Microsoft says goodbye to Calibri, Aptos is now Office's default font

Microsoft has been on a hunt for a new font for the last two years.(Image: Microsoft)

After nearly 16 years of being at the frontlines as the default font for Microsoft Office, Calibri is being retired in favor of Aptos, a new font inspired by mid-20th-century Swiss typography.

Microsoft has been on a hunt for a new font for the last two years. The company commissioned five new fonts in 2021 - Tenorite, Bierstadt, Skeena, Seaford and Grandview.

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The company added these fonts to Office and collected feedback after which Bierstadt was chosen. While its official name has been changed to Aptos, the font will still available in Office under its original name.

In a blog post announcing the switch, Microsoft said that Aptos is made, "of varying geometric shapes, is bold, well-defined, directive, and constrained. It articulates many different languages and tones. Stem ends are clean cut. Subtle circular squares within the letters’ contours allow higher legibility, especially at small sizes".

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The new typeface was created by Steve Matteson, one of the world's leading font designers. His previous work included the original Windows TrueType fonts and the font Segoe, used by Microsoft in its marketing materials.