The document I opened contains unexpected symbols and characters

Cause: The document contains a font that is not installed on your computer, and Word substituted an available font that doesn't include the same symbols and characters available in the original font.

Solution:    Use fonts that are common on most computers.

Fonts such as Times New Roman and Arial are available on most computers. If you use these fonts in your document, you increase the probability that the fonts will look the same on other computers.

Solution:    Specify which font Word uses for substitution.

1. On the Word menu, click Preferences.

2. Under Output and Sharing, click Compatibility  .

3. Click Font Substitution.

4. Under Font substitutions, select the font that you want to replace.

5. On the Substituted font pop-up menu, click the font that you want to use for the substitution.

Solution:    Open Font Book and make sure that the font isn't disabled.

The Font Book application is installed with Mac OS X and is located in the Applications folder. For more information about Font Book, see Font Book Help.

Solution:    Install the missing font.

1. Drag the font into /Library/Fonts on your computer.

2. Close and reopen Word, and then reopen the document.

See also

Fonts change when I open a document that was created in another application

Line breaks or page breaks change when I open a document

File formats for saving documents