Arabic Fonts for Presentations: What Is Installed Where
A deck only looks the way you designed it if the computer opening it has the same font. 5 Arabic-capable families are on both Microsoft’s default font list for Windows 11 and Apple’s font list for macOS Sequoia: Arial, Courier New, Microsoft Sans Serif, Tahoma and Times New Roman. Everything else on this page comes with a condition: an optional Windows feature, a Microsoft 365 subscription, a Mac, or the font travelling inside the file.
The Windows, macOS and Microsoft 365 lists were read on 12 November 2026. The Google Fonts data was fetched on 12 November 2026.
At a glance
Every Arabic-capable font found on the three lists, grouped by where a deck will find it.
| Font | Windows 11 | macOS Sequoia | Microsoft 365 cloud font |
|---|---|---|---|
| On both the Windows and the macOS list (5) | |||
| Arial | Defaultv7.00 | Listedv5.01.2x | Yes |
| Courier New | Defaultv6.92 | Listedv5.00.2x | Yes |
| Microsoft Sans Serif | Defaultv7.01 | Listedv5.00.1x | Yes |
| Tahoma | Defaultv7.00 | Listedv5.01.2x | Yes |
| Times New Roman | Defaultv7.01 | Listedv5.01.4x | Yes |
| Windows by default, not on Apple’s list (2) | |||
| CalibriMicrosoft lists Arabic for the Regular, Bold and Bold Italic files only, not for Italic, Light or Light Italic. | Defaultv6.23 | — | Yes |
| Segoe UI | Defaultv5.62 | — | Yes |
| Windows optional feature (8) | |||
| Aldhabi | Optional featurev6.84 | — | Yes |
| Andalus | Optional featurev6.84 | — | — |
| Arabic Typesetting | Optional featurev6.84 | — | Yes |
| Microsoft UighurDesigned for Uyghur, which is written in Arabic script. | Optional featurev7.00 | — | Yes |
| Sakkal Majalla | Optional featurev6.86 | — | Yes |
| Simplified Arabic | Optional featurev6.98 | — | Yes |
| Traditional Arabic | Optional featurev6.84 | — | Yes |
| Urdu TypesettingA Nastaliq design made for Urdu. | Optional featurev6.86 | — | Yes |
| Microsoft 365 cloud fonts only (2) | |||
| DubaiArabic and Latin drawn together, per its foundry, Monotype. | — | — | Yes |
| Kigelia ArabicMade for African languages written in Arabic script. | — | — | Yes |
| macOS only (19) | |||
| Al Bayan | — | Listed | — |
| Al Nile | — | Listed | — |
| Al Tarikh | — | Listed | — |
| Baghdad | — | Listed | — |
| Beirut | — | Listed | — |
| Damascus | — | Listed | — |
| DecoType Naskh | — | Listed | — |
| Diwan Kufi | — | Listed | — |
| Diwan Thuluth | — | Listed | — |
| Farah | — | Listed | — |
| Farisi | — | Listed | — |
| Geeza Pro | — | Listed | — |
| KufiStandardGK | — | Listed | — |
| Mishafi | — | Listed | — |
| Mishafi Gold | — | Listed | — |
| Muna | — | Listed | — |
| Nadeem | — | Listed | — |
| Sana | — | Listed | — |
| Waseem | — | Listed | — |
- “Listed” under macOS means the font is named in Apple’s list of “installed or downloadable” fonts. Apple does not say which of those are pre-installed and which download on demand, or which languages each font covers.
- Version numbers are copied from the two lists. The two systems ship different versions of the same family.
Arabic fonts in Windows 11
Microsoft’s Windows 11 font list has 7 families installed by default whose Microsoft font pages list Arabic among the scripts they support: Arial, Calibri, Courier New, Microsoft Sans Serif, Segoe UI, Tahoma and Times New Roman.
A further 8 are in an optional feature called “Arabic Script Supplemental Fonts”, which Microsoft associates with languages written in Arabic script: Aldhabi, Andalus, Arabic Typesetting, Microsoft Uighur, Sakkal Majalla, Simplified Arabic, Traditional Arabic and Urdu Typesetting. Because the feature is optional, do not assume a Windows PC has them.
Only fonts with published script tags are included. Some fonts on the Windows list, such as Segoe UI Variable, have none published, so they are left out.
Arabic fonts in macOS Sequoia
Apple’s list names 19 Arabic families, none of which is on the Windows lists, and it also names 5 of the Microsoft families: Arial, Courier New, Microsoft Sans Serif, Tahoma and Times New Roman.
