Forum Discussion
Microsoft Word does not save fonts after exporting a document to PDF
I have encountered such a problem that when saving a document in PDF format or using the Adobe Acrobat Pro plugin, I simply do not save fonts or their font styles. All fonts are installed for all users, everything worked fine before reinstalling the system.
I tried embedding all fonts in the file through the Word settings. I've tried everything-all the PDF export settings — nothing helps.
1 Reply
Take this:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
