DOCX Font Checker
Avoid surprises when a document is opened on another computer. The font checker works out which font every piece of text in a Word document actually uses – following direct formatting, character and paragraph styles, document defaults and theme fonts, as Word does – and lists each font with its share of the text, where it is used, whether it is embedded and whether it is installed on Windows and macOS by default.
- Files stay on your device
- No sign-up
- Free to use
How to use DOCX Font Checker
- Drop a .docx file onto the page.
- Choose whether to include headers, footers and notes.
- Click “Check fonts”.
- Review fonts that may be replaced and embed or change them.
DOCX Font Checker features
Resolved like Word
Direct formatting, styles, defaults and theme fonts.
Share of text
Characters per font and where it is used.
Embedding
Fonts embedded in the file and the embed setting.
Availability
Standard on Windows, macOS, Office or Google Fonts.
Risk warning
Fonts likely to be substituted elsewhere.
Private
Analysed in your browser.
When to use DOCX Font Checker
- Checking documents before sending them to clients.
- Preparing files for print shops.
- Finding why a document looks different on another computer.
- Enforcing corporate font guidelines.
DOCX Font Checker FAQ
Why does a document look different on another computer?
If a font is not installed and not embedded, Word substitutes a similar one. Different letter widths change line breaks, page breaks and sometimes the layout of tables.
How is the font of each piece of text determined?
Word applies formatting in layers: the document defaults, then the paragraph style and its parents, then a character style, then formatting applied directly. Theme fonts such as “+Body” are replaced by the fonts of the document theme. The checker follows the same order.
What does “May be replaced” mean?
The font is not embedded in the file and is not installed by default on Windows or macOS, so many recipients will not have it.
How do I embed fonts?
In Word for Windows: File › Options › Save › “Embed fonts in the file”. Some fonts do not allow embedding because of their licence. Exporting to PDF also embeds the fonts.
Why is a font listed that I never chose?
It may come from a style, the theme or text you pasted from elsewhere. The “Used for” column shows where the text is.
Is my document uploaded?
No. It is analysed in your browser.
Fonts in Word documents
Word documents do not normally include their fonts; they only name them. When the document opens, Word looks for each named font on the computer. If it is missing, Word picks a substitute based on the information in the document’s font table, and the text is laid out with the substitute’s letter widths. The result can be subtle – slightly different line breaks – or dramatic, when a decorative font is replaced by a plain one or a script font is missing entirely.
Finding out which fonts a document uses is harder than it looks, because the font menu only shows the font at the cursor. Fonts come from several layers of formatting, and theme fonts are only references: “Body” means whatever font the document theme defines for body text, such as Calibri or Aptos. The checker resolves all of these layers for every run of text and adds up the characters per font.
Mixed scripts are handled too. Word uses separate font settings for Latin text, East Asian text and complex scripts such as Arabic, Hebrew or Indic languages. When a run contains such characters, the checker uses the matching setting, so a Bengali or Chinese font in a mostly English document is found.
The availability column is a guide for typical recipients. Fonts that ship with Windows and macOS are safe; Office fonts are safe for Office users; Google Fonts and newer cloud fonts such as Aptos may be missing on older systems. When in doubt, embed the fonts or send a PDF.
For PDF files, the PDF Font Inspector lists the fonts and whether they are embedded and subset.