After facing this weird and one of the most annoying problems in Windows 7, today I decided to share a working solution for it with all AskVG readers so that other people can fix it easily and quickly if they are also facing this irritating problem.
The problem is, sometimes the text in all windows, menus, icons suddenly starts showing in bold and italic font as shown in following screenshot:
As you can see it looks weird. Almost everything on screen is showing in bold and italic. When you open a program like web browser, Microsoft Word, etc, the program also shows text in bold and italic fonts.
The problem was new for me. I tried almost everything like re-applying default theme, resetting settings, running sfc /scannow command and many other things but all in vain.
I also searched on Internet to find a working solution. I found a few solutions but none of them worked for me. At last I was able to fix this problem myself using a very easy solution which I'm going to provide later in this article!
For your convenience, in this article I'm going to share all possible solutions which might fix this annoying problem. You can try them one by one until your problem gets fixed.
So without wasting time, lets start the tutorial to fix the most annoying bold-italic font problem in Windows:
- Method 1: Apply default theme from Desktop Properties
- Method 2: Reset default fonts settings
- Method 3: Restore default registry settings
- Method 4: Reinstall missing fonts in Windows
Method 1: Apply Default Theme from Desktop Properties
If you are facing this bold-italic font problem, first of all you should try to re-apply default theme using Desktop Properties.
1. Right-click on Desktop and select Personalize option. Windows XP users will have Properties option instead of Personalize.
2. Now apply default Windows theme.
This process will restore all customized font and color settings made by you in Windows theme like changing font type, font size, font color, etc.
If it doesn't fix the font problem, try the next one mentioned below.
Method 2: Reset Default Fonts Settings
In this step, we'll try to reset fonts settings in Windows.
1. Type fonts in RUN or start menu search box and press Enter. It'll open "Fonts" folder. Alternatively you can open the same folder using Control Panel window.
2. Now click on "Font settings" link present in left sidebar of Fonts window.
3. Now click on "Restore default fonts settings" button as shown in following screenshot:
4. That's it. Restart your system and it should fix the problem.
If it doesn't help, try the next method.
Method 3: Restore Default Registry Settings
Sometimes a few settings related to fonts in Windows Registry become corrupted which might also cause this weird bold-italic font issue. You can restore these Registry settings using following steps:
1. Download following ZIP file, extract it and run the extracted REG file. It'll ask for confirmation, accept it:
2. Restart your system and it should fix the problem.
Method 4: Reinstall Missing Fonts in Windows
If none of the above mentioned methods worked for you, this final method will definitely help you. In this ultimate method, we'll reinstall a few most common and widely used fonts like Arial, Time New Roman, Courier New, Tahoma, Verdana, Trebuchet MS, MS Sans Serif and Segoe UI in Windows.
Actually sometimes a required font gets deleted accidentally by a software program or an update. When Windows doesn't find that font, it starts showing the text using another variation of that font or the default font set in Registry.
For example, Windows Vista and Windows 7 use "Segoe UI" font and if "Segoe UI Regular" font is deleted, Windows starts showing the text using "Segoe UI Bold Italic" font which is a separate font in Windows.
That's the main reason behind this annoying font problem. What we can do to fix the problem? We can try to reinstall common fonts in Windows which will provide the missing font to Windows and it'll start showing things normally.
1. Download following ZIP file, extract it and you'll get a folder containing a few .ttf files which are actually font files.
Download Missing Windows Fonts
2. Now select all .ttf font files, right-click on any file and select "Install" option. Alternatively, you can open "Fonts" folder using the same step 1 mentioned in Method 2 and then drag-n-drop the downloaded .ttf font files in "Fonts" folder.
3. Windows will show a confirmation dialog box telling you "The font is already installed. Do you want to replace it?". Click on Yes button.
4. That's it. Once you copy all fonts in "Fonts" folder, restart Windows and it'll 100% fix the annoying bold-italic font problem.
