The Font Book app doesn't allow me to install fonts (MacOS Ventura and Sequoia)

Question

Level 1

4 points

The Font Book app doesn't allow me to install fonts (MacOS Ventura and Sequoia)

After working on iMac M1 for more than three years, I decided to upgrade, and a couple of weeks ago, I bought a new iMac M3. It arrived with MacOS Ventura. The trouble started when I tried to install fonts that (as a graphic designer) I used to work with on my previous M1 computer without a problem.

For most of the attempts (all were OTF files and all were legally bought or official trial versions), the Font Book app told me "No Installable Fonts Selected. None of the files selected contain fonts that can be installed on MacOS. Check your selection and try again." It allowed me to install a few, but then, it all stopped. I tried those obvious things like restarting my computer and upgrading the MacOS to the latest Sequoia. But nothing helped. So, I called Apple Support. I spoke to a nice guy on the phone and he tried hard to find a solution, but we couldn't solve it for a while. Then we tried to install a font in the "safe mode". And it worked like a charm! The fonts were there, even in the "normal mode"!

Well, but not forever. The day after the call I found the fonts don't work anymore. I mean, they don't appear in Figma, InDesign or other software, so, basically, I can't work with them. The Font Book shows an exclamation mark in a yellow triangle on almost every font folder which I have in the app. I can't install new fonts. Only in the "safe mode". Which later doesn't work anyway.

I searched several forums, including this Apple community and found a solution – go to Library/Fonts and manually copy every font I need to this folder. Well, OK, it's a workaround. But it's not a real solution to the problem. I often need to activate/deactivate fonts, sort them in groups (according to the client, for instance), etc.

So, my question is: does anyone experience the same issue? Is there any proper solution for that (no more workarounds)? Or is it the issue of MacOS Ventura and Sequoia and I should downgrade my MacOS? Or is it an issue of the computer? I've been using Apple products for 20 years and this is the first time I ran into a problem like this...

Thank you so much for any suggestions!

[Edited by Moderator]

iMac 24″, macOS 15.1

Posted on Dec 11, 2024 4:13 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,414 points

Dec 11, 2024 5:07 AM in response to homolam

homolam wrote:

they don't appear in Figma, InDesign or other software

It's important to know whether this problem is confined to 3rd party apps. Do you also see it in Pages and Text Edit and other Apple apps? In Apple apps you need to check Format > Font > Show Fonts > All Fonts, because sometimes new fonts do not show up in the dropdown font menus for awhile.

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Answer 2

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,414 points

Dec 11, 2024 7:51 AM in response to homolam

homolam wrote:

I often need to activate/deactivate fonts, sort them in groups (according to the client, for instance), etc.

Is there any proper solution for that (no more workarounds)?

I think some users opt for a different font manager to get the performance they need. I have no experience with them myself. An example is

https://typefaceapp.com/

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Answer 3

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,414 points

Jan 23, 2025 4:25 AM in response to juliusasling

juliusasling wrote:

I can't use any new typefaces at all.

Try manually putting them in Home/LIbrary/Fonts instead of Library/Fonts. In Apple apps you may need to check Format > Font > Show Fonts > All Fonts, because sometimes new fonts do not show up in the dropdown font menus for awhile.

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Answer 4

dialabrain

Level 10

136,307 points

Jan 23, 2025 5:00 AM in response to juliusasling

juliusasling wrote:

This just happened to me as well. The fonts that i copy to Library/Fonts don't show up either (FontBook / Pages / TextEdit / Adobe / Figma), which means I can't use any new typefaces at all.

Tom is correct. Third-party fonts should be placed in ~/Library/Fonts. I have 111 third-party fonts installed and they all are shown and available in the aformentioned apps.

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Answer 5

homolam Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 11, 2024 5:35 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

That is a fair point, thanks for your reply! I tried Pages and TextEdit and the answer is no – the fonts installed by me via Font Book don't appear there either. Only those I manually put in the Fonts folder in the Library (and a lot of others that came with the system). The problem is that the fonts can't be installed and managed in the usual way via Font Book. Actually, I found that some of those fonts that I installed in the safe mode completely disappeared from the Font Book later. When I click on the yellow warning pictogram, it shows me a sign "Some fonts in this library cannot be used because they cannot be installed, or the font file cannot be found." And "295 missing fonts" below...

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Answer 6

homolam Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 11, 2024 10:38 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

Thank you for your effort, Tom. I appreciate that. I'm aware of some of those third-party apps, and I'll probably go with that solution if necessary. But I was wondering whether I am the only person with this Font Book app issue or whether it is a common issue on the two latest MacOSs and Apple will fix it in the next update :) Or whether it's a problem with my computer, and I may return it to the seller. (This is probably not the case, as this seems to be a problem with the software/system, the computer works fine.) But as I mentioned before, thank you very much for your replies!

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Answer 7

Jan 23, 2025 12:56 AM in response to homolam

This just happened to me as well. The fonts that i copy to Library/Fonts don't show up either (FontBook / Pages / TextEdit / Adobe / Figma), which means I can't use any new typefaces at all.

Did you find a solution to this?

Thank you in advance!

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