Whether you can change the font on a message you have received depends on many factors:

• the format of the incoming message
• the version of Outlook
• the type of mail server you connect to
• whether you use Word as your e-mail editor (WordMail)

Below you’ll find instructions organized by the format of the incoming message, plus methods for WordMail and other approaches.

Plain Text | HTML | Rich Text | WordMail | Other Methods | Notes | More Information

Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010

In Outlook 2007 and 2010, you can change the fonts used for reading plain text messages from the Stationery and Fonts dialog in Options.

The final setting on this dialog is the font used for plain text messages and replies. This font is used both in open messages and in the reading pane. It applies to both messages sent as plain text and HTML messages that you choose to read as plain text.

In Outlook 2010 this dialog is at File, Options, Mail. The Stationery and Fonts button is near the top of the Mail pane.

In Outlook 2007 and 2003, look at Tools, Options, Mail format tab. The Stationery and Fonts button is near the middle of the dialog.

Plain Text

In Outlook 98/2000/2002/2003:

1. Choose Tools | Options, and switch to the Mail Format tab.
2. Make sure the Use Microsoft Word to edit e-mail messages box is not checked.
3. Click the Fonts button.
4. On the Fonts dialog, make your selection with the Choose Font button under When composing and reading plain text.
5. Click OK until you return to the main Outlook window.

In Outlook 97:

1. Choose Tools | Options, and switch to the Sending tab.
2. Change the font for new messages you compose. This will also govern the font on incoming messages that were not sent to you in rich-text format. Note that this doesn’t work for mail received through the Microsoft Exchange Server Internet Mail Service.

HTML

Outlook 97 does not support HTML format mail. In Outlook 98 and newer versions, you cannot easily control the font used to read HTML messages, since most people who send HTML mail specify the font they want their messages to appear in. If you’re bothered by that, you can follow these steps to set a default font and make an HTML message use that font.

To set the default HTML font:

1. In Internet Explorer, choose Tools | Internet Options.
2. Click the Fonts button.
3. On the Web page font list, select the font you want to use as your default.
4. Click OK to return to Internet Explorer. Note that this change affects web pages, not just HTML mail messages.

To make a message use your default HTML font:

1. Choose Edit | Edit Message.
2. Choose Format | Plain Text, and respond Yes when you’re asked whether you really want to change the format.
3. Choose Edit | Edit Message.
4. Choose Format | HTML.

Rich Text

As with the HTML format, rich text format (RTF) messages arrive with the font already set by the sender. Unlike HTML, though, you can select text in a received RTF message and use Outlook’s formatting commands to change the way it looks. Choose View | Toolbars if you don’t see the Formatting toolbar on a received message.

WordMail

If you have set Word as your mail editor in Tools | Options | Mail Format, a message you received will open in WordMail

• if it is in RTF format, or
• if it is in plain text format and you are either using Outlook 97 or, for other versions, your default format on Tools | Options | Mail Format is Microsoft Outlook Rich Text.

As noted above, you can’t automatically change the format of RTF messages.

You can, however, control the default font used in WordMail for plain text messages. This is the font for the Normal style in the Word .dot template that Outlook uses for WordMail. For Outlook 2000, the template is always Email.dot, while Outlook 2002 and Outlook 2003 use Word’s normal.dot, not a special email template. The default location for the U.S. English version of Outlook is in the C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\1033 folder. You may find it easiest to locate it on your machine with the Start | Find command. For Outlook 97 and Outlook 98, you set the WordMail template in Tools | Options in Outlook.

To change the Normal style to use a different font:

1. Use File | Open to open the WordMail .dot template directly in Word.
2. Choose Format | Style.
3. Select the Normal style from the Styles list.
4. Click Modify | Format | Font.
5. On the Font dialog, select the font that you want to use.
6. Click OK to return to the Modify Style dialog.
7. Check the box for Add to template.
8. Click OK, then Close to return to Word.
9. Save and close the WordMail .dot file.

If the font appears very small when you open a message, check to see whether you’re using WordMail. If so, adjust the zoom setting to 100%. If that change doesn’t "stick" for new messages you open, modify the default WordMail template following the instructions in the MSKB article Zoom Percentage Too Small.

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Last reviewed on Apr 13, 2012