Custom fonts in the RTF file footer revert to the default font (Times New Roman) when the file is reopened after upgrading to Office 365.

Pushpraj Patel 0 Reputation points
2026-09-08T08:05:00.6333333+00:00

Hi All,
Recently, we upgraded from Microsoft Office to Microsoft 365. Since the upgrade, we have been experiencing an unusual custom font-related issue with our invoice RTF templates. Earlier it was working completely fine. We use the custom Noto Kufi Arabic font for Arabic text. However, in certain sections of the RTF template, particularly in the footer section, the custom font automatically reverts to the default font, mainly Times New Roman. Even after manually changing the affected text back to Noto Kufi Arabic Extra Bold and saving the RTF file, the issue reoccurs when the file is reopened—the font is again changed to Times New Roman.

As part of troubleshooting, we have already uninstalled and reinstalled the required custom fonts, but the issue still persists. We had never encountered this behavior with the previous version of Microsoft Office, and it started only after the upgrade to Microsoft 365.

Attaching doc file with screenshot of issue for reference.

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Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For business | Windows
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  1. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2026-09-11T04:55:36.4133333+00:00

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    Note there is a specific paragraph and character style - Footer that is used by default for the text in the Footer of a document. Make sure that style is defined to make use of the required font in the Template from which the documents are created..

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  2. Liora 1,630 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-09-08T09:09:57.2066667+00:00

    Dear @Pushpraj Patel,

    I hope you’re having a good day. 

    Thank you for the detailed explanation and the screenshots. You've already done a good amount of troubleshooting, which helps narrow the scope of the issue significantly.

    Based on your findings, I can see that you have already confirmed the following:

    • Confirmed the Noto Kufi Arabic fonts are installed and available in Windows.
    • Reinstalled the custom fonts.
    • Verified that Word can apply Noto Kufi Arabic ExtraBold correctly.
    • Confirmed the issue is reproducible: the font appears correctly before saving, but reverts to Times New Roman after saving and reopening the RTF file.
    • Identified that the behavior occurs primarily in the footer section.
    • Confirmed the issue only started after upgrading to Microsoft 365.

    Given the above, this does not currently look like a simple font installation problem. Before concluding that this is a Microsoft 365 regression, I would recommend a few additional tests to help isolate whether the issue is related to the RTF format, the font mapping, or a change in how Microsoft 365 handles the document.

    Test 1: Save the template as DOCX

    1. Open the affected RTF file.
    2. Change the footer text back to Noto Kufi Arabic ExtraBold.
    3. Save the file as Word Document (*.docx).
    4. Close Word completely.
    5. Reopen the DOCX file and verify whether the footer font remains unchanged.

    Expected outcome: If DOCX preserves the font correctly while RTF does not, this would strongly suggest that the issue is related to the RTF format rather than the font installation itself.

    Test 2: Check another Microsoft 365 machine

    Please test the same RTF file on another computer running Microsoft 365.

    • If the issue occurs on multiple machines, it may indicate a format compatibility or application behavior change.
    • If it occurs only on one machine, the issue may be specific to the local Office installation or configuration.

    Test 3: Try another Arabic font

    As a comparison, apply another Arabic font in the same footer location, such as:

    • Traditional Arabic
    • Arial
    • Arial Unicode MS

    Then save as RTF, close, and reopen.

    Expected outcome:

    • If only Noto Kufi Arabic ExtraBold is affected, the issue may be related to font mapping.
    • If multiple Arabic fonts exhibit the same behavior, the issue may be related to how the footer content is being stored in the RTF document.

    If you can confirm that:

    • The issue is consistently reproducible,
    • DOCX files preserve the font while RTF files do not,
    • The behavior occurs on multiple Microsoft 365 machines,
    • And the issue only began after the Microsoft 365 upgrade,

    then I would recommend opening a Microsoft 365 Support case and providing a sample file that demonstrates the behavior. That would give Support a clear and reproducible scenario to investigate and determine whether this is an RTF compatibility issue or a behavior change introduced after the upgrade.

    I look forward to hearing the results of these tests.

    Warm regards,  

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