Global Default Font

[CRMacS]

I'm using the latest desktop 31.0.2 on W11.
The default global font appears to be Helvetica, which appears when I start new text. I'd like to change it but can't find where Helvetica is in the Extras - Configuration. I've only seen Arial.

[draw-io-triage-bot[bot]]

👋 Thank you for opening this issue!

---

Summary: The user wants to change the global default font in draw.io desktop from what appears to be Helvetica to a different font, and is asking how to configure this default, as they cannot find where the Helvetica default is set in the Extras > Configuration settings.

---

📝 Additional Information Needed

To help us investigate this more effectively, could you please provide:

• Have you tried setting the default font via Extras > Configuration using JSON like: {"defaultFonts": ["Arial", "Times New Roman", "Courier New"]} or setting the default style? For example, you can use Extras > Edit Style on a text element to see the current font family, and you can set a default font in the configuration with something like: {"defaultFontFamily": "Arial"}.
• Are you looking to change the default font for all new text/labels globally, or just for specific shapes?
• When you say Helvetica appears, is it showing 'Helvetica' in the font picker, or does the rendered text just look like Helvetica? Note that on Windows, Helvetica often falls back to Arial since Helvetica is typically not installed.

---

---

_{🤖 This is an automated response to help with initial triage. A human maintainer will review this issue. If you've provided all the requested information, no further action is needed - we'll get back to you soon!}

[CRMacS]

I would like to change the default font for everything - totally global.

I have been looking in Extras - Configuration
In Fonts - Default Fonts - Add font name... I added the font and applied. Shut down and restarted. New text still Helvetica.
And did the same in Custom Fonts.
No change on restart and still Helvetica.

There is no point in telling me "
and you can set a default font in the configuration with something like: {"defaultFontFamily": "Arial"}.
0
In Default Styles is an entry:
Default Vertex Style (JSON)
{"font Family" : "Arial"}
I changed that to {"defaultFontFamily": "required font"}.

And different - still Helvetica on restart.

This seems to be unduly difficult. It shouldn't take 30 minutes to get nowhere.

[davidjgraph]

The Default Fonts and Custom Fonts sections only populate the font dropdown, they don't change the default font. The default for new cells comes from the default vertex style, so editing that was the right idea, but the value has to be valid JSON or the dialog ignores it silently, which is probably what happened.

Extras > Configuration, search "vertex" (searching "font" won't find it), then set Default Vertex Style (JSON) to:

{"fontFamily": "Verdana"}

Click Apply, then fully restart the app. New text elements and shapes will use that font. Edge labels take their font from the edge style, so set the same in Default Edge Style (JSON) if you want those too. Font size works the same way, e.g. {"fontFamily": "Verdana", "fontSize": 14}.

Equivalent config via the JSON tab of the same dialog:

{
  "defaultVertexStyle": {"fontFamily": "Verdana"},
  "defaultEdgeStyle": {"fontFamily": "Verdana"}
}

This only affects newly created cells, existing text keeps its font. The font must be installed on your system. Verified on 31.0.2. We'll fix the dialog so invalid JSON shows an error instead of being dropped silently.

[CRMacS]

Brilliant and thank you. It is always a steep learning curve with new software.