If you’ve got to include code in your Word document, you will want to find a suitable font to set it out from the rest. This article will look at the best fonts to write code in a text document to make sure you’ve found the right one to use.
Best Coding Fonts in Microsoft Word
The best coding fonts in Microsoft Word are Courier New, Consolas, and Lucida Console. All of these work really well when you’re trying to include coding as part of a document. They also look good when they’re indented to the middle of the page (where most coding goes).
Courier New
Courier New is always going to be a popular choice for coding fonts. It looks really good, and it comes from the original font that typewriters used to use. It’s unique enough compared with standard fonts like Times New Roman and Arial that it will work wonders for coding.
The key when writing coding in a word document comes from the style of the font. It’s no good writing an entire document in Times New Roman, only to also include all of your code in that way too.
Keeping the fonts the same throughout doesn’t help any reader to understand where the cuts or codes come from. It’s like including examples in writing with speech marks or writing them in italics. You’ll always want to find ways to keep them separated.
Rather than speech marks or italics for coding, the best thing to do is change the font. Since Courier New is a popular and recognizable font, it makes for a great choice if you’re looking for something to use that’ll stand out from the rest of your writing.
Consolas
Consolas is another great coding font that is available on Microsoft Word. The name comes from “console,” which is used when referring to the consoles you might input data into or create code with. It’s one of the best fonts for this very reason.
The style of Consolas is simple, but that’s what makes it effective. With coding, you don’t want to use flamboyant fonts, and you definitely don’t want to use something that’s difficult to read.
Consolas isn’t all that different from most sans serif fonts (like Arial or Calibri). However, it comes with a style that makes it work really well when you include it as part of a code in the middle of a document.
Lucida Console
Lucida Console is another great choice. It’s part of the Lucida family of fonts, which is a very popular font choice for Word users. Most people know of the standard fonts, and “Console” is the best one to use when writing any type of code.
Lucida Console comes with large gaps between each letter, even when you don’t include spaces between them. These gaps help to set the code out from the rest of your writing.
The gaps allow people to comprehend your code in a more reasonable way. They’ll understand more about why you’ve decided to write something the way you have or what the code is supposed to achieve when inputted into certain programs.
Arial Narrow
Arial Narrow is a decent choice that’s worth mentioning. It’s part of the Arial family of fonts, which is perhaps the most popular font choice on Microsoft Word. You should only use this for code if you’re not using Arial as your main body of text in your document.
You want your code and your main text to have a clear difference between them. If you use Arial for both (even if you use different styles), it can lead to some confusion.
We recommend using Arial Narrow over anything else because of how it looks for coding. You can fit a lot in on one line, which makes it ideal when you’re trying to work with longer strings of code.
Candara
Candara isn’t all that well-known, but it’s a great font if you’re looking for something to code with. The thinness of the letters is what makes this one so appealing as a code font. It looks similar to things like Consolas and Courier New, making it a great choice.
A lot of people overlook Candara because of the options that surround it alphabetically (like Courier and Consolas). Since Word arranges its fonts alphabetically, it can be difficult for fonts like Candara to become more popular when people aren’t used to them.
We encourage you to give this one a go when you are writing your code. It could really set it out from some of the stuff you’ve included in your document.
Segoe UI Light
Segoe UI Light is an excellent choice that utilizes the “Light” feature of the font very well. Generally, you’ll want most code fonts to be light and easy to read. Boldness can sometimes take away from the idea behind why you need a different code font from your regular font.
Segoe is also a very popular family of fonts in Word. There are plenty of branching choices for this font that work really well. It’s likely that you’ve used one or two of them before in your own writing.
Segoe UI Light is by far the best Segoe font for coding, though. It has everything you might need out of it, and it’s unique enough to stand out from the generic fonts like Arial.
Yu Gothic UI
Yu Gothic UI is another solid choice. The “UI” portion of the font is key here, as this shows that it’s a suitable choice for most user interfaces or documents. It can work well when offset in the middle of your documents to represent code.
Unfortunately, Yu Gothic UI can get overlooked easily. It’s one of the last fonts alphabetically on Microsoft Word’s list of fonts. Unless someone knows about it already or decides to scroll to the bottom of the list, there’s a high chance that they’ll never have seen this one.
We encourage you to give this one a try. You’ll certainly find a use for it somewhere, and it’s worth giving it a go to find where that use might come from.
Ubuntu Light
Ubuntu Light is another good choice for coding in Word. It looks good when it’s in the middle of the page, and the style is perfect if you’re trying to find a way to use it that differs from the generic fonts that most people write with.
The “light” style of Ubuntu Light is the best feature here. Again, light fonts are always better suited when you’re trying to find a way to write coding in the middle of a document.
They’re easy on the eye, and most people will understand that you’re trying to separate the code from the rest of the writing to help them understand what the code is trying to achieve.
Gill Sans MT
Gill Sans MT is another popular choice that comes from a specific Word font family. It works really well if you’re trying to include code in the middle of your writing. Unless you’re writing with another Gill Sans font, this one will stand out from the rest.
Gill Sans MT looks really good in most documents. It’s double-stroked, meaning it comes out as a little bolder than most fonts. While this boldness isn’t always ideal for coding in Word, it can offer an interesting take on it which most people avoid using.
SimSun
SimSun is a good choice that already looks like it’s made for code. If anything, you wouldn’t be able to use SimSun in any other situation because it should only be for coding. As the main body of the text, SimSun would look out of place and jarring.
SimSun isn’t a popular font choice because a lot of people don’t know about it. If more people knew it existed, it would be much more popular as a way of addressing coding in most of your Microsoft Word documents.
Quire Sans
Quire Sans is a decent choice, though it doesn’t work for most people. Sure, it introduces a style that’s unique compared to the generic Times New Roman, Calibri, and Arial fonts, but some people think it strays too far from the idea behind code writing.
For example, the letter “Q” has a long line that drops underneath it, which isn’t common in coding. It’s more common for fonts to be succinct and have no excess “noise” about them.
If you like the look of it, then, by all means, use it. But there are definitely people out there that would prefer not to.
Agency FB
Agency FB is a great choice if you’re looking to use code informally in your writing. We recommend using Agency FB when you do not include code as part of an instructional document or user interface.
A good time to include Agency FB will be if there’s a coding segment in a fantasy or creative novel you’re making. The font is unique enough while also showing the expected things most people look for when searching for code fonts.
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Martin holds a Master’s degree in Finance and International Business. He has six years of experience in professional communication with clients, executives, and colleagues. Furthermore, he has teaching experience from Aarhus University. Martin has been featured as an expert in communication and teaching on Forbes and Shopify. Read more about Martin here.
