How to Change the Font in Google Sheets

Lee Stanton May 13, 2021

Google Sheets allows you to customize your spreadsheets in so many ways. From logical formulas to applying specific formatting rules to selected cells, to change fonts, and so on.

You can use different fonts to highlight specific data sets and make them stand out. Or you can use them to then filter specific results when analyzing a spreadsheet. The possibilities are endless really. Here’s how you can change fonts in Google Sheets.

Changing Fonts

Regardless of whether you prefer Excel or Google Sheets, changing fonts is pretty much the same across the board. If you’d like to change the font before you begin typing, simply click on the option in the menu bar, click on the font you like, and you’re good to go.

To implement the font for the entire spreadsheet, click on the blank grey space between the first row and the first column. Clicking on this space will highlight the entire spreadsheet, then choose the font you like.

Google Sheets allows users to customize just about any aspect of their spreadsheets making it a versatile software to use for data organization.

Changing the Default Font

If you want to use one font for everything but don’t want to use the standard one, here’s how you can change your default font and apply this selection to your entire spreadsheet.

Click on the Format button in the top toolbar.
Select the Theme option.
Click on the Customize button.
Select a new font.
Click on the Done button.

From the same Theme Customization submenu, you can do other things too. You can also select a default color for all text or add specific theme accents. You can also select the font size, and you can even save the theme so that you can apply the same formatting to future spreadsheets.

Go to File > Save As > Type in “My Custom Theme”

The saved theme will then be available to apply those custom options to new files.

Changing the Font in a Cell with Existing Text

If you want to customize specific cells with a different font, here’s how to do it:

Select the cells you want to change.
Click the drop-down arrow next to default font at the toolbar.
Hover with the cursor over the Font option.
Pick a new font from the available ones in the drop-down menu.

Now those cells will display a different font from the rest of the spreadsheet. To make it stick and become uneditable, you can lock the cells to make sure that only you, the spreadsheet owner can make further modifications.

How to Add More Fonts

You’re not gated behind the default fonts available in Google Sheets. As previously mentioned, this app is all about customization of the spreadsheet. As such, you’re also able to add new fonts that will help you make your custom spreadsheet even more unique.

Click on the default font button in the toolbar.
Select the first option, More fonts.
Select new fonts from the new list and add them to your spreadsheet.

Just keep in mind that not all fonts are good choices as some of them can be quite illegible. Something cute or fun may not be easy to read.

Keyboard Shortcut Controls

Similar to many other programs, there are keyboard shortcuts that you can use to quickly change the appearance of text. If you aren’t familiar with shortcuts it’s a specific combination of keys on your computer’s keyboard that relates to action on your screen. The more you use these keys the faster you will become so give it some time and you’ll be typing content more quickly.

For a full list of shortcuts visit the ‘Help’ menu in Google Sheets and click on the option for Keyboard shortcuts. The screenshots in this article are for Windows but there is a list for Mac users as well.

Unfortunately, even this late in the 21st century, we don’t have an option to use keyboard shortcuts to toggle between our favorite fonts, but you can bold, italicize, or underline content quickly with the right shortcuts.

Google Sheets also has shortcuts for formatting. Do you want this content in the middle, aligned to the right? You can do this using the options in the top menu of your Sheets, or you can do it using the shortcuts we’ve mentioned.

One of the greatest abilities of Sheets based programs is that they give us the option to quickly organize and display complicated information. Choosing the right font, format, and highlights is the best way to achieve that goal.

Using Font-Based Features to Organize

The fonts you choose say a lot about you and your document. Times New Roman is the go-to for college students and businessmen or women. It is sophisticated and commonly accepted as the more proper font. Other options may be fun or serve a purpose adding to the point you’re trying to make with your Sheets.

Whatever it is, choosing the right fonts, colors, highlights, and attributes is vital to getting your message across.

Using the menu at the top of Google Sheets you have the following customization options:

Font – Changing the style of the letters or numbers in the text
Size of Font – Enlarge or decrease the size of your text
Bold & Italics – Highlights key pieces of data that look like this or like this
Text Color – Your letters and numbers can have just about any color in the rainbow. What’s even better is that you can set conditional formatting so that every piece of similar text will also be that color
The “More” option – Gives you fill color, text wrapping, text rotation, and more

Those who understand all of the customization options in Google Sheets have far more organized, presentable, and simpler spreadsheets.

Google Sheets – Easy to Use, Especially with Prior Experience in Text Editors

There’s nothing to it when it comes to changing fonts, text color, making spreadsheet-wide adjustments, or multiple unique optimizations for cell groupings.

If you’ve used a text editor like Microsoft Word before, or if you have some background in Excel, you’ll notice the similarities in how to find the font customization options. And, as you can see, Google Sheets offers plenty of options too when it comes to text optimization, whether it’s for aesthetics or better data filtering.