PS: If you don't want to download the fonts or the ZIP file doesn't contain the missing font, you can manually extract all default fonts from Windows setup disc or ISO image using the steps mentioned in following tutorial:
How to Extract / Copy System Files from Windows XP, Vista, 7 or Windows 8 Setup?
Simply copy all .ttf files from "Windows\Fonts" folder present in setup disc and paste them in "Fonts" folder of your Windows.
Feel free to share your experience about this weird problem in your comment. Have you faced this problem in past? What did you try to fix the issue?
Posted by: Vishal Gupta | Categories: Troubleshooting, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP
Ran_TH
I was getting this issue when I accidentally deleted crucial system fonts for ex. Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, etc. Luckily I have Windows XP installation on another drive so I could simply copy those fonts from there :D
Ashok Singh Chauhan
I think Segoe UI is default font in windows 7.
Whatever thanks VG i was facing this problem 2 months ago. I'm trying to fix this problem but no help so i had to restore my system. But now you have updated this tutorial. I'm sure your method will be very helpful to a lot of user. Cheers!
macpro622776
@Ashok Singh Chauhan: Yes Segoe UI is the default font in Windows 7.
I've never had this issue before, and nor do I know anyone who has. It seems very strange.
SCBright
Same statement as macpro622776, never had such problem and it is very strange. This may be caused by excess of manipulation in system files, fonts and other standard Windows characteristics to apply 3rd party themes or other things.
I try to mantain my system in its original state to avoid such weird behaviours.
Great post VG.
NSDCars5
Thanks man!! I got this prob in stick notes, after I tried to edit Seoge Script. NOw I installed that thing again using my Windows 7 DVD
Swapnil
Never had such a problem - neither on Windows XP nor on Windows 7.
But great article though.
edygman
Thanks man,it's worked for me (windows xp).I've applied method 3.
edygman
By the way,very good article.I've searched on Google for hours before discover this article.Good job!
Gggirlgeek
I would LOVE to have this problem! I have been trying to make the small fonts in many programs and Windows dialogues bolder and easier to read for years. Increasing the screen resolution just makes my screen size smaller. Increasing the Font DPI in the Windows Display settings screws up the spacing in most software. Changing the fonts in the theme helps in some places but not in many programs again.
I wish you could reproduce the problem so I'd know what to change.
So far the fonts that work for clear text reading are: (You may have to download some but they're free.)
ProFontWindows - San Serif
Euphemia - Sans Serif
Kartika - Serif (the only legible Serif in Firefox!)
Franklin Gothic Demi - Sans Serif (a semi bold)
Verdana - Sans Serif
Gggirlgeek
...And yes, I always use Font Smothing and Clear Type Tuning.
Tip: One thing I found recently to make text reading easier on a large LCD screen (particularly when surfing from far away, like the couch): In your video card's settings (whether ATI or Nvidia) set it to Interlaced instead of Progressive. In other words 1080i or 720i instead of 1080p or 720p.
You can set it back to 1080p for watching movies but text is smoother, blacker and bolder in Interlaced mode. Personally, on a 32" LCD, I don't see a real difference in video quality when in 1080p mode, so I normally leave it at 1080i.
Jack Blade
I installed a consumer preveiw (Well only the transformation pack, which means it could be uninstalled, or so i thought) of Windows 8, and since my laptop is custom made, and not factory, it told me my start up was damaged and needed to be repaired. Long story short, it deleted or corrupted my default font, and all ym words disappeared, this REALLY helped. I got everything back by reinstalling the fonts according to the last advice. Thanks so much.
VG
^^ Glad to help you. :)
Jian
Thank you so much! I was ready to do a system restore (and bye bye to some stuff I updated/installed) when I saw this! So much for lost fonts. Thank you again! :D
Somayeh
thanks a million for your very helpful and comprehensive guides :)
I was really disapponted and sure that I have to restore my windows, but this article helped me a lot. method 3 worked for me.
LS
Thankyou so much!!! It helps!!!!!! the italic font was really annoying me
LS
and, you have a fantastic pr5 blog with so much quality articles, although our niche is different but i love your site