Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Fonts in the Font Drop-Down List.
When you add a font to Windows, that font shows up in the Font drop-down list on the Home tab of the ribbon (in the Font group) ready for you to use. The Font drop-down list is interesting because it doesn't list just the fonts available, but also includes a MRU list of the fonts you've used.
If you click the down-arrow at the right side of the Font list, you'll see what I mean. Note the Recently Used Fonts section of the drop-down list. This includes up to ten fonts that represent the fonts you most recently used in your formatting.
The MRU list in the Fonts drop-down list cannot be changed or controlled. In other words, you can't dictate how many fonts are listed there, nor can you specify what fonts should be there. The only way to change the list is to actually use the fonts.
Testing has shown that you can't even affect the Fonts list MRU by using macros. You might think that if you change the font of a text selection using a macro that the font name would appear in the Fonts list MRU. This is not the case; the only fonts that show up there are those that are actually selected using the drop-down list.
One caveat to changing the Fonts list MRU is that you can turn it off completely. Doing so, however, involves making some changes to the Windows Registry. You can find more information about how to disable the Fonts list MRU at this Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/199785
The article indicates that it applies only to Word 2000, but the Registry fix it describes will actually work in all subsequent versions of Word, including Word 2007. You'll want to use "Method 2" from the page, but change the "9.0" portion of the Registry key to "12.0" for Word 2007.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8307) applies to Microsoft Word 2007. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Fonts in the Font Drop-Down List.
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2016-07-13 10:44:14
Steven Hansen
Seems to me that, and as usual with Microsoft, code the most complex instructions into a product first and then hide it away in the most inaccessible region of the application so that we have to search about for a solution on the net...usually to them!
Don't ever just 'right click' and delete
the font, oh no that would be too easy wouldn't it just....
2015-03-10 09:11:10
Maryland, USA
@bzybdr Yes it IS possible to make the font names in your dropdown font list smaller or larger!
When you do, you'll be making other elements larger or smaller at the same time, so make sure you can live with the change you've selected. Of course, you can always revert.
Here's how, in Windows 7:
1. In Windows control panel, find your way to Window Color and Appearance. In Windows 7, I got there by clicking Personalization > Window Color > Advanced Appearance Settings... But this path may work only if you've selected the Windows Classic theme.
2. In the Item menu, select Selected Items.
3. In the Font: Size: menu, select a larger or smaller font size.
4. Click Apply.
Your display will show only shades of grey, and you won't be able to click anything.
5. When the colors return to your display, check your dropdown font menu. The font names should look different.
6. If you like the result, click OK. If you don't like it, try a different Font Size, a different Font, or both, until you do.
2015-03-09 14:20:57
bzybdr
I want to change the size of a particular font displayed in the fonts menu, not the MRU menu. Is that possible. Some of the fonts I have downloaded are hard to see in that box
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: 
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