“When I go into a file in one of my folders I get a message that comes up as, ‘There are more than 500 fonts in the system. Reduce the number of fonts or the display may be incorrect.’ I don’t know why that should come up as I have not added any more fonts or done any thing with the fonts.”
That error message is typically associated with one of two types of files, either a Microsoft Works Spreadsheet or Microsoft Works Database file. I have seen it happen with some Microsoft Excel spreadsheets as well. Even if you never actively add or remove fonts from your system, many applications add additional fonts to your computer. Why a spreadsheet application displays an error if you have more than 500 fonts is something of a mystery, because in theory the application could be written to ignore all but a specific group of fonts needed for the software to work properly. In any event, there are a couple of ways to solve your font problem.
Ignore the 500 fonts Error
One option would be to simply ignore the error message. If you are not using customized fonts in your application, the file will not display incorrectly.
Delete Fonts from Your System
A second option is to delete fonts from your computer until you get the total number of fonts on your system below 500. This is Microsoft’s recommended solution to the problem of more than 500 fonts. What I don’t like about this solution is that one or more of your other applications may actually use some of the fonts you delete. Photoshop and Microsoft Publisher are two examples of applications that install additional fonts on your computer (there are many others). If you delete a font and then realize later that you created a file that relies on that font, you would need to track down the application that installed the font and re-install in order for your file to display properly.
If you choose to delete fonts from your system, simply go to Start > Control Panel and double click the Fonts control panel. You can simply click a font you want to delete and then tap the delete key. When asked if you are sure you want to delete the font, choose Yes.
Use a Font Manager
A third option is to use a font manager to install and uninstall fonts. This doesn’t actually delete the fonts from your system, it deregisters them from Windows, so the font is still accessible in the future, but isn’t turned on in Windows so it won’t count against that 500 font total. In general, I like this option better because then you don’t have to search to find fonts you removed if you decide you need them later. One option for font management is FontLister, which is fully functional but technically requires a $5 registration after 30-days to be in compliance with its shareware license.
