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Warning: The Text style uses the 'Times' (Plain) font, which is not available

TechNote 176

Applicability

The information on this page applies to:

Equation Editor 2011 (14.2.0) for Mac

MathType for Mac

macOS 10.13.x High Sierra

Pages, Keynote, Numbers

Word 2011, PowerPoint 2011

Issue

You're inserting equations into Pages (or Keynote or Numbers), and every time you click "Equation" (or "MathType Equation") from the Insert menu, you get a warning similar to this one, followed by two more -- three errors every time:

tsn176-1.png

This also happens when editing documents you created before upgrading to High Sierra and sometimes when simply opening MathType by itself.

Reason

Whether or not you're using Pages (or Keynote or Numbers), this is due to how MathType interprets font names. The issue here is not that the Times font isn't available because the font is installed in nearly all cases we've seen. The problem is that MathType sees it not as "Times" font, but "Times Roman" font (not Times New Roman -- simply Times Roman). That's somewhat understandable since that's how macOS is reporting it:

tsn176-2.png

If you are using Pages or one of its siblings, this is also due to how these applications set their equation preferences. See both "General solution — MathType below and the section that follows it.

Solutions

General solution — Equation Editor

(See next section for MathType

  1. Navigate to your Applications folder in Finder. Scroll to Microsoft Office 2011.

  2. Click Office, and scroll to Equation Editor.

  3. Double-click to open Equation Editor. You'll probably get the three error messages about the Times font not being available. Click OK on each.

  4. On the Mac Menu bar, click Styles, then Define.

  5. Change the font to whatever you want. If you wish to use the Times font, it won't be listed, so select Times Roman (it's the same font).

  6. Make sure "Use for new equations" is selected, but do not click OK yet.

  7. Click the "Advanced" tab.

  8. For "Variable" style, change the font to "Times Italic", and un-check the Italic Character Style.

  9. For "Vector-Matrix" style, change the font to "Times Bold", and un-check the Bold Character Style.

  10. Click OK.

  11. Close Equation Editor if you want.

General solution — MathType

  1. Navigate to your Applications folder in Finder. Scroll to the MathType folder and open it.

  2. There are 3 files in the Preferences folder that use the "Times" font. Replace them with these. Download the file and unzip it (just double-click it in Finder and it will unzip). Then drag them over to MathType > Preferences. You'll need to be logged in as an administrator to do that.

If you are using Pages or its siblings, proceed to the next section...

If using Pages, Keynote, Numbers

To keep this warning from appearing, set the new equation preferences for Pages (and Keynote and Numbers, if you want) as described in our companion article, "Setting default font preferences for MathType in Pages, Keynote, and Numbers".

  1. If you need to use Times font, look for Times Roman in the list; you won't find "Times" (don't click OK yet):

    tsn176-3.png
  2. Click the "Advanced" radio button.

  3. For "Variable" style, change the font to "Times Italic", and un-check the Italic Character Style.

  4. For "Vector-Matrix" style, change the font to "Times Bold", and un-check the Bold Character Style.

  5. Click OK.