Inkscape fonts are missing

Why Inkscape Fonts Are Missing Even Though You Installed Them

Why Inkscape Fonts Are Missing Even Though You Installed Them 1024 602 Nick Saporito

If you are a Windows 10 user you may run into a problem where Inkscape fonts are missing despite having installed them system-wide. In short, the reason why the Inkscape fonts are missing is because they haven’t been installed for all users. The fix is quite simple.

Before we get started, first make sure that you do indeed have your fonts installed on your system. I made a tutorial for this a while back that you can watch here. Whenever you want to use a font in Inkscape, you have to install it on your operating system first, then Inkscape should catalog it next time you launch it.

Quick Fix: Inkscape Fonts are Missing

If your fonts are populating in other applications but not Inkscape, it’s most likely because the font needs to be installed for all users. This is thanks to a recent Windows update.

Step 1: Restart Inkscape

The reason why your Inkscape fonts are missing could be because you haven’t restarted the Inkscape application since installing them. In order for your newly installed font to populate in Inkscape, you have to close out of the application and reopen it.

Step 2: Install for All Users

Thanks to a tip I received from a student of my Inkscape Master Class, apparently Inkscape won’t recognize a font that’s only installed for one Windows user — it has to be installed for all users. I never had this problem personally because I’ve always been the sole user on my Windows machines.

Instead of opening the font file and clicking the “Install” button, simply right-click the font file and select “Install for all users”. This should do the trick.

One caveat that I’d like to add, thanks to a tip from a Reddit user, is that in order to see the “Install for all users” option, you need to 1.) be using a machine that has more than one Windows user account, and 2.) the font file must be placed locally on your hard drive.

UPDATE September 2019: After a recent Windows update I started having this problem as well. The fonts that I previously installed were all there, but new fonts now have to be installed for “all users,” even though I’m the only user on this machine.

Install for all users

 

If you’re like me, you’ve probably gotten in the habit of installing fonts directly from the zip folder they came in, but in order to install the font for all users, you’ll need to drag and drop the file somewhere else, like your desktop.

Once you’ve installed the font for all users, go ahead and relaunch Inkscape. Your Inkscape fonts should no longer be missing.

Learn To Master The Software

Gain a complete understanding of your favorite design apps with my comprehensive collection of video courses. Each course grants access to our private community where you can ask questions and get help when needed.

  81 Videos
  11 Modules

The Inkscape Master Class

Tutorials, quizzes and practice exercises for learning every tool & feature in Inkscape.

Price: $17
  82 Videos
  10 Modules

The Affinity V3 Master Class

Tutorials, quizzes and practice exercises for learning every tool & feature in Affinity.

Price: $22
  98 Videos
  7 Modules

Illustrator Master Class

Tutorials, quizzes and practice exercises for learning every tool & feature in Illustrator.

Price: $17
  70 Videos
  9 Modules

GIMP Master Class

Learn how to use all of the primary tools and features in the GIMP application.

Price: $17

View All Courses

Nick Saporito

Hi, I'm Nick— a Philadelphia-based graphic designer with over 10 years of experience. Each year millions of users learn how to use design software to express their creativity using my tutorials here and on YouTube.

All stories by: Nick Saporito
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
102 Comments
jtech452
jtech452
March 28, 2023 10:05 PM

In case the font is named with non-english letters, this will also prevent install. to get around this, just rename the file. See the very end of this thread: https://inkscape.org/forums/questions/installed-fonts-do-not-appear/

In my case, the font was for Chinese simplified characters, and was naturally named something in Chinese characters. Once I renamed it something in english letters, it installed no problem.

razak
razak
September 4, 2021 11:22 AM

I installed RBNo3.1 fonts for all users but It didn’t work for me

This font is installed on windows 10 and I can perfectly use it (all face) in others application such as MS Office, illustrator etc but not Inskcape. Only showing Black & Black Italic face

Josef
Josef
August 4, 2021 12:06 PM

I tried everything for a family of fonts (*.otf) but I only see the the normal and the italic font in inkscape. The other options (like bold, light and so on) are not there. What can I do?

Anonymous
Anonymous
Reply to  Josef
February 14, 2023 12:02 PM

I have an issue with a font I am using. I can see it in the list. I can use it for awhile. Then it just stops working. I saved, closed, reopened… It will let me change to that font but the look if the font on the screen does not change. It is so odd because I am already using the font on the same document layer.

Anonymous
Anonymous
April 5, 2021 10:52 PM

Thank you! A great help for me.

Pam Breedlove
Pam Breedlove
September 21, 2020 7:49 PM

I always install my fonts for all users because I already knew that this was an issue with some programs, but not all fonts are showing in Inkscape regardless. Is there any other solution you can offer?

Jennifer Davis
Jennifer Davis
Reply to  Pam Breedlove
December 23, 2020 4:01 PM

I’m having this issue as well.

Japanda
Japanda
July 27, 2020 3:16 PM

Extract the font zip folder. Go to new location, open folder, right click on the font name, “INSTALL FOR ALL USERS” then it will work.

MV
MV
July 2, 2020 4:37 PM

It worked for me, thank you so much.

JerryManyanda
JerryManyanda
June 5, 2020 6:40 AM

Thanks

Ricard
Ricard
May 7, 2020 3:30 AM

It didn’t work for me 🙁

This font is installed on windows 10 and I can perfectly use it in MS Office applications like word or excel.

This font is Opem font type, it is not True Type wich work fine in Inkscape.

But despite I installed it for all the users, when it comes to Inkscape it loads it wrongly so I can’t really use it.

If anybody had the same problem and can give me some piece of advice I’ll be very grateful.

Thanks!

Allen Lawrence
Reply to  Ricard
May 31, 2020 6:21 PM

Worked well for me! Thank you.

Andrew Turner
Andrew Turner
April 23, 2020 10:10 AM

Thank you this fixed my issue too!

Carlos
Carlos
April 15, 2020 3:03 AM

Thanks!

M
M
April 12, 2020 6:46 PM

Grateful for your help

Anonymous
Anonymous
April 6, 2020 8:11 AM

THANK YOU so much!! Perfect 😀

Anonymous
Anonymous
April 4, 2020 6:08 PM

It worked! Yes! Thank you so much!

Anonymous
Anonymous
April 4, 2020 1:27 PM

The 2019 update to this post worked for me. Thank you so much, the work you do is amazing.

Benjith
Benjith
April 4, 2020 3:56 AM

Thanks a lot Nick, that step 2 worked perfectly. 😀

Tammy Novak
Tammy Novak
March 6, 2020 10:21 PM

Nick,
Do you know how I can fix the missing fonts in Inkscape if I deleted all the zip files from my Download file? In hindsight, I probably should have extracted all of them into a file on my desktop, but of course I didn’t. Is there somewhere in Windows where all my fonts are stored that I can access and adjust to all users? (I, too, am the only user on this computer… Windows 10)
Thank you!

Alix
Alix
March 5, 2020 5:05 AM

It worked perfectly, thanks !

Vu
Vu
March 1, 2020 1:32 PM

Thank you so much.
I solved it by your way.
Fix on Openshot and Inscape