: Use the formatting toolbar while composing.
  • No global default font family: What you see is typically what you get across all emails from that device.

Why Your Default Font Might Not Look the Same for Everyone

Even after you set your perfect font, not every recipient will see it exactly as you do. A few things affect this:

1. Message Format (HTML vs Plain Text)

  • HTML messages:
    • Support fonts, colors, and rich formatting.
    • Most modern mail clients display these without issue.
  • Plain text messages:
    • Ignore your font settings completely.
    • Only show basic characters; font is chosen by the reader’s email app.

If your Outlook is set to convert to plain text for certain recipients or scenarios, your default font won’t carry over.

2. Recipient’s Email Client

Different email apps handle fonts differently:

  • Some clients don’t support certain fonts and will substitute a fallback (like Arial or Times New Roman).
  • Security or accessibility settings on the recipient’s side can strip or change formatting.
  • Dark mode can adjust colors or contrast in ways you didn’t expect.

3. Availability of the Font

  • If you pick a less common font, recipients whose devices don’t have that font installed may see something else.
  • Web-safe fonts (e.g., Arial, Verdana, Georgia) are more likely to look consistent across devices.

4. Organization Policies

Work or school environments may have:

  • Mail transport rules that modify, sanitize, or standardize outgoing emails.
  • Templates or signatures that override some of your preferences.
  • Branding requirements that set fonts at the server level, especially for external messages.

In those cases, the font you see while writing might differ from what leaves the server.

Different User Profiles, Different Default Font Choices

Not everyone needs the same default font setup. A few typical patterns:

Heavy Business Email Users

  • Often prefer clean, professional, easy-to-read fonts (e.g., Calibri, Arial).
  • Might use smaller, efficient sizes (10–11 pt) for dense messages.
  • May align fonts with company branding or organizational templates.

Accessibility-Focused Users

  • Often choose larger sizes (12–14 pt or higher).
  • Might pick high-contrast colors (dark text on light background).
  • Tend to avoid overly stylized or narrow fonts that are hard to read.

Personal / Casual Email Users

  • Sometimes pick more expressive fonts within reason.
  • Might use color or slightly different styles for new mail vs replies.
  • Balance personality with readability, especially for mixed personal and semi-formal use.

Multi-Device Users

  • Need to remember that:
    • Windows, Mac, web, and mobile each have separate font settings.
    • Styling that looks great on a 27" monitor might feel cramped on a phone.
  • Often choose simple, cross-platform fonts and moderate sizes for consistency.

The Key Variables Before You Lock In a Default Font

When you decide how to set up your default font in Outlook, a few variables matter more than the exact steps in the menu:

  • Which Outlook version you actually use most
    • Desktop (Windows/Mac), web, mobile, or a mix.
  • Your typical recipients
    • Internal colleagues using similar software vs external contacts on a wide range of clients.
  • Your main purpose
    • Formal business, personal newsletters, quick personal emails, support tickets, etc.
  • Readability needs
    • Screen size, eyestrain, accessibility preferences, dark/light mode habits.
  • Organizational constraints
    • Company branding rules, enforced templates, or security policies that alter outgoing mail.

The mechanics of changing the default font in Outlook are fairly straightforward once you’re in the right settings panel. What’s less universal is which font, size, and style make the most sense. That depends on how you use Outlook, who reads your messages, and which version of Outlook you’re actually writing from most of the time.