Meet the new default font for Microsoft Office: Aptos

Microsoft is replacing its default Calibri font with Aptos, a new sans serif typeface inspired by mid-20th century Swiss typography. Microsoft, formerly Bierstadt, has been looking for a new Aptos default font for two years. The software giant commissioned five new custom fonts for Office in 2021, and the Aptos font was chosen as the default font after years of feedback.

“Today we begin the final phase of this major transition as Aptos will appear as the new default font in Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and Excel for hundreds of millions of users,” said C Daniels, principal program manager at Microsoft. design Enter the blog Today. “And within the next few months it will be rolled out as a standard option for all our customers.”

Aptos was designed by Steve Matteson, one of the leading designers. Matteson previously developed Segoe, which was licensed by Microsoft for use as the standard font for Windows. Microsoft started using this UI subset of fonts in Windows Vista and they are still used in Windows 11. Matteson also created the original Windows TrueType core fonts. Bierstadt was renamed Aptos after the popular town of Matteson in Santa Cruz, California.

The edges of Aptos strokes are cleanly cut, but there’s some subtle looseness to avoid the hard, grid-based typography typically found in this type of font. Helvetica is the best-known example of this type of “weird sans-serif” font, and Matteson compares it to Microsoft’s Arial font here.

Aptos will replace Calibri by default, Calibri will continue to be preinstalled along with its predecessor Times New Roman and Arial at the top of the list of new fonts (only initially available on the web).

Calibri has been the default font for Office since the release of Office 2007, at which time Times New Roman replaced it. Calibri is so widely used that it became key evidence in the 2017 corruption investigation against Pakistan’s prime minister. However, not everyone has been using Calibri for years.

Only the US State Department ordered its employees to use Calibri for notes earlier this year. The State Department has used Times New Roman since 2004. Since it took a full 16 years to switch to Calibri, they’ll likely wait another decade or so before switching to Aptos.

The other four fonts not selected as default fonts — Grandview, Seaford, Skeena, and Tenorite — will still be available in Office, and Microsoft will put the Bierstadt font name in the drop-down selector for those who already know it.

“Aptos is part of a broader wave of features in Microsoft 365. We’re pushing the program to be more expressive and inclusive,” Daniels explained. Features a redesigned font selection, as well as new themes, colors and backgrounds