🚔 DeckMedic · Repair Shop Suite · Tool 2 of 3

Font Police
Replace Helvetica & Unsafe Fonts in PowerPoint

Helvetica doesn't exist on Windows. Futura isn't bundled with Office. Gotham requires a commercial license most machines don't have. Design agencies building brand decks on macOS send beautiful files to clients — who open them on Windows and see mangled layouts, overflowing text boxes, and broken grids. Font Police finds every non-standard font across slides, masters, and theme files, and replaces it with the nearest Windows-safe equivalent before you send.

🔒

Zero upload

Private & local

Instant

No server needed

🆓

Free

No account required

📄

PPTX only

Accepts .pptx files

HelveticaFuturaGothamSF ProAvenirMyriad Pro
📂

Drop your .pptx to inspect

or click to browse

Detects 20+ non-standard fonts · Auto-swaps to Windows-safe

What this tool actually does

← drag handle to compare  ·  left = before  ·  right = after →

✕ Before
  • Theme fontFutura PT (Mac-only)
  • Slide textHelvetica Neue (Mac-only)
  • On Windowssubstituted → layout breaks
✓ After
  • Theme fontFutura PT → Century Gothic
  • Slide textHelvetica Neue → Arial
  • Non-standard0 remaining
📖 How it works · Font replacement map · Safe font list

Font Police — How it works

  1. 1

    Scan all XML font declarations

    Reads every typeface="..." attribute across slides, layouts, masters, notes masters, and theme files — capturing fonts declared at every level of the presentation hierarchy.

  2. 2

    Match against known-unsafe list

    Each font name is checked against a curated map of 20+ Mac-only and commercial fonts. Known problematic fonts are auto-replaced. Theme font references (+mj-lt, +mn-lt) are always preserved. Unknown fonts not in the safe list are flagged for manual review.

  3. 3

    Download with audit report

    The Before→After replacement table shows every font changed and how many times. Unknown fonts are listed separately so you can decide whether to keep or manually replace them.

Replacement map (selected)

Helvetica Arial
Helvetica Neue Arial
SF Pro / SF Pro Text Calibri
Futura / Futura PT Century Gothic
Gotham / Gotham Book Calibri
Avenir / Avenir Next Calibri
Myriad Pro Calibri
Gill Sans / Gill Sans MT Tahoma
Brandon Grotesque Calibri
Proxima Nova Calibri

Tips

  • Run Font Police before emailing decks to clients on Windows — particularly for decks designed on a Mac.
  • If you see a font in the "Detected — Review Manually" list, test the deck on a clean Windows 11 VM to confirm rendering.
  • Combine with Animation Detox to produce a clean, presentation-ready static deck.

Font Police vs. Alternatives

Method Speed Privacy Catches all Mac fonts
Font Police (this tool) Instant — scans every text frame ✅ 100% local, zero upload ✅ Detects Helvetica, Futura, Gill Sans, Geneva, and all Mac-only fonts
Find & Replace Font in PowerPoint Manual — one font at a time ✅ Local ⚠️ Must know exact font names; misses theme fonts
Install Mac fonts on Windows Time-consuming ❌ Requires admin rights ⚠️ Doesn’t fix broken layouts from substitution
Online file converters Varies ❌ File uploaded to server ❌ Not designed for font replacement

Who uses Font Police

💻

Mac-to-Windows Teams

Built your deck on macOS with Helvetica or Futura? Send it through Font Police before sharing with Windows colleagues to prevent layout breaks.

🖨️

Print & Production Teams

Going to a print shop that uses Windows? Mac fonts in your PPTX will substitute silently, shifting text boxes and breaking your brand layout.

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Enterprise IT & Template Owners

Auditing company-wide deck templates to enforce Windows-safe font standards? Font Police flags every non-compliant font instantly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Helvetica on Windows?

No. Helvetica is bundled with macOS, not Windows. Windows users see Arial instead — which appears visually similar but has different metrics. Letter-spacing differences can push text out of boxes on complex slides.

What fonts are safe on all Windows machines?

Fonts bundled with Windows 10/11: Arial, Calibri, Cambria, Century Gothic, Georgia, Impact, Segoe UI, Tahoma, Times New Roman, Trebuchet MS, Verdana. Office installs add: Aptos (Office 2024+), Candara, Consolas, Constantia, Corbel.

Will Font Police replace fonts inside text boxes and on master slides?

Yes. The tool scans all typeface declarations in slide content, slide layouts, slide masters, notes masters, and theme files — every layer of the inheritance chain.

What if I want to keep a non-standard font?

Unknown fonts (not in the known-unsafe list) are flagged for review but never auto-replaced. For known-unsafe fonts that you want to keep, you can skip downloading the output file.

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