The short version
- Word reads the font list when it starts. Install the font, then fully quit and reopen Word. That fixes most cases.
- On Windows, install for all users, not just you, or Office sometimes cannot see it.
- Word Online never shows installed fonts; only the desktop apps do.
- If the document opens on another computer without the font, Word swaps in a default. Embed the font or share a PDF.
1. You installed it while Word was open
Word loads the list of fonts once, when it launches. A font installed afterwards is on the system but not in that list. Quit Word properly (on a Mac that means Cmd-Q, not closing the window), reopen it, and look again. This is the answer nine times out of ten.
2. Windows: installed for one user only
Double clicking a font on Windows and pressing Install puts it in your user folder. Office usually finds it there, but not always, especially with older Office versions or a work laptop with policies. Right click the TTF and choose Install for all users instead, which puts it in the system font folder. You may need to enter an admin password.
3. You are using Word Online
Word in a browser has its own fixed font list and cannot see fonts on your computer. There is no setting for this. Open the document in the desktop app (File, Open in Desktop App) and the font appears.
4. It is there, under a different name
The name in Word's list is the family name inside the font file, not the file name. A file called my-handwriting.ttfmay show up as "Akhil Regular" or whatever the tool named it. Type the first letters of the name you gave the font when you made it. On Windows, Settings, Personalization, Fonts, shows every installed family and its real name.
5. Word on iPhone or iPad
Word for iOS does read fonts installed on the device, but only after the font profile is installed in Settings, General, VPN and Device Management. Saving the profile is not installing it. The full walkthrough is in how to install a custom font on iPhone. Word for Android cannot use custom fonts at all, since Android has no font install.
6. It shows for you, not for the person you sent it to
Fonts do not travel with a .docx by default. On the other computer, Word cannot find the font and quietly substitutes one, which is why your carefully set handwriting arrives as Calibri. Two fixes:
- Embed the font. File, Options, Save, tick Embed fonts in the file. The font rides inside the document. Windows and Mac only.
- Send a PDF. File, Save As, PDF. Fonts are always embedded in a PDF and it looks identical everywhere.
7. It installs but the letters look wrong
Gaps in letters, missing characters, or boxes where a symbol should be are not Word problems; they are problems in the font file. For a handwriting font that usually means light ink or a bad photo on the sheet. Recapture the affected letters with a darker pen. The template troubleshooting post covers what goes wrong at that stage.