Can't change the font of a MathType equation number

TechNote 156

Applicability

Issue

You have tried to change the font of MathType 7 equation numbers from Calibri 11 to Times New Roman 12, clicking every button and selecting every dropdown. You've done everything you can think of, but nothing works, including the "Format Equation Numbers" dialogue.

Reason

Equation numbers inserted by MathType 7 are simply text to be styled like any other text in Word. There's more to it than that, though; read on…

Solution

1. Even though MathType 7 does not control the font Word uses for equation numbers, MathType 7 does provide a style for this, and by controlling the definition of this style, you can control which font, and font styles Word will use for equation numbers. This style is named MTDisplayEquation. This style is not included by default on Word's Style Gallery, nor does it exist before inserting a display equation into the current document.
2. If you're using a Mac, proceed to the next step. On Windows, to find the MTDisplayEquation style and modify it click the dialogue launcher at the lower corner of the Styles group of the Home tab: . When you do that, you'll see the MTDisplayEquation style near the top of the Styles panel (screenshot on left below). If you hover the mouse over that style, you can see the complete definition. (You may also visit the MTEquationSection style; we recommend leaving that one alone.) Proceed to step 4.
3. If you're using Word 2011 on Mac, click the Manage styles icon on Word's Home tab:. If you're using Word 2016 on Mac, click the Styles Pane button on Word's Home tab:. When you do that, you'll see the MTDisplayEquation style near the top of the Styles panel (screenshot on the right below). If you hover the mouse over that style, you can see the complete definition for that style.

Styles pane in Word 2016 for Windows.

Styles pane in Word 2016 for Mac.

Similar appearance in other versions of Word for Windows.

We hope this has been helpful. As always, please let us know if you have questions about this or if you have additional techniques that work. We'd love to hear from you.