Where to find and change fonts in Google Slides
Google Slides gives you access to fonts through the toolbar at the top of your presentation. When you select any text — a title, a bullet point, a caption — the font menu appears in the toolbar as a dropdown that shows the name of the current font. Click that dropdown and you see a list of available fonts, plus a search box at the top. Type the name of any font you want, click it, and the selected text changes when ready.
The default font in Google Slides is Arial, which works fine for most presentations. But if you want something different — a serif font for a formal document, a rounded font for a friendly tone, a decorative font for a title — the process is the same: select the text, open the font menu, and pick what you want. You can change fonts one text box at a time, or select multiple text boxes and change them all at once.
Key Takeaways
- Click the font dropdown in the toolbar, type the name of any font, and click to explore it to selected text.
- Google Slides includes over 900 fonts built in, organized by category — serif, sans-serif, display, handwriting, and monospace.
- You can change the font of a single word, a whole text box, or multiple text boxes by selecting them before opening the font menu.
- Custom fonts you add to your Google account appear in the "My fonts" section and stay available across all your presentations.
How to select text before changing the font
Before you can change a font, you need to tell Google Slides which text you want to change. Click inside any text box to place your cursor there. Then highlight the text you want to change by clicking and dragging across it, or triple-click to select an entire paragraph, or use Ctrl+A (or Cmd+A on Mac) to select all text in that box.
If you want to change the font of multiple separate text boxes — say, all the titles on a slide — click the first text box, then hold Shift and click each additional text box. When you open the font menu now, any font you pick applies to all selected boxes at once. This is faster than changing each title one by one.
Browsing fonts by category
When you open the font dropdown, you see fonts organized into five categories: Sans-serif (clean, modern fonts without decorative lines), Serif (formal fonts with small lines at the ends of letters), Display (bold, eye-catching fonts for headlines), Handwriting (fonts that look like cursive or pen), and Monospace (fonts where every letter takes up the same width, often used for code or technical content).
Scroll through any category to see what is available. Sans-serif fonts like Roboto and Open Sans work well for body text and slides where readability matters. Serif fonts like Lora and Playfair Display suit formal presentations or documents. Display fonts like Fredoka One or Righteous grab attention but become hard to read in long blocks, so use them for titles or short phrases. Handwriting fonts add personality but can be difficult to read on screen, so test them on your actual slides before committing.
Searching for a specific font by name
If you know the name of the font you want, use the search box at the top of the font menu. Type the first few letters — "rob" for Roboto, "lora" for Lora, "mont" for Montserrat — and Google Slides filters the list to show matches. Click the font name and it applies to your selected text.
This is much faster than scrolling through hundreds of fonts. The search works even if you type the name in lowercase or with a typo, so you do not have to remember the exact capitalization. If you type a name that does not exist in Google Slides, the search box shows no results and your text stays in its current font.
Adding custom fonts from Google Fonts
Google Slides pulls its font library from Google Fonts, a free collection of over 1,400 fonts. If you want a font that is not showing up in your dropdown, it may be available in Google Fonts but not yet added to your account. At the bottom of the font menu, click "More fonts" to open a dialog showing additional fonts you can add.
Search for the font you want in this dialog, click the plus sign next to it, and click "OK". The font is now added to your account and appears in the "My fonts" section at the top of the font dropdown in all your presentations. You can add as many custom fonts as you want, and they stay in your account until you remove them. To remove a font, go back to the "More fonts" dialog, find the font you added, and click the checkmark next to it to uncheck it.
Changing font size and style at the same time
The font menu controls only which typeface you use. To change the size, look for the font size dropdown next to the font name — it usually shows a number like 18 or 24. Click it and choose a size, or type a custom size. To make text bold, italic, or underlined, use the buttons in the toolbar marked B, I, and U, or select the text and press Ctrl+B, Ctrl+I, or Ctrl+U (Cmd+B, Cmd+I, Cmd+U on Mac).
You can also change text color by clicking the text color button (usually marked with an A and a colored line). These formatting options work together — you can have a 28-point bold Montserrat title in blue, for example. explore the font first, then adjust size and style to match the look you want.
Why some fonts look different on different devices
When you share a Google Slides presentation with someone else, or when you view it on a phone instead of a computer, fonts may look slightly different. This happens because Google Slides uses web fonts, which are designed to display consistently across devices, but screen size, resolution, and browser all affect how text appears. A font that looks crisp on a desktop monitor may look slightly softer on a phone.
To avoid surprises, test your presentation on the devices where it will actually be viewed. Open it on a phone, a tablet, and a computer to see how the fonts render. If a font looks too small or hard to read on any device, increase the font size or switch to a simpler font. Sans-serif fonts like Roboto and Open Sans tend to stay readable across all devices, while very decorative fonts may become harder to read on smaller screens.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use fonts that are not in Google Slides?
No, Google Slides only uses fonts from Google Fonts, which is a library of over 1,400 free typefaces. You cannot upload your own font files or use fonts installed on your computer. If you want a specific font, search for it in the "More fonts" dialog to see if a similar version exists in Google Fonts.
Do I have to change the font for every slide?
No. You can change the font for your entire presentation at once by editing the slide master. Go to Slide > Edit master, select the text you want to change, pick a new font, and click Close master. The new font applies to all slides that use that master layout. This is faster than changing fonts slide by slide.
What happens to fonts when I read my presentation as a PDF?
Google Slides converts your presentation to PDF and embeds the fonts so they display the same way in the PDF as they do in the slides. The fonts stay readable and do not change. If you read as PowerPoint instead, fonts may shift slightly because PowerPoint uses a different font system, so test the read on your actual device before sharing.
Can I make a font bigger or smaller without opening the font menu?
Yes. Select the text, then use the font size dropdown in the toolbar (the number next to the font name) to pick a new size. You can also highlight text and press Ctrl+] to make it bigger or Ctrl+[ to make it smaller (Cmd+] and Cmd+[ on Mac). These keyboard shortcuts work one size step at a time.