How to change the default font in Gmail

Composing electronic correspondence can lack the personal touch that handwritten notes and letters possess. As a substitute, you can still change the font style on letters to friends and family--revealing just a small piece of your personality compared to your own handwriting. However, it adds just enough to make it seem less robotic and more "you." Here's how to change the default font in your Gmail, so you don't have to manually choose it every time:

Step 1: Log in to Gmail from your Web browser.

Step 2: Open the settings menu in the upper right-hand corner and choose Labs.

Step 3: Scroll down to "Default Text Styling" in the list, and enable it.

Step 4: Click on the General tab of the settings and find "Default text style."

Step 5: Adjust the font-face, size, style, and color of the text to your liking.

If you change your mind, you can always set it back to the original font, or choose another of your liking.

Editors' note July 8, 2011: We added Step 4 since some users have reported that several labs features were not enabled by default for them, as they were for us.