Apple publishes names and versions only, not the languages each font covers. The families below are long-standing Arabic typefaces on the Mac, and the list is kept conservative.
| Font | Styles Apple lists |
|---|---|
| Al Bayan | Plain, Bold |
| Al Nile | Regular, Bold |
| Al Tarikh | Regular |
| Baghdad | Regular |
| Beirut | Regular |
| Damascus | Light, Regular, Medium, Semi Bold, Bold |
| DecoType Naskh | Regular |
| Diwan Kufi | Regular |
| Diwan Thuluth | Regular |
| Farah | Regular |
| Farisi | Regular |
| Geeza Pro | Regular, Bold |
| KufiStandardGK | Regular |
| Mishafi | Regular |
| Mishafi Gold | Regular |
| Muna | Regular, Bold, Black |
| Nadeem | Regular |
| Sana | Regular |
| Waseem | Light, Regular |
Microsoft 365 cloud fonts
Microsoft says cloud fonts are hosted by Microsoft 365 and downloaded when needed, and that a document using them renders the same in the supported Office apps without embedding the font. They are available to Microsoft 365 subscribers and need an internet connection. Microsoft lists them as available in PowerPoint on Windows, macOS, the web, Android and iOS.
16 Arabic-capable families are on that list: Arial, Calibri, Courier New, Microsoft Sans Serif, Segoe UI, Tahoma, Times New Roman, Aldhabi, Arabic Typesetting, Microsoft Uighur, Sakkal Majalla, Simplified Arabic, Traditional Arabic, Urdu Typesetting, Dubai and Kigelia Arabic.
2 of them are on neither system list: Dubai and Kigelia Arabic. Andalus is in the Windows optional feature but not on the cloud list.
This matters in practice: Calibri and Segoe UI are not on Apple’s list, but they are cloud fonts, so PowerPoint on a Mac gets them with a Microsoft 365 subscription.
Google Fonts that support Arabic
59 of the 1961 families in the Google Fonts catalogue include an Arabic subset (data from 12 November 2026). 32 are variable fonts. 51 are filed in the catalogue as Arabic-script designs; the rest are mainly Latin families that also cover Arabic.
These do not come with Windows, macOS or Office. Only three of the names also appear on a system list (Cascadia Code, Cascadia Mono and Noto Nastaliq Urdu), and neither vendor says whether the copy it ships covers Arabic. Treat all of them as fonts you have to supply yourself: install the font on the presenting computer, or embed it in the file.
| # | Family | Category | Weights | Variable | Arabic-first design |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Google Sans | Sans Serif | 400–700 (4) | Yes | — |
| 2 | Rubik | Sans Serif | 300–900 (7) | Yes | — |
| 3 | Cairo | Sans Serif | 200–1000 (9) | Yes | Yes |
| 4 | Tajawal | Sans Serif | 200–900 (7) | — | Yes |
| 5 | Noto Sans Arabic | Sans Serif | 100–900 (9) | Yes | Yes |
| 6 | Almarai | Sans Serif | 300–800 (4) | — | Yes |
| 7 | IBM Plex Sans Arabic | Sans Serif | 100–700 (7) | — | Yes |
| 8 | Vazirmatn | Sans Serif | 100–900 (9) | Yes | Yes |
| 9 | Noto Kufi Arabic | Sans Serif | 100–900 (9) | Yes | Yes |
| 10 | Noto Naskh Arabic | Serif | 400–700 (4) | Yes | Yes |
| 11 | Lalezar | Sans Serif | 400 | — | Yes |
| 12 | Readex Pro | Sans Serif | 200–700 (6) | Yes | Yes |
| 13 | Amiri | Serif | 400–700 (2) | — | Yes |
| 14 | Alexandria | Sans Serif | 100–900 (9) | Yes | Yes |
| 15 | Noto Nastaliq Urdu | Serif | 400–700 (4) | Yes | Yes |
| 16 | Changa | Sans Serif | 200–800 (7) | Yes | — |
| 17 | El Messiri | Sans Serif | 400–700 (4) | Yes | Yes |
| 18 | Reem Kufi | Sans Serif | 400–700 (4) | Yes | Yes |
| 19 | Rakkas | Display | 400 | — | Yes |
| 20 | Mada | Sans Serif | 200–900 (8) | Yes | Yes |
| 21 | Zain | Sans Serif | 200–900 (6) | — | Yes |
| 22 | Fustat | Sans Serif | 200–800 (7) | Yes | Yes |
| 23 | Lemonada | Display | 300–700 (5) | Yes | Yes |
| 24 | Gulzar | Serif | 400 | — | Yes |
| 25 | Lateef | Serif | 200–800 (7) | — | Yes |
| 26 | Kufam | Sans Serif | 400–900 (6) | Yes | Yes |
| 27 | Baloo Bhaijaan 2 | Display | 400–800 (5) | Yes | Yes |
| 28 | Mirza | Serif | 400–700 (4) | — | Yes |
| 29 | Marhey | Display | 300–700 (5) | Yes | Yes |
| 30 | Aref Ruqaa | Serif | 400–700 (2) | — | Yes |
| 31 | Markazi Text | Serif | 400–700 (4) | Yes | Yes |
| 32 | Scheherazade New | Serif | 400–700 (4) | — | Yes |
| 33 | Alkalami | Serif | 400 | — | Yes |
| 34 | Playpen Sans Arabic | Handwriting | 100–800 (8) | Yes | Yes |
| 35 | Jomhuria | Display | 400 | — | Yes |
| 36 | Ruwudu | Serif | 400–700 (4) | — | Yes |
| 37 | Qahiri | Sans Serif | 400 | — | Yes |
| 38 | Alan Sans | Sans Serif | 300–900 (7) | Yes | — |
| 39 | Amiri Quran | Serif | 400 | — | Yes |
| 40 | Vibes | Display | 400 | — | Yes |
| 41 | Parastoo | Serif | 400–700 (4) | Yes | Yes |
