Why can I see a font even if it is not installed?

Question

I do not have **Seravek** font installed on my system. My client sent a Microsoft Word document with contents using this font. When I select the text, it shows the correct font name i.e. Seravek. However, I cannot find a corresponding font file *(seravek.ttf)* anywhere. I've looked at `C:\\Windows\\Fonts` and also searched in `C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Office\\`Can anyone help me to understand: If the font is not installed on my system, how can I still see that font?

Answer 1

If you have a Word document that uses a font that isn't installed on your system and the font isn't embedded in the document, then Word replaces the font you don't have with a default that you do have (most likely that will be Calibri, Arial or Times New Roman depending on your system).

When you select the text and look at what font is being displayed, Word still says 'Seravek' (the name of the font you don't have) even though Word has substituted a different font.

Is the font displaying strangely? If it is, then substitution has occurred. You can search for the font online and compare it to what is displaying in your document to determine if the font has been embedded or not.

If you don't have the font, you can accept the substitution, change it to something else you have or purchase the font. If the sender wants to use that font, have them embed it in the document and resend to you.