You can now change your default or select an equation and apply the XITS Math font: Word displays the Equation Options dialog, and you can now see that you have a choice in the Default font… dropdown: In Word, click on that dialog launcher for the Equations > Conversions group on the ribbon. otf files from the ZIP file to a suitable folder on your PC, select them all in Windows Explorer, right-click and then select Install to install the fonts to your PC. Now download and install the XITS OpenType font by going to its homepage and downloading the latest ZIP file, which contains the following versions of the font: Note that there is only one font available in the Default font… dropdown, Cambria Math. Word displays the Equation Options dialog: Insert an equation, and then click on the dialog launcher,, at the bottom right of the Conversions group on the Equation ribbon tab. You can only change it to another math font, such as XITS (which is very similar to Times New Roman). So, can you change the default font for equations to any font installed on your PC? Unfortunately, no. So now, virtually all the common fonts have all the glyphs required to format equations in Word. The math glyphs were included in the international standard ISO/IEC 14496-22, Information technology-Coding of audio-visual objects-Part 22: Open Font Format in 2014. Cambria Math was developed in 2007 as the first font for the then-new equation tool in Word 2007, and it contained all the glyphs required to build equations. Here, for example, is the binomial theorem:Įither way, Word uses the Cambria Math font to format equations. You can either insert one of the standard equations that come with Word or build your own. Word has a very comprehensive tool for building complex equations in your document: just click Equation on the Symbols group on the Insert ribbon tab. But what if you must use a specific font in your document? What if, for example, your document is a proposal, and your customer mandates you using Times New Roman?īy Dick Eassom, CF APMP Fellow (aka Wordman) By default, Word uses the font Cambia Math whenever you insert an equation into your document.

How to make an equation in word