How To Change Font In Outlook: A Clear Step‑By‑Step Guide

Changing the font in Outlook sounds simple, but there are actually a few different “fonts” you might mean:

• The font you use when you write emails
• The font other people’s emails appear in
• The font Outlook uses in its menus, message list, and folder pane

On top of that, Outlook behaves differently on Windows, Mac, web, and mobile, and not every part of the interface is customizable on every platform. Let’s walk through what you can and can’t change, how to do it, and what variables affect the final result.

1. What “changing the font in Outlook” really means

When people say they want to change the font in Outlook, they’re usually talking about one of three things:

1. Compose font
   The font used when you write a new email, reply, or forward.

   • Example: Switching from Calibri 11 to Arial 12 for every new message.

2. Reading / display font (message content)
   How received emails look in your reading pane or when opened.

   • This is influenced by your Outlook settings, but also by however the sender formatted their email.

3. Interface / UI font
   The font in the message list, folder list, and preview pane headings.

   • Think of the font used for your Inbox, subject lines, and sender names.

Each of these lives in a different settings area. Some are easy to customize; others are limited by your operating system or Outlook version.

2. How to change the font when composing emails (Windows, Mac, Web)

This is the most common and most configurable setting: the default font for composing messages.

Outlook on Windows (desktop app)

You control compose fonts (and sometimes reading fonts) from the Stationery and Fonts dialog.

Steps (classic Outlook for Windows):

1. Open Outlook.
2. Go to File > Options.
3. Select Mail from the left sidebar.
4. Click Stationery and Fonts… in the “Compose messages” section.
5. You’ll see three sections:
   • New mail messages
   • Replying or forwarding messages
   • Composing and reading plain text messages
6. For each, click Font… and choose:
   • Font family (e.g., Calibri, Arial, Times New Roman)
   • Style (regular, bold, italic)
   • Size
   • Color
7. Click OK, then OK again to save.

From now on, new messages, replies, and forwards will use your chosen fonts for those categories.

Plain text caveat:
Plain text emails cannot contain rich formatting. Outlook can still show them using a font you choose (so they’re more readable for you), but that doesn’t actually change the email content itself.

Outlook on Mac (desktop app)

On Mac, Outlook’s font settings are in Preferences.

Steps (Outlook for Mac):

1. Open Outlook.
2. Go to the menu bar and click Outlook > Settings (or Preferences, depending on version).
3. Look for Fonts or Fonts & Colors.
4. Set fonts for:
   • New mail
   • Reply/forward
   • Plain text
5. Choose your font family, size, and color.
6. Close the settings window to apply.

Outlook for Mac may offer fewer granular options than Windows, but the basics—new mail, replies, and plain text—are usually there.

Outlook on the web (Outlook.com / Office 365 in a browser)

The web version keeps font settings under mail compose settings.

Steps (Outlook on the web):

1. Sign in to Outlook on the web.
2. Click the gear icon (settings) in the top corner.
3. Click Mail or View all Outlook settings (usually at the bottom of the side panel).
4. Go to Mail > Compose and reply.
5. In the “Message format” or “Email signature” area, find Default font / Message font.
6. Set:
   • Font family
   • Size
   • Color
   • Other basic formatting if available
7. Click Save.

From then on, any new mail you start from that browser profile will use your chosen font.

Outlook mobile apps (iOS / Android)

On phones and tablets, Outlook is more limited:

• You typically can’t set a global default font family.
• You usually can choose basic formatting (bold, italics, lists) per message.
• Some formatting settings come from the mobile OS rather than Outlook itself.

If you need strict control over fonts (e.g., for brand consistency), the desktop or web version is usually where you set that up.

3. How to change how received emails look

You might also want to change the font you see when reading messages—especially if text is too small or hard to read.

There are two main levers here:

• Your display preferences in Outlook
• The sender’s formatting, which you can’t override completely for HTML emails

HTML vs plain text vs rich text

• HTML emails are like mini web pages. They can carry their own fonts, colors, and layouts. Outlook shows them mostly as the sender designed. You can zoom or use reading pane settings, but you can’t reliably force them to use your own chosen font family.
• Plain text emails have no formatting. Outlook can display them in any font you choose under the plain text font settings.
• Rich Text (RTF) is an older Microsoft-specific format. Outlook can control its display more easily, but it’s less common today.

Changing reading fonts for plain text / general readability (Windows)

In Outlook for Windows, you can influence reading fonts in two places:

1. Stationery and Fonts → Plain text

   • As described earlier: File > Options > Mail > Stationery and Fonts.
   • Set the font for “Composing and reading plain text messages.”

2. View settings for the message list and reading pane
   This affects subject lines and sender names, not the email body.

   • Go to the View tab.
   • Click View Settings.
   • Use Conditional Formatting or Other Settings (name varies by version) to adjust:
     • Column font
     • Row font
     • Message preview font

This lets you enlarge or change fonts for the list of emails, which many people mean when they say “I want bigger fonts in Outlook.”

