Microsoft TrueType fonts like Arial, Times New Roman, and Verdana ensure your documents display consistently between Windows and Linux systems. When you open .docx files from colleagues, work with publisher templates, or collaborate on web design projects, these fonts render text exactly as intended without layout shifts or font substitution warnings.
This guide covers installing Microsoft Core Fonts on Debian using the ttf-mscorefonts-installer package from the contrib archive component. You will enable the needed archive components, install the font collection, and verify availability with both terminal queries and the graphical Fonts application. Debian 12 and newer add non-free-firmware; Debian 11 and older only need contrib non-free.
Update System Packages
Before installing Microsoft fonts, refresh your package lists so APT has the latest metadata:
sudo apt updateThis command refreshes your package list with apt update. Apply pending upgrades afterward if you want a fully up-to-date system.
Install Microsoft Fonts via ttf-mscorefonts-installer
Microsoft Core Fonts reside in the contrib archive component because the Debian package provides an installer script that fetches proprietary font files (redistributed from SourceForge mirrors of the Microsoft Core Fonts collection) at install time. For details on Debian’s archive separation, see our guide on enabling contrib and non-free repositories.
The ttf-mscorefonts-installer package downloads and installs these Microsoft TrueType Core Fonts:
- Andale Mono
- Arial (including Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
- Comic Sans MS (including Bold)
- Courier New (including Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
- Georgia (including Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
- Impact
- Times New Roman (including Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
- Trebuchet MS (including Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
- Verdana (including Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
- Webdings
Enable Required Archive Components: The package itself lives in contrib. Many users also enable non-free (and on Debian 12+ non-free-firmware) for broader proprietary support. Edit only Debian archive lines – do not rewrite vendor repositories such as Google Chrome or Docker.
On Debian 12 and newer with the default DEB822 source file, update the Components line:
sudo sed -i '/^Components:/s/ main/ main contrib non-free non-free-firmware/' /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.sourcesDebian 11 and older do not use
non-free-firmware. If you keep a legacy/etc/apt/sources.list, scope the change to Debian mirrors so third-party entries stay untouched:sudo sed -i '/^deb .*\\.debian\\.org/s/ main/ main contrib non-free/' /etc/apt/sources.list
If you prefer manual editing, open the relevant file, append the needed components to each active Debian line, then save.
Refresh package metadata so the new component indexes are recognized:
sudo apt updateOptional Headless EULA Preseed: For unattended installs (containers, remote automation) pre-accept the Microsoft Core Fonts EULA to bypass the interactive debconf screen:
echo "ttf-mscorefonts-installer msttcorefonts/accepted-mscorefonts-eula select true" | sudo debconf-set-selectionsInstall the Microsoft Core Fonts package (downloads and installs the TrueType files):
sudo apt install ttf-mscorefonts-installerDuring installation, the terminal displays a blue debconf screen prompting you to accept the Microsoft Core Fonts license. Press Tab to highlight OK, then press Enter to proceed. The installer downloads the font files from SourceForge mirrors, showing progress and file sizes. Installation typically completes in 1-2 minutes depending on your connection. If you see no progress, confirm network connectivity and mirror availability, then retry.
The installer automatically updates your system’s font cache after installation. You can immediately use Microsoft fonts in LibreOffice, GIMP, Firefox, and other applications without restarting or running manual cache refresh commands.
Verify Microsoft Fonts Installation
Verify Installation via Terminal
After installation completes, confirm Microsoft fonts are available in your system’s font cache by listing them in the terminal:
fc-list | grep -i "Arial\|Times\|Verdana\|Courier"Example success output (paths will match your architecture):
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts/Arial.ttf: Arial:style=Regular /usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts/Arial_Bold.ttf: Arial:style=Bold /usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts/Times_New_Roman.ttf: Times New Roman:style=Regular /usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts/Verdana.ttf: Verdana:style=Regular
You can also query the preferred match for a font family using fc-match:
fc-match Arial
fc-match "Times New Roman"Arial.ttf Times_New_Roman.ttf
This command uses fc-list to query installed fonts and pipes the output through grep to filter for common Microsoft font names. The output shows the complete path to each font file (typically in /usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts/) along with the font name and style variant. You should see multiple matches for different variants such as Arial, Arial Bold, Arial Italic, and Arial Bold Italic, confirming the complete font package installed successfully.
