How to install fonts on guest account

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Level 1

10 points

How to install fonts on guest account

I'm managing a classroom full of iMacs and I want the students to use the guest accounts. But we teach design and students will most probably need to install their own fonts. It seems like I am unable to install a font on the guest account. Is there any way to install a font on the guest account?

If not, the only way I can think of is to install the fonts on the admin account. But I read from the documentation:

"By default, Font Book will install fonts in a location where the font will only be available to the current user account.If you'd prefer to install fonts in a location where they will be available to all users on the computer, choose Font Book > Preferences, then choose "Computer" from the "Default Install Location" pop-up menu."

Will this option work also for the guest user?

iMac

Posted on Aug 4, 2017 9:28 AM

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Answer 1

tygb

Level 9

65,010 points

Aug 4, 2017 9:40 AM in response to jonnygexter

Guest can not install fonts on the computer .

Read the articles : macOS Sierra: administrator

: macOS Sierra: guest users

Guests don’t need a password to log in.
Guests can’t change user or computer settings.
Guests can’t log in remotely when remote login is turned on in Sharing preferences.

Another article : Font Book for Mac: Font Book preferences

Computer: Fonts are available to any user on this Mac and are located in the Fonts folder in the system Library (/Library/Fonts/). You must enter an administrator’s password to install fonts here.

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Answer 2

macjack

Level 10

111,242 points

Aug 4, 2017 9:34 AM in response to jonnygexter

Yes, fonts installed in /Library/Fonts should be available to all users.

It would be counter-productive even if you could install to Guest as modifications made to the Guest account aren't saved after log out.

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Answer 3

tygb

Level 9

65,010 points

Aug 5, 2017 7:12 AM in response to jonnygexter

Guest have no read and write permissions , they have very less privileges as compared to an Administrator , they can browse a very basic article macOS Sierra: Set up users, guests, and groups on your Mac

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Answer 4

tygb

Level 9

65,010 points

Aug 5, 2017 7:19 AM in response to tygb

A very important point as per this article : Mac OS X: Font locations and their purposes - Apple Support

The folder in which a font is located determines who can access and use the font. For example: If a user manually installs a new font at ~/Library/Fonts/, the font is available only to that user. If a root or admin user installs the same font at /Network/Library/Fonts/, all network users can use the fonts (assuming that the network administrator has set up computers for this type of sharing).

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Answer 5

jonnygexter Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 4, 2017 9:37 AM in response to macjack

Awesome, thanks.

So I can enter the admin password to install for them...

Also it seems like my font book was just crashing when I tried earlier. I can definitely install a font on the guest account but as you said, it will be removed on logout. So another option is to instruct students to keep their custom fonts on a USB stick and them install on login. Annoying, but an option solution.

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Answer 6

jonnygexter Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 5, 2017 6:55 AM in response to tygb

@tygb I think you meant "computer" to mean the Admin account that is accessible to all users, which is correct, guests can't install there without entering the admin password. But to be clear for others, guests CAN install fonts into the USER fonts folder and use them during the session, but they will be deleted on logout.

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Answer 7

jonnygexter Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 5, 2017 6:53 AM in response to macjack

@macjack yes, I could install into the admin fonts but I'm thinking:

1. students don't always use the same fonts or sit at the same computer... and entering the admin password for them each time won't be fun

2. Some fonts have restrictive licenses... I don't want to be responsible for making fonts available to all students without knowing the licenses and where the student got them from

(That time, FB crashed randomly, restarting made it work fine. Although sometimes in the guest account the new font doesn't show up as installed when it actually is... like it needs to refresh. Maybe my computer is just in a bad mood!)

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Answer 8

macjack

Level 10

111,242 points

Aug 5, 2017 7:20 AM in response to jonnygexter

The only workaround I see would be to create non-admin user accounts with automatic login and allow them to install fonts to those accounts. Of course, they would have to police the licenses themselves.

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Answer 9

macjack

Level 10

111,242 points

Aug 4, 2017 9:41 AM in response to jonnygexter

I think the better option is just to install them in the main fonts Library.

Not sure why your FB is crashing.

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