Microsoft Word does not save fonts after exporting a document to PDF

Take this:

1. Clear Word’s Font Cache

Sometimes Word’s font cache gets corrupted after a system reinstall:

• Close Word completely.
• Navigate to:
  C:\Users\<YourUserName>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\FontCache
• Delete the contents of this folder.
• Restart your computer and try exporting again.

2. Use Static Font Variants Instead of Variable Fonts

Some versions of Word (especially Office 2021) struggle with variable fonts:

• If you're using a font like Readex Pro or others with variable weights, uninstall the variable version.
• Install the static font variants instead — these are usually included in the same ZIP file when downloading the font.

3. Explicitly Select Font Styles

For fonts like CMU Serif:

• Don’t just click “Bold” or “Italic” — manually select the actual font variant (e.g., “CMU Serif Bold”) from the font dropdown.
• If the bold/italic variants aren’t listed, type the name directly.

4. Check Word’s Font Embedding Settings

Double-check this even if you’ve done it before:

• Go to File > Options > Save.
• Under “Preserve fidelity when sharing this document,” check:
• “Embed fonts in the file”
• “Embed only the characters used” (optional)
• Uncheck “Do not embed common system fonts”

If none of these work, try exporting using Print to PDF instead of Save As PDF