Windows Default system/dialog font changed - very tiny

Hello, all. I'm hoping someone can help with this. I've seen it posted elsewhere, and have been through all the steps to resolve, but nothing has worked so far, or has worked piecemeal.

Yesterday I cleaned some house and uninstalled some programs that I haven't used in years. That's the only thing I can think of that triggered this - only thing "odd" I've done to my system in a long while.

After rebooting, the font Windows is using in system dialogs has changed to some type of tiny serif font - very difficult to make out. First saw this in a Print dialog (from Firefox), then in another dialog in another app (don't remember which one). I managed to resolve that with a Font Substitution fix in the registry ("MS Shell Dlg"="MS Sans Serif" - was originally pointing to "Microsoft Sans Serif"). After this, the Print and the other dialog resolved and looked normal.

Today, working in Excel - the VBE (programming) - a "tool tip"/dropdown window is showing this same tiny font.

(This is what all the dialogs were looking like.) Again, there was another dialog I had opened just prior to this that had the same issue, and again, I can't remember what I was doing - where that dialog was.
I would have thought fixing this in the registry would fix it across the board, but it looks like different dialogs are drawing/mapping from different sources(?)

I have been through the Fonts and FontSubstitution registry keys. I have been in the Display - Personalize - Windows Colors - Advanced... - Window Color and Appearance dialog box (all fonts/sizes look good here).

Not sure where to go from here to fix this all over Windows. Am hoping someone knows where I can find additional system font settings to check, or how to find if I have a damaged font file(?)

Thanks much for any help!!!

Craig T

Hi, Layback Bear. Thanks very much for the response. I've actually stepped through most of those already, and read through and tried the couple that I hadn't. I'm still having the issue here, and seeing weird font issues all over different apps when I use them.

Since yesterday, I'm seeing:
- In Excel 2016, layout view, the "Page #" watermarks in that view, I do believe, used to be in a sans serif font, but are now in a serif font(?)
- All the street, city/town, country, etc. names/labels in my MapPoint application are all a small, narrow font (still sans serif, as original). This is the most significant change - as this affects all labels in all maps displayed. The application fonts themselves (menu bars, etc.) are all normal, however.
- The weirdest one by far is the "auto-complete" text in Excel VBA. Unlike the one previously shown (drop-list is the tiny font), this shows the expected arguments of a function/method as you type - and it is a MIX of normal/OK fonts and the tiny, serif font (???)
I'm not sure where this magic setting is, or... is it possible to have a damaged font file and the system is bouncing to a secondary/backup font because the target one is faulty?

Thanks again for any ideas or responses. Greatly appreciated.

Hi, ThrashZone. Thanks for your response. As a matter of fact, the Theme I have been using has been unsaved (for the years I've been using it). I clicked on a standard Aero theme (Windows) and then changed the desktop image to what I use, then I saved it.

I haven't noticed any changes since then. Do I need to reboot to see font change updates?

Thanks again for the input.

CraigT

If Anak's suggestion doesn't work go into programs and features (from control panel), right click on office and select change, and in the office setup window select repair. Hit next and follow the menu prompts. All office applications must be closed.