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You bought or downloaded a font, and now you have a zip file and a design app that does not show it. This tutorial goes from the download to the font in your menu: which file to use, how to install it on Windows and macOS, what to do on an iPad and in Canva, and how to fix the usual problems. It takes about five minutes.
Step 1: unzip the download
Fonts almost always arrive as a zip archive, because a family has several files (regular, bold, italic) plus a license text. You cannot install a font from inside the zip.
- Windows: right-click the zip and choose Extract All, then open the new folder.
- macOS: double-click the zip. A folder appears next to it.
- iPad or iPhone: tap the zip in the Files app and it extracts into a folder.
Open the folder and read the license file before anything else. It tells you whether you can use the font in client work, on a website or in an app. More on that at the end.
Step 2: pick the right file type
Inside you may find several formats of the same font. Use this:
- OTF (OpenType): the best choice for desktop apps when it is available. It can carry extra features like ligatures, alternate letters and small caps.
- TTF (TrueType): works everywhere and is the safe choice if there is no OTF, or if an older app has trouble with OTF.
- WOFF and WOFF2: web fonts. They are for websites, loaded by the browser through CSS. Do not install them on your computer; desktop apps will not use them properly.
- Variable font (often a file with "Variable" or "VF" in the name): one file that holds every weight. Modern apps show a slider or a list of styles; some older apps show only one style.
Install either the OTF set or the TTF set, not both. Two copies of the same font with the same name confuse apps and cause the duplicate problems described below.
Step 3: install on Windows 10 or 11
There are two easy ways.
Right-click: select all the font files you want (Ctrl+A in the folder), right-click and choose Install. On Windows 11 you may need to click Show more options first. You will also see Install for all users, which needs administrator rights.
Settings: open Settings > Personalization > Fonts and drag the files into the box that says drag and drop to install.
Which option to choose: plain Install puts the font in your user profile only. Most current apps see it right away. A few older programs only read fonts installed for all users, so if a font shows up in Word but not in an older app, reinstall it with Install for all users.
Step 4: install on macOS
- Double-click a font file. Font Book opens a preview.
- Click Install. To install a whole family at once, select all files in Finder and double-click, or drag them into the Font Book window.
- Font Book may show a warning about a problem with the file. It is usually minor, but a font that fails validation can misbehave in apps; if you can, get a fresh copy from the seller.
By default macOS installs for the current user. In Font Book settings you can change the default install location to "All users" (Computer) if several accounts on the Mac need the font.
Step 5: restart the app
Most design apps read the font list when they start. If you installed a font while Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Affinity or Word was open, quit the app completely and open it again. On a Mac, closing the window is not enough: use Quit (Cmd+Q). This alone fixes most "my font is not there" cases.
Using the font on iPad and iPhone
iPadOS and iOS do not install a font when you tap the file. You need a font installer app from the App Store: it takes the TTF or OTF and adds it to the system, after which you see it in Settings > General > Fonts. Some installer apps do it through a configuration profile you approve in Settings. Once installed, the font works in apps that support custom fonts, such as Procreate, Pages, Keynote and many note apps.
Procreate also lets you import a font directly: in the text tool, tap Import Font and pick the file from Files.
Using the font in Canva
Canva does not use fonts installed on your computer. You upload them to Canva instead: open the text font menu, choose Upload a font, and select the OTF or TTF. Font upload is part of Canva Pro and the team plans, not the free plan. Canva also asks you to confirm you have the right to use the font, which brings us to the license.
Troubleshooting
- The font is not in the list. Restart the app. Then check that you installed the OTF or TTF, not a WOFF file or the zip itself.
- Bold or italic is missing. You installed only the regular file. Go back to the folder and install the whole family.
- Two fonts with the same name. You installed both TTF and OTF, or an old version is still there. On Mac, Font Book has Resolve Duplicates in the File menu. On Windows, open Settings > Personalization > Fonts, find the font and uninstall the extra copy.
- The variable font shows only one style. Your app does not support variable fonts. Use the static OTF or TTF files if the download includes them (often in a folder called "static").
- Letters look wrong or show boxes. The font does not include those characters, for example Cyrillic or accented letters. Check the language support in the listing before you buy.
- The font looks different in a PDF someone else opens. Embed fonts when you export the PDF, if the license allows embedding.
Check the license before you use it
A font file comes with rules. The common ones:
- Desktop license: install on your own computers and use in images, print and PDFs.
- Web license: needed to load the font on a website with WOFF files. A desktop license does not cover this.
- App or embedding license: needed to ship the font inside an app, game or e-book.
- Personal use only: fine for a birthday card, not for a logo you sell or a client job.
If the listing does not state the license clearly, ask the seller before you buy. On Getly every product page has a place for the license type, and you can message the seller from the page.
Looking for fonts, or templates that ship with their fonts? Browse the Getly catalog. Payment is in USDT or USDC at the moment, and every purchase has a refund window of at least 30 days.
