Beyond Calibri: How to Permanently Change the Default Font in Excel (And Why You Should)

Tired of changing the font to Arial or Times New Roman every time you open a new sheet? Here’s the fix.

For decades, Excel has defaulted to Calibri (or Arial in older versions). While a perfectly fine font, it rarely aligns with modern brand guidelines or professional reporting standards. Manually changing the font on every new sheet is a time sink. The secret to establishing your preferred standard is by changing the core application settings.

Step-by-Step: Changing the Global Default

This process changes the font for **all new workbooks** created after the change is made, ensuring consistency across your documents.

1. Go to the **File** tab on the ribbon.
2. Click **Options** (usually near the bottom of the left sidebar).
3. In the Excel Options dialogue box, ensure you are on the **General** category (which is the default).
4. Look for the section titled **"When creating new workbooks."**
5. Under the **"Use this font"** dropdown menu, select your preferred font (e.g., *Arial*, *Avenir*, *Times New Roman*).
6. Change the **"Font size"** to your desired standard (e.g., 10 or 12 point).
7. Click **OK**.

A message will appear stating that you must **close and restart Excel** for the new settings to take effect. Do this immediately.

Why This is a Productivity Hack

• **Brand Consistency:** If your company mandates a specific font, this ensures every spreadsheet you create adheres to it instantly.
• **Faster Startup:** Eliminates the mental drag and manual steps of highlighting and reformatting content.
• **File Size:** Smaller fonts can sometimes lead to slightly smaller file sizes, and consistent formatting reduces the risk of complex style bloat.

Pro Tip: Default Sheet Count

While you're in the same **"When creating new workbooks"** section, you can also change the default number of sheets Excel opens with (e.g., reduce it from 3 to 1 if you rarely use multiple sheets), further streamlining your startup process.

Take two minutes right now to set your new Excel default!