Ligatures combine two or more characters into a single glyph for a cleaner, more professional look. In Word, this feature is available for OpenType fonts that support ligature sets. This article explains what ligatures are, how to enable them in Word, and common pitfalls to avoid.
Key Takeaways: How to Enable and Control Ligatures in Word
- Font dialog > Advanced tab > Ligatures drop-down: Choose from None, Standard, Standard+Contextual, or All to control which ligature sets Word applies.
- OpenType fonts only: Ligatures only work with fonts that include OpenType features (e.g., Calibri, Gabriola, Adobe Garamond Pro).
- Ctrl+D to open Font dialog: The fastest way to access ligature settings without navigating through the ribbon.
What Ligatures Are and Why They Matter in Word
A ligature is a single character created by joining two or more letters. Common examples include “fi” becoming one glyph and “fl” becoming one glyph. Ligatures are a typographic feature that improves readability and aesthetics by reducing awkward collisions between letter shapes.
In Word, ligatures are part of the OpenType font technology. OpenType fonts contain additional layout tables that define how characters interact. When you enable ligatures, Word replaces the separate letter shapes with the combined glyphs from the font file. The feature is turned off by default for compatibility with older documents and simpler fonts.
Not all fonts support ligatures. Standard system fonts like Calibri and Times New Roman include basic ligatures. Decorative or script fonts such as Gabriola offer extensive ligature sets. If you apply ligatures to a font that lacks them, Word does nothing — no error message appears.
Types of Ligatures in Word
Word supports four levels of ligature control:
- None: No ligatures are applied. This is the default setting.
- Standard: Only common ligatures such as fi, fl, ff, ffi, and ffl are used.
- Standard + Contextual: Adds ligatures that change based on surrounding characters. This is useful for script fonts where letter connections vary.
- All: Enables every ligature defined in the font, including historical and discretionary ligatures. Use this for display text or headings.
Steps to Enable Ligatures in Word
You can apply ligatures to selected text or set them as the default for a document style. The following steps use the Font dialog, which is available in Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2021, Word 2019, and Word 2016 on Windows.
- Select the text
Highlight the paragraph or section where you want ligatures to appear. If you want to apply ligatures to the entire document, press Ctrl+A to select all text. - Open the Font dialog
Press Ctrl+D on your keyboard. Alternatively, click the small arrow in the bottom-right corner of the Font group on the Home tab. - Switch to the Advanced tab
In the Font dialog, click the Advanced tab. The ligature settings are located in the OpenType Features section near the bottom of the dialog. - Choose a ligature level
Open the Ligatures drop-down list. Select Standard, Standard + Contextual, or All. If you change your mind, select None to remove ligatures. - Apply the setting
Click OK to close the dialog. Word immediately applies the ligature changes to your selected text.
To make ligatures permanent for a specific style, modify the style in the Styles pane. Right-click the style name, choose Modify, click Format in the bottom-left corner, select Font, and follow the steps above.
Common Issues When Using Ligatures
Ligatures Do Not Appear After Selection
The most likely cause is that the font you are using does not include OpenType ligature data. Switch to a font known to support ligatures, such as Calibri, Gabriola, or Adobe Garamond Pro. You can verify support by opening the Font dialog and checking if the Ligatures drop-down is active. If it is grayed out, the font lacks OpenType features.
Ligatures Break Copy-Paste or Text Extraction
When you copy text with ligatures into a plain-text editor or a web form, the ligature glyph may be replaced with the original separate characters. This is normal behavior because the ligature is a display-only feature in Word. The underlying text remains as separate Unicode characters. To test this, copy a ligature-heavy word into Notepad — you will see the individual letters.
Ligatures Affect Word Count and Search
Word counts ligature text correctly because the underlying characters are unchanged. However, searching for the word “filing” may fail if the “fi” ligature is present in the font but the search engine does not match the glyph. This is rare in modern Word versions. If search fails, temporarily disable ligatures in the Font dialog, perform the search, then re-enable them.
| Item | Standard Ligatures | All Ligatures |
|---|---|---|
| Glyph combinations | fi, fl, ff, ffi, ffl | All font-defined ligatures including historical and discretionary |
| Best use case | Body text for readability | Headings, logos, display text |
| Compatibility with other software | High — ligatures collapse to separate characters when pasted | Medium — some historical ligatures may not convert correctly |
| Performance impact | None | Minimal — only affects rendering of selected text |
You can now enable and control ligatures in Word to improve the typographic quality of your documents. Start by applying Standard ligatures to body text and experiment with All ligatures for headings. For advanced typography, combine ligatures with kerning and number spacing settings found in the same Advanced tab of the Font dialog.