How to set Default Font for Outlook Classic with Microsoft Intune

Welcome to our new blog post about How to Set Default Font for Outlook Classic with Microsoft Intune. Setting a standardized default font across your organization helps maintain consistent communication, ensures brand alignment, and improves the end-user experience. Microsoft Intune allows administrators to manage and deploy Outlook Classic preferences using configuration profiles or ADMX-backed policies—making this task both scalable and manageable in enterprise environments.

How does Default Font work in Outlook Classic?

Outlook Classic (the traditional desktop client) stores its default font settings within the Windows registry under the user hive. Because these settings are user-specific, we will deploy them with an PowerShell Script and change the Registry Entries on the users profiles. The three core Outlook Classic font settings you typically define include:

• New mail messages font
• Replying or forwarding messages font
• Composing and reading plain text messages font

By configuring these via Microsoft Intune, administrators can enforce organization-wide font standards without requiring manual configuration.

How to set Default Font for New Outlook (OWA) in Microsoft 365

If you want to set the default Font for the New Outlook, you can find a blog post below. If you want to set the default Font for the Classic Outlook just keep reading and follow the steps below.

How to set Default Font for New Outlook (OWA) in Microsoft 365

How to set Default Font for Outlook Classic with Microsoft Intune

Step 1: Set your Font on a Dummy Machine

In the first step, we need to configure our desired default font on a test machine. You may use your own device, but please be aware that its font settings will be modified. Ideally, use a dedicated test machine with the latest version of Outlook Classic installed.

Once ready, we’ll apply the preferred font settings directly in Outlook. Simply follow the steps below.

• Open Outlook Classic on a Machine
• Click on File and then on Options

• Navigate to Mail and click on Stationery and Fonts..
• Now you will see the 3 Fonts settings for New messages, Replying or forwarding messages and Composing and reading plain text messages.
• Click on all 3 or only the ones you want to deploy as default for the users. Click on Font and then change the settings. I for example choose Arial and Size 11.

When you have set your Fonts, you can close Outlook and proceed with the next step.

Step 2: Export Registry Outlook Settings

In this section, we will export the registry settings for the font configuration defined in the previous step. Before proceeding, ensure that Outlook is fully closed so the settings can be exported without any issues. Once done, follow the steps below.

• Open Registry Editor
• Navigate to the following Registry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\MailSettings

Now we will export the MailSettings Entries.

• Right click on the MailSettings and click on Export
• Now choose where you want to save it. I will save it in my Downloads folder. Make sure you give it the name MailSettings

Step 3: Create Intune Win32 Application

• Create a new folder DeployDefaultFontsOutlook on C:. Copy the exported Registry into this folder. Make sure you name the file MailSettings.reg
• Create a new folder Output on C:

• Create a new PowerShell Script with the following script below.
• Name it Install.ps1
• Save it in the same folder C:\DeployDefaultFontsOutlook

$RegFile = Join-Path $PSScriptRoot "MailSettings.reg"
reg import "$RegFile"

• Create a new PowerShell Script with the following script below.
• Name it Uninstall.ps1
• Save it in the same folder C:\DeployDefaultFontsOutlook

$Key = "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\MailSettings"
$Values = "ComposeFontSimple","ComposeFontComplex","ReplyFontSimple","ReplyFontComplex","TextFontSimple","TextFontComplex"

foreach ($v in $Values) {
Remove-ItemProperty -Path $Key -Name $v -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
}

In your Output Folder, there should be a new intunewin file. We will need this in the next step.

• Click on Select app package file
• Upload your IntuneWin file which is located in C:\Output
• Click on OK
• Click on Next

• Here you can change the Settings. I leave it as it is. Dont forget to enter a Publisher
• Click on Next

On the Program tab enter the following Commands:

• Install Command: %windir%system32windowspowershellv1.0powershell.exe -executionpolicy bypass -file “Install.ps1”
• Uninstall command: %windir%system32windowspowershellv1.0powershell.exe -executionpolicy bypass -file “Uninstall.ps1”
• Allow available uninstall: Yes
• Install behavior: User
• Click on Next

On the Requirements tab enter:

• Check operating system architecture: No, Allow this app to be installed on all systems
• Minimum operating system: Windows 10 1607
• Click on Next

For the Detection rules you have mutliple options. You could check every Registry Key an compare, if the right setting is addapted. For Demonstration Purpose, i will only check, if one Value exists.

• Rules format: Manually configure detection rules
• Click on Add
• Rule type: Registry
• Key path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\MailSettings
• Value name: ComposeFontComplex

• Define your Dependencies if applicable and click on Next
• Define your Supersedence if applicable and click on Next
• On the Assignments tab assign the Policy to a Group or to All User
• Click on Next
• And Review + Create the Policy

Congratulations! You have successfully deployed the application.

Conclusion

In this blog post we Learn about How to set Default Font for Outlook Classic with Microsoft Intune. We hope this guide has provided you with valuable insights to improve your device management strategy. Did you enjoy this article? Dont forget to follow us and share this article. If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out or leave a comment below.