Excel – Pixelated font in Word/Outlook, but not Excel/Access (Office 2016)

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I'm confused as to why my computer shows fonts looking slightly different of Word and Outlook when compared with Excel and Access all on Office 2016

This screenshot shows Calibri size 11 in Excel on the left and Outlook on the right.

Screenshot

Looking carefully you can see the right looks a little worse and pixelated.

What's the issue and how can I change it so the Word & Outlook version looks like the Excel version?

Another screenshot showing Calibri 11pt and Arial 10pt, Excel on left Outlook on right. Notice how Excel's font looks smoother:

Screenshot 2

Best Answer

I'm not sure about Outlook and Access, but it is a known fact that:

  1. Word 2013/2016 uses "whole-pixel anti-aliasing" and will never use ClearType (even if you enable global ClearType) [right side of your screenshot]. So there is nothing wrong with your PC. By the way, Word 2013/2016 will not use even "whole-pixel anti-aliasing" for some fonts if you disable ClearType globally.

  2. Excel 2013/2016 by default uses ClearType (if ClearType is enabled globally in your Windows) [left side of your screenshot]. If you disable ClearType globally Excel 2013/2016 will use "whole-pixel anti-aliasing" only for some fonts like Word 2013/2016 do.

  3. Only Word 2007/2010 and Excel 2007/2010 by default follow global ClearType status in your Windows. By the way you can get rights to choose ClearType status (enabled or disabled) that will be used in Office 2007/2010 products by setting Excel/Word's .exe files compatibility to "Windows XP mode" or by using Windows XP itself.

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