How to Install Fonts on Mac 2023

Written by Tanja Google Workplace

- 6 min read

Regardless if you are working in marketing or graphic design, or you are just someone who wants to experiment with fonts on your Mac, there are some quick ways for you to download, preview and enable new fonts.

You don’t have to be a tech guru. Just read this blog post and follow the simple guidelines to learn how it should be done.

How to add fonts on Mac manually

To add fonts on your Mac manually, this is what you’ll need to do:

  1. On your Mac, go to Finder.
  2. Then, click on Applications.

Applications folder on Mac

  1. Next, click on Font Book.

Font book

  1. From there, click on the + icon and search to find your font title.

Plus sign on Mac

  1. Lastly, click twice on the font file to install.

On the other hand, if you want to add the file to the Fonts library, these are the steps to take:

  1. First, go to Finder and click on Go (top menu bar).
  2. Then, choose the option Go to Folder.
  3. From there, type in -/Library and click on the option Return.
  4. In the Library, search for the Fonts folder and open it.
  5. Then drag and drop the font file in the Fonts folder and you are all done.

How to install new fonts on Mac using DaFont

One of the most popular font sources for personal use is definitely DaFont. Basically, all you need to do is go to their official website dafont.com and search for fonts. Once you find the font you like, just click on Download (given right next to the font) and wait till it is downloaded.

DaFont website

To use the font that you just downloaded:

  1. Go to the Downloads folder in Finder.
  2. Open the folder with your downloaded font.
  3. Click twice on an OFT or TTF file inside and then click on Install Font (low right corner).

How to install fonts on my Mac using Font Book

Mac users are lucky because they have Font Book as a free font management app that is already pre-installed on their MacOS. It allows users to find the fonts that they like and install them as well.

These are the step to try this out:

  1. First, go to Finder.
  2. Then, navigate to Applications.
  3. Next, click twice on the Font Book icon.
  4. From the given list, look for the fonts you want to use and choose one.
  5. Click on Download to install it.
  6. Lastly, confirm the download and in just a moment that font will be downloaded.

Important Note: You can also buy new fonts from third-party tools. In addition, there are some free fonts open for personal use that are accessible in the public domain.

For example, if you want to experiment more with fonts, you should know that you can actually create your own fonts as well as edit them. One of the apps that allows you to customize a fond according to your preferences is Glyphs Mini and with it you can create fonts from scratch.

Glyphs Mini

How to manage Mac fonts

After some time, your font collection will grow a lot and with Font Book, it will be easy for you to track and manage all of your typefaces. In fact, when you navigate to the app itself, all the default typefaces will be in front of you in the All Fonts tab and the ones you’ve installed will be added to the User tab.

User tab - font on Mac


If you want to manage these fonts effectively and combine them into collections, for instance, fora special project you may be working on, these are the things you can do to make it more organized:

  1. Click on the + icon (bottom left corner).
  2. Then type in the name of your collection.
  3. Drag the appropriate fonts in there.

In case you want to switch the way you preview the fonts:

  1. Click on the icons (top window).
  2. Select the ones that fit best.
  3. Toggle the size bar to the right of the window and adjust the preview size.

You can have even more flexibility and features by using the font manager TypeFace. This app allows users to easily browse for fonts, preview them as text and drag and drop them onto Favorites or other folders. This way, you’ll be able to keep track of those fonts that you want for your project. In addition, you can also import fonts using this app.

If you are a lover of the night mode, Typeface has that too. To turn on Dark Mode in Typeface, navigate to View and then click on Night Mode.

Can I disable and enable fonts on my Mac?

This is also possible. In case you want to disable a font on your Mac, this is what you’ll need to do:

  1. Click on the font you want to disable in Font Book.
  2. Choose the option Disable and click on it.
  3. After you confirm the disable, the font will be in gray color to signal you that it is out of use.

Disable font on Mac


To enable it once it is disabled, this is what you’ll need to do:

  1. Double click on the disabled font.
  2. Choose and click on Enable.

Enable font on Mac

Another thing that may interest you is how to insert typewriter font in Google Docs, so why not check out our blog post on that too.