As a designer or developer working on Ubuntu, you may eventually need to install a custom font not available by default. Fonts allow you to set a visual style for documents, graphics, apps and other elements. By installing new fonts, you gain access to more typeface designs to better express your creative vision.
In this guide, you‘ll learn everything about managing and using fonts on an Ubuntu system, including:
- What fonts are and how they work
- Common font file formats
- How to use the font manager
- Installing fonts for individual users
- Adding fonts system-wide for all users
- Finding fresh new fonts to install
- Fixing issues with fonts
So if you‘re ready to unlock new fonts, let‘s get started!
Font Fundamentals: Typeface, Font Files and More
Before we install fonts, it helps to understand what they are exactly. A typeface refers to a family of letters, numbers and symbols with a consistent visual design. For example, Helvetica is one of the most famous and ubiquitous typefaces. Typefaces include variations like normal, bold, italic etc.
A font is a computer file that contains the typeface design as digital data. It allows the operating system to correctly display the typeface. There are different font file formats, the most common being:
- OpenType (OTF) – Cross-platform format supporting advanced features
- TrueType (TTF) – Common Windows font format
Ubuntu already comes bundled with a large collection of fonts enabling you to create documents and graphics. But the OS doesn‘t offer every existing typeface. By installing custom fonts, you expand your possibilities.
Some people also use the terms font and typeface interchangeably when referring to font files even if technically there‘s a difference.
Using Ubuntu‘s Font Manager
The easiest way to install a new font in Ubuntu is through the Font Manager app. After you download a font, follow these steps:
- Double click the font file to launch the Font Manager
- Click "Install Font" to add it to your system
- The font gets copied to your personal font folder at
~/.local/share/fonts - It will now show up in desktop apps for just your user account
Note: By default, newly added fonts won‘t be picked up by applications until you restart them.
You can also access the Font Manager through the Applications menu > Other section > Font Manager. This provides more convenient management of installed fonts with options like disabling, removing etc.
Overall, the Font Manager gives new users an easy way to expand their font library. But there‘s more to learn about managing fonts across the system.
Installing Fonts for Single Users
Any fonts you add through the manager get installed to your personal folder at ~/.local/share/fonts. This means they will only be available for your particular user account.
If you want to install fonts for use by just a single user, you can manually copy font files into their personal .fonts folder located at:
/home/<username>/.local/share/fonts
So for user account "john", the path would be /home/john/.local/share/fonts.
To copy a new font there, use the cp command in Terminal. For example:
cp newfont.ttf /home/john/.local/share/fonts
You‘ll need root/superuser access to write files to another user‘s folder.
The advantage of installing fonts like this is that they won‘t get used up by other user accounts, saving system resources. The disadvantage is that other users won‘t have access.
Adding Fonts System-Wide
For fonts to be available globally to all system users, they need to be installed in the system-level font folder at:
/usr/share/fonts
Copying fonts here requires sudo privileges since it‘s part of the core file system. From Terminal you can use this command syntax:
sudo cp newfont.ttf /usr/share/fonts
This will prompt for your user password to confirm admin access.
The system font folder contains fonts for common software packages. Any user apps checking the directory will now pick up your added font.
By convention, Ubuntu has some specific subfolder classifications to help organize fonts:
- /truetype – For TrueType (.ttf) fonts
- /type1 – For Type 1 (.pfa and .pfb) fonts
- /opentype – For OpenType (.otf) fonts
So you may wish to copy your custom fonts here instead for consistency.
After moving a font file, you‘ll likely need to rebuild the system font cache before applications recognize it. We‘ll cover how a bit later.
First though, let‘s discuss where you can find cool new fonts…
Finding Great Fonts to Install
Now that you know how to install fonts, where do you get ones worth adding?
There are tons of high quality free fonts out there, you just need to find them! Here are some great font resources online:
- Font Squirrel – Handpicked curated web fonts
- DaFont – Archive of freely downloadable fonts
- Google Fonts – Library of open source designer fonts
- 1001 Fonts – Database of free fonts
These all offer easy downloads of high quality font files. The sites have a preview tool so you can test a font before downloading.
You‘ll want to stick with trusted sources. Some font sites try bundling unwanted software with their downloads.
For open source fonts, check places like Google Fonts. For unique stylized typefaces, sites like DaFont are helpful.
Troubleshooting Font Issues
Sometimes you may run into problems with Ubuntu not detecting your newly added fonts. Or system applications aren‘t picking them up.
If fonts you installed aren‘t working, here‘s a few things to try…
Run fc-cache
The font cache maps available fonts on the system. If it‘s outdated, apps might not see your new additions.
Running fc-cache rebuilds this mapping so software becomes aware of downloads fonts.
To refresh the cache, open Terminal and use:
sudo fc-cache -fv
Now test if apps can now detect your font.
Restart Programs
Some desktop applications cache font data on launch. If you installed a font while the program was open, it might need restarting to refresh its font list.
Try closing and relaunching any software not displaying new fonts.
Double Check Font Files
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Verify the actual font files exist in the correct user or system font directory.
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Check their permissions allow reading for all users.
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Confirm the fonts work by previewing them directly in Font Manager.
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Test with font types like OTF and TTF to rule out file format issues.
By trimming down potential causes through systematic checks, you can isolate where problems lie.
Most font troubles come down to either outdated caches, permissions problems or invalid files. By tackling the issue methodically, you‘ll get your new fonts up and running.
Customizing and Optimizing Fonts
Beyond just installing fonts, you may wish to customize their behavior. Here‘s a few useful tweaks you can make:
- Prioritize font order so preferred families get chosen over others in apps.
- Exclude duplicate version of fonts to reduce system font clutter.
- Disable unnecessary complex fonts with large file sizes to speed up performance.
The Font Manager interface provides options for font disabling, uninstalling etc. For maximum control, you can directly edit config files:
/etc/fonts/fonts.conf– low-level system font settings/etc/fonts/local.conf– user-level font customizations
Just be careful editing these manually as mistakes can prevent fonts loading.
This covers the basics of working with fonts on Ubuntu or Debian-based Linux distributions. With so many quality fonts available, you‘re free to take typography on your Linux desktop to the next level!