Simplifying the Font List

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 3, 2019)
This tip applies to Excel 2000, 2002, and 2003


When you click the Font drop-down list on the Formatting toolbar, Excel shows you the names of all the fonts you can use to format whatever you have selected on the screen. Normally, Excel shows the font names using the actual font. You may find the differing font faces to be distracting, or your slower computer may be really slow when listing all the fonts.

Here's how you turn this capability on and off in Excel 2000, Excel 2002, and Excel 2003:

  1. Select Customize from the Tools menu. Excel displays the Customize dialog box.
  2. Make sure the Options tab is displayed. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Options tab of the Customize dialog box.

  4. Clear the List Font Names In Their Font check box.
  5. Click Close.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2832) applies to Microsoft Excel 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Extracting URLs from Hyperlinked Images

When copying information from the Internet to an Excel workbook, you may want to get rid of graphics but keep any ...

Discover More

Complex Compound Formatting

Sometimes it can seem that the formatting needs of your document can easily outstrip the capabilities of Word. This is ...

Discover More

Space after a Table

Those familiar with styles are used to setting vertical spacing before or after paragraphs. You can get just the look you ...

Discover More

Save Time and Supercharge Excel! Automate virtually any routine task and save yourself hours, days, maybe even weeks. Then, learn how to make Excel do things you thought were simply impossible! Mastering advanced Excel macros has never been easier. Check out Excel 2010 VBA and Macros today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Random Resetting of the Standard Toolbar

Excel allows you to easily customize what appears on its various toolbars. If you make customizations to the Standard ...

Discover More

Where is Toolbar Customization Information Stored?

When you make a change to one of Excel's toolbars, do you know where that change is stored? This tip explains the name ...

Discover More

Editing a Toolbar Button Image

Don't like the toolbar button images in your version of Excel? Don't fret; you can pull up the button editor and make ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is one more than 9?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.