How do I change fonts and adjust their size?

In Oneiric (11.10), I wasn't interested in installing GNOME Shell just to change font sizes. This will do it via command-line: gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface document-font-name 'Sans 10' gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface font-name 'Ubuntu 10' gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface monospace-font-name 'Ubuntu Mono 11' gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop font 'Ubuntu 10' gconftool --set /apps/metacity/general/titlebar_font 'Ubuntu Bold 10' --type STRING The fontfaces are the same as in default Oneiric, but sized down to what looked like much more manageable sizes.

For 11.04 and earlier: Right click on the desktop and select "Change Desktop Background" and then click the Fonts tab. Couldn't be easier! (NB: After playing with these setting you may wish to http://askubuntu.com/questions/4989/reset-gnome-font-configuration.)

gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop font 'Ubuntu 10' Where Ubuntu 10 is the font and size you want to use. It defaults at Ubuntu 11.

Install Advanced Settings (aka gnome-tweak-tool) from the Software Center Click the dash button or press the Super key,search for Advanced Settings and launch it. Click on Fonts and adjust the Font settings .

For Ubuntu 11.10 and newer You can also install DConf Editor ("dconf-tools" package [only a few KB]) from Ubuntu Software Center. To change fonts and/or their size Launch the DConf Editor; Open "org" -> "gnome" -> "desktop" -> "interface" in the left pane; In the right pane, you'll find "document-font-name", "font-name" and "monospace-font-name". You can simply replace the font name and/or its size by the one you wish for each parameter; Open "org" -> "gnome" -> "nautilus" -> "desktop" in the left pane; In the right pane, you'll find "font". You can simply type the name of the font you wish followed by its size (Example : "Ubuntu 11") as value. To change fonts hinting and/or antialiasing Launch the DConf Editor; Open "org" -> "gnome" -> "settings-daemon" -> "plugins" -> "xsettings" in the left pane; In the right pane, you'll find "hinting" and "antialiasing". You can simply select the value you wish for the parameters. DConf Editor gives useful information for the selected parameter thanks to the fields "Summary" and "Description". The old gnome-appearance-properties is not available under Ubuntu 11.10 and newer.

Aleksandar is correct. You can change the system font settings by installing gnome-tweak-tool (sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool). However, it should be also noted that at this time, doing so also forces you to install all of GNOME-Shell, mutter, clutter, and about 20 other packages. It's far from the end of the world, but it seems excessive just to change system fonts. (Confession: I did it anyway :). I doubt it actually needs these things since the tool itself runs fine under Unity, however that's the way the package dependencies are currently set up. Also note: The fact that you can't change the system fonts from "Appearance" any longer is not a design decision made by Ubuntu developers. These settings were removed from GNOME 3 by upstream GNOME. That this change appears in 11.10 is a result of the migration from GNOME 2.x to GNOME 3 libraries and tools.

If you install Ubuntu-Tweak, you can change the font settings from their own tab. It is not yet at a stable version however, so the general "use at your own risk" warning applies. The benefit is: you don't need to install GNOME-Shell. To install it, first https://launchpad.net/+help/soyuz/ppa-sources-list.html this PPA: ppa:tualatrix/next and then install ubuntu-tweak in the software center. There is also another option, which is less "official", but works well. It is a font settings dialogue for the GNOME Control Center. You can get it here: http://gnomefiles.org/content/show.php/GNOME+Font+Settings?content=146126 Example:

The gnome-tweak-tool now supports changing all Gnome desktop fonts.

Use Gnome Tweak tool Install it using the below commands in the terminal. sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tualatrix/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install ubuntu-tweak Once installed goto Tweaks>>fonts