How to type Chinese with a custom font in Word? Whenever I start typing it defaults to SimSun or DengXian

Question

How to type Chinese with a custom font in Word? Whenever I start typing it defaults to SimSun or DengXian

Waas 25

I am using the Microsoft Pinyin Keyboard with Word and am trying to type in Chinese. I installed the font Source Han Serif TC VF and would like to use it in my project. Under the default settings: I change the font to the one I want, but when I start typing it automatically switches to DengXian. So I changed the Fonts under Design > Document Formatting to my desired font. When I start typing, it automatically switches to SimSun instead. I cannot use the font I want because Word keeps changing it to some default value. Even if I manually switch the font over, the next characters I will type in the same line are going to be in SimSun again. The only way to ever produce a document in my desired font is to first type it in some random typeface dictated by Word, then switch to the correct font afterwards. I cannot express how much frustration this has caused me. I hope the fix is simple and just right under my nose

Relevant links: https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/18343-is-it-possible-to-choose-the-default-chinese-font-for-ms-word/

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/4889018/word-2016-stubbornly-changes-my-default-font-whene

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Answer 1

Allan Solomon Mejia 8,170

Hello @Waas

This happens because Word maintains a separate East Asian font setting from the font used for Latin/Western text. When you switch to Microsoft Pinyin and start entering Chinese, Word uses the East Asian font defined by the current style, which explains why it switches back to SimSun or DengXian. Microsoft exposes this internally as the NameFarEast font property.

Since Source Han Serif TC VF is already installed, try modifying the Normal style, rather than only selecting the font from the Home ribbon:

Go to Home > Styles.
Right-click Normal > Modify.
Select Format > Font.
If Word displays separate options for Latin text and Asian text, set the Asian text font to Source Han Serif TC VF.
Save the change to the document/template as appropriate.

If your Word version doesn't expose the Asian-font field in that dialog, you can verify what Word is actually assigning by selecting some Chinese text and running this VBA command:

MsgBox Selection.Font.NameFarEast

Microsoft specifically documents Font.NameFarEast as the property Word uses to get or set the font for East Asian text.

So changing Design > Fonts alone may not solve this—the theme/default Western font and the style's East Asian font can be different settings.

Also make sure Source Han Serif TC VF actually contains the Chinese glyphs you're entering. If the requested glyph isn't present, Office can substitute another installed East Asian font. Microsoft documents this font-substitution behavior as well.

Sharing you this reference:

Microsoft Learn – Word Font.NameFarEast property | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/api/word.font.namefareast?

If NameFarEast reports SimSun/DengXian even after modifying Normal, that would narrow this down considerably; we can then set the East Asian font explicitly in the template rather than changing it after typing.

Please "Accept the Answer" if this information helped you. This will help us and others in the community as well.

Waas 25 Reputation points

2026-08-16T10:02:04.98+00:00

Thanks for your answer, Allan. Unfortunately, changing the Asian font of the Normal style doesn't seem to work. It still switches over to SimSun whenever I start typing Chinese. I have attached some screen captures if that might help.

Also, if it makes any difference, how do I use the VBA command you've provided? I am not familiar with it.
Suzanne S Barnhill 279.1K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-08-16T11:43:45.01+00:00
To easily run a single-line command such as the one Allan posted:

Press Alt+F11 to open the Visual Basic Editor (on some computers you'll need to use Fn+Alt+F11). This assumes you have VBA support enabled in your installation.

Press Ctrl+G to activate the Immediate window.

Paste in the command you have copied from Waas's answer and press Enter.
Allan Solomon Mejia 8,170 Reputation points

2026-08-16T16:14:07.6466667+00:00

Hello @Waas

Please let us know if you need any further assistance. Otherwise, if the information provided has resolved your issue, please consider clicking “Accept Answer” to help others who may encounter the same problem.

Thank you!
Waas 25 Reputation points

2026-08-17T00:20:03.84+00:00

Thanks for all your assistance so far. I just tried the VBA command through Suzanne's guide and it returned Source Han Serif TC VF—the font I want to use. But I still cannot type Chinese without it changing to SimSun, though. What should be my next course of action? If there is no way, maybe I can create a bug report.
Allan Solomon Mejia 8,170 Reputation points

2026-08-17T00:40:13.6066667+00:00
Hi @Waas

Thanks for testing it. Since the VBA command correctly returns Source Han Serif TC VF, that confirms Word can see and address the font. The remaining issue is likely that Word is applying a separate East Asian font setting when Chinese characters are entered, which is why it switches back to SimSun.

A couple of things you'll need to check next:

Select the affected text and press Ctrl+D to open the Font dialog. Check whether Asian text font is available and explicitly set it to Source Han Serif TC VF.

Go to Design > Fonts > Customize Fonts and make sure the Asian/Chinese font isn't still being inherited from the document theme or Normal template.

Create a completely new blank document and test there. If Source Han Serif works correctly in a new document, the issue is likely associated with the original document's styles/template.

In Word, check File > Options > Language and confirm that the appropriate Chinese editing/proofing language is enabled.

One other detail may be important: Source Han Serif TC is intended for Traditional Chinese. If your Microsoft Pinyin input is producing Simplified Chinese text, Word's East Asian font substitution can behave differently depending on the text's language metadata. That could explain why Word keeps selecting SimSun.

Since the VBA result confirms the requested font exists, I wouldn't keep troubleshooting font installation at this point. The next thing to determine is whether Word is overriding it through the East Asian font/language settings.

Could you also confirm whether you're typing Simplified Chinese or Traditional Chinese, and which version/build of Word you're using? That should narrow this down considerably.
Waas 25 Reputation points

2026-08-17T09:25:50.94+00:00

I figured it out. It was not Word's fault after all. The font I installed—Source Han Serif TC VF from GitHub—was corrupted or just broken somehow. Following Allan's previous instruction that I failed to do,

Also make sure Source Han Serif TC VF actually contains the Chinese glyphs you're entering.

I tried inspecting the font's contents on FontDrop! and FontForge but both apps didn't accept the file. Weird thing is the font does seem to work and does contain the glyphs required but it is also corrupted, so Word cannot read it correctly. To confirm that it is a font problem, I installed another font—全字庫—and tested it in Word. Guess what, it works just fine.

Thanks again for all your help here. I immediately dismissed the font being broken as a possibility but in the end that was the actual cause, my bad! I still want to figure out why the font is broken but that's a question for another day. This issue has been resolved🥳