| 42 | Cairo Play | Sans Serif | 200–1000 (9) | Yes | Yes |
| 43 | Badeen Display | Display | 400 | — | Yes |
| 44 | Cascadia Code | Sans Serif | 200–700 (6) | Yes | — |
| 45 | Blaka Hollow | Display | 400 | — | Yes |
| 46 | Handjet | Display | 100–900 (9) | Yes | — |
| 47 | Beiruti | Sans Serif | 200–900 (8) | Yes | Yes |
| 48 | Harmattan | Sans Serif | 400–700 (4) | — | Yes |
| 49 | Katibeh | Display | 400 | — | Yes |
| 50 | Oi | Display | 400 | — | — |
| 51 | Reem Kufi Fun | Sans Serif | 400–700 (4) | Yes | Yes |
| 52 | Aref Ruqaa Ink | Serif | 400–700 (2) | — | Yes |
| 53 | Cascadia Mono | Sans Serif | 200–700 (6) | Yes | — |
| 54 | Reem Kufi Ink | Sans Serif | 400 | — | Yes |
| 55 | Estedad | Sans Serif | 100–900 (9) | Yes | Yes |
| 56 | Blaka | Display | 400 | — | Yes |
| 57 | Alyamama | Serif | 300–900 (7) | Yes | Yes |
| 58 | Firjar | Sans Serif | 100–800 (8) | Yes | Yes |
| 59 | Blaka Ink | Display | 400 | — | Yes |
Ordered by popularity in the Google Fonts catalogue. Weights show the lightest and heaviest, with the number of weights in brackets.
Choosing a font for a deck that travels
- If the deck will be opened on computers you do not control, use one of the families on both lists: Arial, Courier New, Microsoft Sans Serif, Tahoma and Times New Roman.
- If everyone who opens it uses Microsoft 365 and is online, the cloud list widens the choice to 16 Arabic-capable families.
- Do not rely on the Windows optional fonts (8) or the Mac’s Arabic families (19) for a deck that crosses systems: the first may not be installed, and the second are not on the Windows lists.
- If you want a Google Fonts family or any other font, embed it in the file, or make sure it is installed on the computer you will present from.
Embedding a font in a PowerPoint file
The following is from Microsoft’s support page: Benefits of embedding custom fonts
- If a file is opened on a computer that lacks the font and the font is not embedded, a different font is substituted.
- On Windows: File → Options → Save, then tick “Embed fonts in the file”.
- “Embed only the characters used in the presentation” makes the file smaller but limits editing with that font. Microsoft recommends embedding all characters if someone else may edit the file.
- On a Mac, embedding is available in PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 for Mac, PowerPoint 2024 for Mac and PowerPoint 2021 for Mac.
- Not every font can be embedded: the font’s maker sets the permission.
- Cloud fonts rarely need embedding, because they download automatically when the file is opened.
Frequently asked questions
Which Arabic fonts are on both Windows and Mac?
Arial, Courier New, Microsoft Sans Serif, Tahoma and Times New Roman. These 5 families are on Microsoft’s default font list for Windows 11, their Microsoft font pages list Arabic support, and Apple’s font list for macOS Sequoia names them too.
Is Calibri safe for Arabic slides?
Calibri is on the Windows 11 default list and on Microsoft’s cloud fonts list, but not on Apple’s macOS list. Microsoft lists Arabic for its Regular, Bold and Bold Italic files only. On a Mac it is available through Microsoft 365 cloud fonts.
What are the Arabic Script Supplemental Fonts in Windows?
An optional font feature in Windows 11 that contains 8 families: Aldhabi, Andalus, Arabic Typesetting, Microsoft Uighur, Sakkal Majalla, Simplified Arabic, Traditional Arabic and Urdu Typesetting. Because it is optional, it may not be installed on the computer that opens your deck.
Can I embed an Arabic font in a PowerPoint file?
Yes, if the font allows embedding. On Windows it is under File → Options → Save → Embed fonts in the file. Microsoft says embedding is also available in PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 for Mac and PowerPoint 2024 and 2021 for Mac, and recommends embedding all characters if someone else may edit the file.
Do Google Fonts work in PowerPoint?
They work like any font you install yourself: the font is on your computer, not on your audience’s. The Google Fonts catalogue has 59 families with Arabic support, and a deck that uses one needs the font embedded in the file or installed on the presenting computer.
Sources
- Windows 11 font list (Microsoft Learn), with each font’s own page
- Fonts included with macOS Sequoia (Apple Support)
- Cloud fonts in Office (Microsoft Support)
- Benefits of embedding custom fonts (Microsoft Support)
- Google Fonts catalogue metadata
In the first table, each Microsoft font’s name links to the page that documents its Arabic support.
Using this page
You are welcome to link to this page or quote its tables with attribution to Sharayeh.