Install Microsoft Windows Fonts in Ubuntu 16.04

Most ofeducational institutions are still using some MS Fonts. I am not sure about other regions. But in Tamilnadu (An Indian state), Times New Roman and Arial fonts are being mostly used by almost all sort of documentation works, projects, thesis, and assignments in colleges and schools. Not only the educational institutions, some small organizations, offices, and shops are usingMS Fonts too.

In case you are in a situation that you have to install Microsoft fonts in your Ubuntu linux desktop, here is how to do it.

Disclaimer:Microsoft has released its core fonts for free. But Please be mindful that usage of Microsoft fonts outside running windows system is prohibited by Microsoft’s End User License Agreement . Read the EULA carefully before installing MS Fonts in any Linux operating system. Neither OSTechNix or me are not responsible for any kind of piracy act.

Install MS Fonts in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS desktop

Install MS TrueType Fonts as shown below:

sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install ttf-mscorefonts-installer

Microsoft’s End user agreement wizard will appear.

Click Ok to continue.

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Click Yes to accept the Microsoft agreement:

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After installing the fonts, we need to update the font cache using command:

sudo fc-cache -f -v Sample output: /usr/share/fonts: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 5 dirs /usr/share/fonts/X11: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 4 dirs /usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1: caching, new cache contents: 8 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/X11/encodings: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 1 dirs /usr/share/fonts/X11/encodings/large: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/X11/misc: caching, new cache contents: 59 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/X11/util: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/cmap: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 5 dirs /usr/share/fonts/cmap/adobe-cns1: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/cmap/adobe-gb1: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/cmap/adobe-japan1: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/cmap/adobe-japan2: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/cmap/adobe-korea1: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/opentype: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 3 dirs /usr/share/fonts/opentype/noto: caching, new cache contents: 36 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/opentype/stix: caching, new cache contents: 29 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/opentype/stix-word: caching, new cache contents: 5 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/truetype: caching, new cache contents: 1 fonts, 20 dirs /usr/share/fonts/truetype/abyssinica: caching, new cache contents: 1 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/truetype/ancient-scripts: caching, new cache contents: 1 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/truetype/dejavu: caching, new cache contents: 6 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/truetype/fonts-guru-extra: caching, new cache contents: 1 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/truetype/freefont: caching, new cache contents: 12 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/truetype/kacst: caching, new cache contents: 15 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/truetype/kacst-one: caching, new cache contents: 2 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/truetype/lao: caching, new cache contents: 1 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation: caching, new cache contents: 16 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/truetype/lohit-punjabi: caching, new cache contents: 1 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts: caching, new cache contents: 58 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/truetype/nanum: caching, new cache contents: 6 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/truetype/openoffice: caching, new cache contents: 1 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/truetype/padauk: caching, new cache contents: 4 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/truetype/sinhala: caching, new cache contents: 1 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/truetype/takao-gothic: caching, new cache contents: 1 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/truetype/tibetan-machine: caching, new cache contents: 1 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/truetype/tlwg: caching, new cache contents: 58 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/truetype/ttf-khmeros-core: caching, new cache contents: 2 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/truetype/ubuntu-font-family: caching, new cache contents: 13 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/share/fonts/type1: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 1 dirs /usr/share/fonts/type1/gsfonts: caching, new cache contents: 35 fonts, 0 dirs /usr/local/share/fonts: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 0 dirs /home/ostechnix/.local/share/fonts: skipping, no such directory /home/ostechnix/.fonts: skipping, no such directory Re-scanning /usr/share/fonts: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 5 dirs Re-scanning /usr/share/fonts/X11: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 4 dirs Re-scanning /usr/share/fonts/X11/encodings: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 1 dirs Re-scanning /usr/share/fonts/cmap: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 5 dirs Re-scanning /usr/share/fonts/opentype: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 3 dirs Re-scanning /usr/share/fonts/truetype: caching, new cache contents: 1 fonts, 20 dirs Re-scanning /usr/share/fonts/type1: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 1 dirs /var/cache/fontconfig: cleaning cache directory /home/ostechnix/.cache/fontconfig: cleaning cache directory /home/ostechnix/.fontconfig: not cleaning non-existent cache directory fc-cache: succeeded ostechnix@ostechnix:~$
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Install MS Fonts in Dual boot with Linux and Windows

If youhave dual boot system with Linux and Windows operating system, you can easily install the MS fonts from Windows C drive. All you have to do is mount the Windows partition (C:/Windows).

I assume you have mounted the C:/Windows partition at /Windowsdrive directory in linux.

Now, link the fonts location to your Linux system’s fonts folder as shown below.

ln -s /Windowsdrive/Windows/Fonts /usr/share/fonts/WindowsFonts

After linking the fonts folder, regenerate the fontconfig cache using command:

fc-cache

Alternatively, copy all Windows fonts to /usr/share/fonts directory and install the fonts using the following commands:

mkdir /usr/share/fonts/WindowsFonts cp /Windowsdrive/Windows/Fonts/* /usr/share/fonts/WindowsFonts chmod 755 /usr/share/fonts/WindowsFonts/*

Finally, regenerate the fontconfig cache using command:

fc-cache Test Windows font

Open LibreOffice or GIMP after installing MS Fonts. Now, you will find the Microsoft coretype fonts.

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MS Fonts in LibreOffice

That’s it. Hope this guide useful. Again, I warn you usage of MS fonts in other operating system is prohibited. Please read the Microsoft License agreement before installing the MS fonts.

Happy weekend! Cheers!!