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.

  3. Clear the List Font Names In Their Font check box.
  4. 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

Sorting Files

The Open dialog box allows you to sort the files it presents to you. How you do the sorting depends on the version of ...

Discover More

Conditional Page Breaks

Need to have your worksheet printout start on a new page every time a value in a column changes? There are a couple of ...

Discover More

Replacing and Formatting at the Same Time

The Find and Replace feature in Word is very powerful. So powerful, in fact, that you can change the formatting on ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Quickly Removing a Toolbar Button

Want to get rid of a toolbar button? There's no need to drag open the menus and dialog boxes; just use the shortcut ...

Discover More

Getting Rid of Stubborn Icons

Ever tried to clean-up the icons on your toolbar only to have one that won't go away? This tip explores some possible ...

Discover More

Buttons for Workbooks

Wouldn't it be great to have a workbook accessible with just a single button click? It's possible if you follow the steps ...

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.

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

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 eight less than 8?

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.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.