TechNote

Where are fonts installed on Macintosh OS X?

Introduction

The location of many files, including fonts, are different with Apple's Macintosh OS X compared to previous versions of the Macintosh operating system. One of the features of this operating system is that multiple users can have unique environments;each user can have different applications, and can have access to different fonts. Therefore, it is important for users to understand their options when installing fonts, since the installation location will dictate who can access the fonts.

How to install a font

Installing a font in Macintosh OS X is similar to installing a font in previous versions of the operating system: simply drag or copy the font into one of the following locations:

Font will be available to all users:
To install the font for any user of the machine, install the font in the Library's font folder. This folder is located at:Library/Fonts.

Note: The benefit of this approach is that all users and all applications will have access to these fonts. Installing fonts to this location requires admin permissions.
Font will be available only to the specified user:
To install a font for a specific user of the machine, install the font in the user's font folder. This folder is located at:Users/<Users_name>/Library/Fonts.

Note: The benefit of this approach is that any user should have access to his own font folder. This location allows users to install fonts without admin permission. These fonts will only be available to that user, and to applications available to that user.
Font will be available to the system:
The system font folder is for System fonts. Do not use this folder for installing other fonts, and do not remove or change any of the fonts already in this folder. This folder is located at:System/Library/Fonts.

Note: Users of older Mac OS 10.0.x machines will have to disobey this rule. Type 1 fonts must be installed here, or the system will not see these fonts. This was fixed by Apple in Mac OS 10.1.x.

Additional information

For more complete detail on Macintosh fonts in OS X refer to Apple's Knowledge Base (Article 106417).
For information about installing fonts on the Macintosh OS prior to OS X, please refer to Font Installation on Macintosh OS 8 and OS 9 (TechNote 3648).
For information about installing font on Windows, please refer to Font Installation in Windows (TechNote 3649).