Question mark inside a box in system text

Hey Linc - I am having a similar problem, but this was with Mac Mail - some fonts showing up as the dreaded boxed question mark

When I tested in safe mode, the issue was resolved. So ... now that begs the question, how do I diagnose what's causing the issue?? Thanks for the help, smart guy 😁

- Rebecca

I was struggling with this also after having recently updated to High Sierra. When I checked Font Book, all of my fonts appeared to be missing. I tried the Restore System Fonts, but that didn't work either. I ended up having to restore my fonts from the Terminal.

1. Open Terminal
   Located at: /Applications/Utilities/Terminal
2. Issue these commands:
   sudo atsutil databases -removeUser
   sudo atsutil server -shutdown
   sudo atsutil server -ping
3. Copy fronts from Terminal App to Users Library(sudo may be needed as well):
   cp -v /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app/Contents/Resources/Fonts/SFMono-* ~/Library/Fonts
   

Safe Mode only allows a specific set of fonts to load. So what that means is you've likely installed a junk font that is conflicting with an OS installed font when booted normally.

If Font Book is the font manager you normally use, run the command Restore Standard Fonts. Long ago, it used to only remove non-OS installed fonts from the System and base Library folders. Some time back, it started doing all three - the same two previously noted folders, and also the Fonts folder in your user account.

After running the command, all three Fonts folders will have another folder alongside it named Fonts (Removed). Any third party fonts you've installed will be in those folders. For you user account, that means all of them will be disabled.

That should clear up the issue. From there, you would have to figure out which third party font you added is causing the problem. Once you figure out which one it is, permanently delete it.

Is the protocol if I also use a different font manager, in my case, FontExplorer X Pro)?

I'm a little scared if I do this, it will somehow compromise my other font library (that is thousands of categorized fonts).

(Of course, I also understand is this is outside of your purview!)

- R

(Of course, I also understand is this is outside of your purview!)

Not at all. Actually, I know a bit too much about fonts. 🙂

Is the protocol if I also use a different font manager, in my case, FontExplorer X Pro)?

I use Suitcase Fusion. Font Book is not on my drive. In all cases of the preference to use a third party font manager, Font Book and any other font manager should be removed. Never have more than one font manager on a system at a time. They will fight each other over what is, and isn't active. Particularly Font Book.

I'm a little scared if I do this, it will somehow compromise my other font library (that is thousands of categorized fonts).

If you have multiple font managers installed and in use, you've painted yourself into a corner. Though if those thousands of categorized fonts are in FEX Pro, and that's your preferred manager, then it's not so bad. But even then, if you have FEX's preferences set to store copies of every font you activate in your user account rather than activating "in place", it's going to be harder to straighten things out.

Had the same issue. It's a super easy fix. Non of the terminal fixes mentioned helped me.

Just log into the app store and download the installer for your osx so in my case Sierra and just reinstall it over the top of your current one. It takes a little time but it fixed up all the issues with the font alongside some other issues I have having.

That means your issue was either corrupt fonts installed by the OS, or the font system for the OS itself was damaged. It won't help anyone with conflicting or corrupt third third party fonts since they will still be there after reinstalling the OS.

Fix Font Corruption Problem

(This solution was provided by fellow user, Kurt Lang.)

It's the font, LastResort, being used by the OS because either the font cache data are corrupt, or the system font that's supposed to be used is missing or damaged.

Usually, clearing the font cache data from the drive fixes the issue.

Close all running applications. From an administrator account, open the Terminal app and enter the following command. You can also copy/paste it from here into the Terminal window:

sudo atsutil databases -remove

Press RETURN. The Terminal will then ask for your admin password. As you type, it will not show anything, so be sure to enter it correctly.

This command removes all font cache files. Both for the system and the current logged in user account. After running the command, close the Terminal and immediately restart your Mac.

This is the only other thing I have that could fix the problem:

Open Terminal in your Utilities folder and paste the following after the prompt:

fontrestore default

Press RETURN.

You need to restart the computer for anything to take effect.

Since a simple font cache cleaning didn't work, there are two other typical issues that can cause this:

1) A system font is corrupt.

2) More common. You've put system fonts on your Mac that don't belong with that version of OS X. Such as copying Yosemite's Lucida Grande fonts to your El Capitan system. You can't do that. Both have the internal names of .SystemFont, which is then a font conflict. The OS cannot know which one to use, so you get LastResort in its place. If you've mixed system fonts from an older version of OS X, you must remove them.

For your safety, I've asked the hosts to remove your email address; it is not safe in an open forum.

Please back up all data before proceeding.

Launch the Font Book application and validate all fonts. You must select the fonts in order to validate them. See the built-in help and this support article for instructions. If Font Book finds any issues, resolve them.

Start up in safe mode to rebuild the font caches. Restart as usual and test.

Note: If FileVault is enabled in OS X 10.9 or earlier, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t start in safe mode. In that case, ask for instructions.

If you still have problems, then from the Font Book menu bar, select

File ▹ Restore Standard Fonts...

You'll be prompted to confirm, and then to enter your administrator login password.

Also note that if you deactivate or remove any built-in fonts, for instance by using a third-party font manager, the system may become unstable.