How to Install TrueType Fonts on Ubuntu

September 2022 · 2 minute read

Ubuntu users often need TrueType fonts for Open Office, Gimp, and other programs. Using this guide, you can either install one font at a time automatically or install multiple fonts manually. Note: If you are using KDE, double-clicking on...

Method 1 of 3:

Getting Font Viewer Root Privileges to Install a Font

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    Open a terminal window

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    Type "sudo gnome-font-viewer and hit enter (replace with the path to the font file you want to install!)

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    Enter your user password when prompted

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    Click "Install". Job done!

  • Method 2 of 3:

    Automatically Install a Single Font

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    Download a TrueType font. (The file extension will be .ttf.) Unzip your file if necessary.

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    Double click on the downloaded file. This should open a font-viewer window.

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    Click Install Font in the lower right-hand corner. Congratulations! Your font has been installed.

  • Method 3 of 3:

    Manually Install Multiple Fonts

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    Download TrueType fonts. (The file extension will be .ttf or .otf) Unzip your files if necessary.

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    Move your files to the ~/ Directory. The ~/ Directory is your home folder. This means that if you were logged in as cruddpuppet, the directory would be /home/cruddpuppet/ .

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    Go to Applications > Accessories > Terminal. This will take you to the terminal.

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    Type 'cd /usr/local/share/fonts/truetype' without quotes into the command line. This is a directory for user-added fonts in linux.

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    Type 'sudo mkdir myfonts' without quotes. This will make a directory called 'myfonts' in which to store your fonts. If you're not logged in as root, you will be prompted to provide your password.

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    Type 'cd myfonts' without quotes. This moves you into the new directory.

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    Type 'sudo cp ~/fontname.ttf .' without quotes. This moves the TrueType fonts into your new directory. (Alternatively, type 'sudo cp ~/*.ttf .'; the * acts as a wildcard, allowing you to move all your fonts from the ~/ Directory at once.)

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    Type 'sudo chown root fontname.ttf'(or *.ttf) to change file owner to the root.

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    Type 'cd ..' and then 'fc-cache' without quotes to add newly-added fonts to system-wide font index, so all applications can see them.

  • Marvin Fry Marvin Fry

    Update 04 March 2020

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