How do I restore the original Windows fonts?

QRecently I downloaded a fonts program (I can’t remember its name) that installed hundreds of new fonts onto my computer. Unfortunately, it affected some of my documents, so they now display with very weird type that is hard to read. I deleted the program but it left the fonts behind, and hence the same problem. Why has this happened? All I want is to put my PC back to exactly where it was, with just the stock fonts that come with Windows — but I can’t find any way to do this. Is this possible? I’d also like to delete all the odd ones at the same time, so that my system has only the fonts supplied by Microsoft. Nick Dobie

AThe cause is most likely that the fonts program you installed overwrote one or all of Windows’ stock fonts, so whatever documents use them will be served the replacements that now occupy the Fonts folder on your computer’s hard drive. In theory the fix is as straightforward as restoring the original fonts to C:\windows\fonts, and then deleting all the extra ones that were added. In practice, doing this can be a serious pain. Moreover, the process requires the original Windows installation disc (or files), so it’ll be a non-starter for many people.

Fortunately, there are a couple of simpler tricks that should solve your particular problem. First, launch Control Panel (via Windows key+x in Windows 10, or Start in Windows 7) and then click ‘Appearance and Personalisation’ followed by Fonts. Now, on the left, click ‘Font settings’ and then click ‘Restore default font settings’. If the typeface tool you installed didn’t overwrite the original Windows fonts, this will fix your problem.

If this doesn’t work then using System Restore should do the job, as it’ll restore overwritten fonts. Press Windows key+r, type rstrui.exe and press Enter. Click Next, choose a restore point prior to when you installed the fonts program, then click Finish and go make a cup of tea while Windows gets on with the job.

In both cases the extra typefaces installed by your unknown fonts program will remain. This isn’t itself a problem, so you could just leave things there. However, the presence of too many fonts can slow down the loading of some programs. If this is a problem for you then you can delete or disable some or all of the fonts.

First, visit www.snipca.com/23656 to see the full list of Windows’ default fonts. Now launch Control Panel, then click ‘Appearance and Personalisation’ followed by Fonts. To hide a font so it becomes invisible to applications, just right-click it and choose Hide (see screenshot). To restore it later, rightclick it again but this time choose Show. Or, to get rid of a particular typeface, just click to select it, then tap Delete (Del). Click Yes to confirm.