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Why Google Chrome Font is in Italics and How to Fix it

By Jeff Adam September 11, 2016 22 Comments

Problem Summary

Google Chrome font Display in ItalicsIf you suddenly find that your Google Chrome font is now displaying in italics, did you panic like I did? I must admit that I freaked out, thinking that I had a virus or have been hacked.  My worry was even heightened when I tried Internet Explorer and webpages were displaying fine.  But Chrome was my favorite browser – I use it every day, and rarely browse the web with Internet Explorer.

I tried the first steps in resolving most computer issues – reboot and cleared my temporary files , but the problem persisted.

After extensive research and trying many suggested solutions that did not work, I finally found one that worked like a charm, and that is why I am sharing the fix with you – so you do not waste your time like I did.

Cause of Problem

My Chrome browser worked perfectly well earlier in the day without any error, so it really did not give me any indication as why it started displaying in italics. I did not recall installing any software or Windows update that may have caused the display problem either.

My research however revealed that this is a known font display problem in Google Chrome, and Google is working on a solution as I write, but this temporary fix that worked for me and many others.

Update >>> The fix described below is no longer available in later versions of Chrome.  You may use Chrome extensions such as Font Rendering Enhancer to resolve the problem of Chrome displaying in Italics. The Font Rendering Enhancer has worked for many, but not for everyone.

The Fix for Google Chrome Font Displaying in Italics

The solution provided in the following steps is what worked for me, and I hope it will also resolve your problem:

1) Open Google Chrome

2) In the address bar, copy and past chrome://flags#disable-direct-write

Fix for Google Chrome font Display in Italics

3) Hit Enter

4) Click Enable shown in red above. This disables DirectWrite, the background changes to white, and indicates DirectWrite is disabled, as shown below.

Fix for Google Chrome font Display in Italics

5) Click Relaunch Now at the bottom of your screen

6) Google Chrome will restart, and your font should now display normally

Hope this fix works for you, as it worked for me like a charm!

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Tagged With: Chrome, Internet Browser 22 Comments

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Laura Hartness says

    May 11, 2015 at 12:08 pm

    Oh my word. Thank you so much for this fix. The italics were driving me nuts.

    Reply
    • Jeff Adam says

      May 13, 2015 at 5:25 pm

      Thanks Laura for the feedback

      Jeff

      Reply
  2. Samira Ashian says

    July 11, 2015 at 11:16 am

    This is great!! That actually worked. Loads of thanks:)

    Reply
    • Jeff Adam says

      July 12, 2015 at 12:35 pm

      Thanks Samira for the feedback.

      Jeff

      Reply
  3. Ayla says

    July 28, 2016 at 6:12 pm

    I already have DirectWrite Enabled. I still have a bunch of sites/extensions that are in italics.

    Reply
    • Jeff Adam says

      August 3, 2016 at 5:23 pm

      Ayla,

      This fix is only a workaround that may not work for everyone. Have you tried uninstalling, and re-installing Google Chrome?

      Jeff

      Reply
  4. Dorthe Karin Larsen-Hopkins says

    August 10, 2016 at 11:12 am

    Apparently the ability to disable Direct Write has been removed; at least in the version of Chrome I’m using
    The same thing happened to me with Opera and I chose to uninstall it. Until now I’ve been very fond of Chrome so I’m very reluctant to uninstall that too :-(

    Reply
    • Jeff Adam says

      September 11, 2016 at 6:51 pm

      Hi Dorthe,

      The “Directwrite” flag is no longer available in Chrome. You may use Chrome extensions such as Font Rendering Enhancer. This extension has resolved the italics font for some Chrome users.

      Jeff

      Reply
  5. Arie says

    August 15, 2016 at 3:29 am

    Directwrite is not an option under chrome://flags anymore, are there any other ways to fix this problem?

    Reply
    • Jeff Adam says

      September 11, 2016 at 6:48 pm

      Hi Arie,

      The Directwrite flag is no longer an option in Chrome. You may use Chrome extensions such as Font Rendering Enhancer.

      Jeff

      Reply
  6. Kevin says

    August 30, 2016 at 2:06 pm

    It’s strange… when I follow your instructions, “DirectWrite” isn’t anywhere on that page. I don’t even have the option to enable/disable. I don’t have any helvetica fonts on my computer, I’ve changed all my default fonts for Chrome, and have tried to uninstall/reinstall Chrome. Any other thoughts? Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • Jeff Adam says

      September 11, 2016 at 6:47 pm

      Hi Kevin,

      Google has removed the “DirectWrite” flag in the latest version of Chrome. You may use Chrome extensions such as Font Rendering Enhancer to see you this resolves the italics fonts. This particular extension has helped some people, but not everyone with the problem.

      Jeff

      Reply
  7. Arron says

    September 15, 2016 at 3:34 pm

    SEP 2016 – Don’t bother searching for “DirectWrite” – it’s gone. After hours of sifting through all the outdated and rather techie ‘solutions’, what worked for me was very simple.

    1) Install the Microsoft European Union Expansion Font Update http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=16083
    2) Uninstall Chrome completely from your computer (google how to do it, including deleting leftover Chrome folders from your PC) and then re-install it. And Voila – back to normal.

    Side note – prior to that I did a system restore but that didn’t fix it. Hope I helped. Arron

    Reply
    • Jeff Adam says

      September 15, 2016 at 7:15 pm

      Hi Arron,

      Thanks for sharing a fix that worked for you. Yes, “DirectWrite” is no longer available.

      Folks, give Arron solution a try by installing the Microsoft European Union Expansion Font Update, and let us know if it worked for you.

      Jeff

      Reply
      • narendra says

        November 21, 2016 at 7:36 am

        It worked. thanx.

        Reply
        • Jeff Adam says

          November 26, 2016 at 4:34 pm

          Thanks Narendra for the feedback.

          Jeff

          Reply
  8. Bobbie says

    February 23, 2017 at 12:24 pm

    shouldn’t have to do all that Microsoft European Union Update stuff, I don;t have the time or inclination. Google Chrome looks awful in italics. I’ll just delete it entirely for now and use something else. Until they fix it themselves. Goodbye Google.

    Reply
    • Jeff Adam says

      July 1, 2017 at 8:57 pm

      Hi Bobbie,

      I am with you on this. I mostly use other browsers now.

      Jeff

      Reply
  9. Matt says

    November 15, 2021 at 11:18 am

    Any clues for Safari? – this italic thing started happening a couple of days ago in anything google related like the search or gmail for no reason! It’s not happening in Chrome.

    Reply
    • Jeff Adam says

      November 17, 2021 at 3:57 am

      Hi Matt,

      I suggest you first check that you are using the latest version of Safari, and applied updates if required. If this does not resolve the of Safari displaying in Italics, try the following steps I found from researching the problem. This fix has worked for some that used it.

      Open Font Book (Cmd + space; type ‘Font Book’)

      Option A: Disabling / enabling fonts

      Disable all fonts, if that resolves the issue, then
      Enable fonts one by one until you figure out the problem font
      Delete the problem font

      Option B:

      At Font Book, select “File” -> “Restore Standard Fonts”

      Hope these help.

      Jeff

      Reply
  10. Matt says

    November 17, 2021 at 7:42 am

    Excellent thanks Jeff – yes I did have the latest Safari, however, I went straight to option B and that worked!

    Cheers,

    Matt

    Reply
    • Jeff Adam says

      November 19, 2021 at 11:13 pm

      Thanks Matt for the feedback. Good to know Option B worked for you.

      Jeff

      Reply

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