Changing font size when reading (all platforms)

Even when you can’t fully override fonts, you can usually zoom:

• Windows desktop:
  Use the Zoom button in the message window (often under the Format Text tab) or hold Ctrl and scroll the mouse wheel.
• Outlook for Mac:
  Use the View menu or pinch zoom (trackpad) in the reading pane, depending on version.
• Web:
  Use your browser’s zoom (Ctrl + / Ctrl -, or Cmd + / Cmd - on Mac).
• Mobile:
  Pinch to zoom or adjust system text size in your phone’s accessibility/display settings.

Zoom doesn’t actually change the underlying font, but it can make text more comfortable to read.

4. Changing Outlook’s interface fonts (folder list, message list)

Many people want to change the font for:

• Folder names (Inbox, Sent Items)
• Sender names and subjects in the list of emails
• The preview text under each subject

How much you can alter this depends heavily on platform and version.

Outlook on Windows

You have some control:

• Message list fonts:
  As mentioned, use View > View Settings > Conditional Formatting or similar options to adjust:

  • The font for unread messages
  • The font for read messages
  • Fonts for specific conditions (e.g., from a certain sender)

• Folder pane fonts:
  These are more tied to Windows display settings. Adjusting:

  • System scaling (100%, 125%, etc.)
  • System font size for text in menus and title bars
    will indirectly change how Outlook’s folder list looks.

Outlook on Mac, web, and mobile

• Fonts for the interface (navigation bar, folder list, buttons) are mostly fixed.
• You can affect size and readability mainly through:
  • System-level display scaling
  • Accessibility or “Display” settings in the OS
  • Browser zoom for the web version

So you get partial control via the OS, but not fine-grained “choose any font” settings for Outlook’s built-in UI.

5. Key variables that affect Outlook font changes

The experience you get depends on several factors. These are the big ones:

1. Outlook version and platform

Different versions expose different controls:

If you have a work or school account, your organization’s admin may also restrict some settings.

2. Email format (what you send and receive)

• HTML emails: Sender’s choice dominates. Your font choices matter mostly for the emails you send.
• Plain text emails: Your chosen font controls how they look on your screen—though recipients still see them in their own chosen plain text font.
• If you consistently use HTML with a specific font, recipients will usually see it as intended, but only if:
  • Their email client supports HTML
  • They haven’t set strict overrides for accessibility/privacy

3. Operating system display and accessibility settings

System-level settings shape Outlook’s fonts and sizes more than people realize:

• Windows: scaling, text size, ClearType, high contrast
• macOS: display scaling, increased contrast, font smoothing
• iOS/Android: “Display size” and “Font size” sliders, accessibility text settings

If you’re mainly trying to make Outlook more readable, adjusting these can matter as much as or more than Outlook’s own font options.

4. Your usage pattern

What you do in Outlook changes which font settings really matter:

• Heavy email author (lots of long messages, client correspondence):
  Your compose font consistency and readability are most critical.
• Inbox power user (hundreds of emails/day):
  The message list fonts and UI readability affect your comfort and speed most.
• Occasional mobile-only user:
  System text size and zoom matter more than font family choice.

6. How different user profiles approach Outlook font changes

To see the spectrum more clearly, consider a few typical user profiles:

The accessibility-focused user

• Priority: Readability and eye comfort
• Likely actions:
  • Increase font size for plain text and message lists.
  • Use system-level scaling and high-contrast modes.
  • Pick a clear, high-contrast font (e.g., a simple sans-serif) for composing emails.
  • Favor zooming when reading HTML-heavy newsletters or marketing emails.

The brand-consistent professional

• Priority: Consistent outbound formatting
• Likely actions:
  • Set a specific corporate font and size for:
    • New messages
    • Replies/forwards
    • Signatures
  • Avoid overly decorative fonts that many recipients won’t have.
  • Use HTML email, but in a simple, conservative way so it looks acceptable even when fonts fall back.

The performance and simplicity fan

• Priority: Clean, lightweight emails
• Likely actions:
  • Keep fonts simple—often the defaults.
  • Use plain text or very minimal HTML.
  • Adjust only basic font size for personal readability in the reading pane.

The mobile-first reader

• Priority: Comfortable reading on small screens
• Likely actions:
  • Rely on phone OS text size and display settings.
  • Use the desktop/web Outlook mainly to set consistent compose fonts and signatures that still look good on mobile.
  • Keep fonts a bit larger than default for easier thumb-based reading.

Each of these profiles uses the same Outlook settings, but in very different ways and for different reasons.

7. Seeing where your own setup fits

The specific path to “changing the font in Outlook” depends on:

• Which platform you primarily use (Windows, Mac, web, mobile)
• Whether you’re mainly concerned with:
  • How your emails look to others, or
  • How emails look to you
• Any accessibility needs you have (vision, eye strain, screen size)
• How much you care about brand/style consistency versus simplicity

Once you’re clear on those pieces, the steps above become less about blindly toggling options and more about picking the limited set of font settings in Outlook (and your OS) that actually matter for how you work.