- Select the affected cells.
- Go to the Home tab and click Clear  Clear Formats.
- Try changing the font again.

Sandra, thank you however I still cannot change the font after clicking clear formats

Try copying and pasting it as plain text:
- Copy the data.
- Right-click and choose Paste Special  Values.
- Then, apply the font changes.

Sandra, so I tried what you said and it still will not change. So I opened a new workbook and before doing anything with it, I highlighted the whole workbook to change the font. It did not change, it is doing the same thing in a blank workbook.

Kim I asked ChatGPT and was given this checklist.

Excel Font Not Changing  -  Troubleshooting Checklist
Please follow these steps one at a time:

1. Make Sure the Font Change Was Applied Correctly
   Open a blank workbook.
   Click the square above row 1 and to the left of column A to select the entire sheet.
   On the Home tab, change the font to something different (e.g., Arial or Calibri).
   Click any empty cell and start typing  -  check if the font is now different.

2. Clear All Formatting
   Click the top-left square to select all cells again.
   Go to Home > Editing (far right) > Clear > Clear Formats.
   Then try changing the font again.

3. Check for Custom Cell Styles
   Go to Home > Cell Styles.
   If "Normal" or another style is selected, right-click it  choose Modify  change the font and click OK.
   Try typing again in a blank cell.

4. Set a New Default Font for All Future Workbooks
   Go to File > Options > General tab.
   Under "When creating new workbooks," set your preferred font in:
   Use this as the default font
   Click OK and restart Excel completely.
   Try opening a brand-new workbook and test it.

5. Start Excel in Safe Mode
   If fonts still won't change:
   Close Excel.
   Hold the Ctrl key and double-click the Excel icon.
   Click Yes when prompted to open in Safe Mode.
   Try changing the font now.
   If it works in Safe Mode, there may be a problematic add-in installed.

Kevin,
Thank you for you help. I went through each step and did them all with no change to the font. Step 4 changed the font for all future workbooks, however I open and new workbook and the font is the old one.

So, I shut everything down again and just started excel and the new workbook is the changed font. Thank you everyone