Verify via Fonts Application
For graphical verification, open the Fonts application through your desktop environment. On GNOME-based systems, click Activities in the top-left corner, select Show Applications, then search for and launch the Fonts application:
On other desktops, open your font viewer (for example, gnome-font-viewer or Font Manager) from the applications menu to check the installed fonts.
Within the Fonts application, search for specific Microsoft fonts to confirm their availability. Type Arial into the search bar to verify one of the most commonly used fonts from the Microsoft Core Fonts collection:
Similarly, verify Times New Roman and other fonts from the collection. Search for each font by name to confirm the complete package installed successfully. The Fonts application displays font previews, style variants, and character samples for each installed font:
Manage and Troubleshoot Microsoft Fonts
Remove Microsoft Fonts
To remove the fonts completely, purge (not just remove) the installer package. A simple remove leaves downloaded font files behind; purge deletes package data and triggers cache updates.
sudo apt purge ttf-mscorefonts-installer
sudo fc-cache -f -vAfter purging, applications fall back to substitute families (Liberation Sans, Liberation Serif, or other configured fontconfig alternatives) when opening documents referencing Microsoft fonts. Document formatting metadata remains intact; only rendered glyphs change.
Use Free Alternatives Instead
If you cannot accept the Microsoft EULA, install metric-compatible Liberation fonts instead. They preserve document layout for most Office files without proprietary licensing:
sudo apt install fonts-liberationLibreOffice, Firefox, and most applications map Liberation families as compatible substitutes for Arial, Times New Roman, and Courier New.
Revert Repository Component Changes
If you enabled contrib and non-free only for this install, remove them after adding the fonts, then refresh package lists:
# Debian 12+ (DEB822)
sudo sed -i 's/^Components: main contrib non-free non-free-firmware/Components: main/' /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.sources
# Debian 11 and older (legacy sources.list)
sudo sed -i '/^deb .*\\.debian\\.org/s/ main contrib non-free/ main/' /etc/apt/sources.list
sudo apt updateHeadless / Unattended Install Recap
If you skipped the preseed earlier and the installation stalled at the EULA prompt in a non-interactive environment, purge and reinstall, reusing the preseed command from the installation section:
sudo apt purge ttf-mscorefonts-installer
echo "ttf-mscorefonts-installer msttcorefonts/accepted-mscorefonts-eula select true" | sudo debconf-set-selections
sudo apt install ttf-mscorefonts-installerTroubleshooting Common Issues
If the Microsoft fonts installer fails or fonts don’t appear after installation, try these troubleshooting steps:
Installation Hangs or Fails
Downloads come from SourceForge mirrors. If progress stalls or times out, check connectivity and consider mirror issues. Purge and reinstall to retry a fresh download:
sudo apt purge ttf-mscorefonts-installer
sudo apt install ttf-mscorefonts-installerFonts Missing in Applications
If fonts do not show in application menus, rebuild font caches. A user-level refresh (fc-cache -f -v) is usually sufficient; root invocation updates system caches:
sudo fc-cache -f -vLicense Agreement Prompt
The interactive debconf screen is required for license acceptance unless preseeded. Press Tab, select OK, and Enter to proceed. If canceled or left idle, purge and reinstall with a preseed for automation.
Conclusion
Your Debian system now provides Microsoft Core Fonts (Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana, and others) for accurate cross-platform document rendering. With the installer in place and font caches updated, documents open without substitution warnings and maintain intended typography across Windows and Linux.
Gracias! funcionó perfecto.
Thank you both Joshua James for this article and Gerard for the comment on the comparison between the MS and the free fonts! This article and comments made my work on my old Macbook running AntiX much easier 🙂
Thanks, it worked perfectly for me
Thank you for the feedback.
Joshua,
Personally, I would not recommend to a new Linux user to install Microsoft Fonts for at least 3, maybe 4 reasons… which I do not have time to explain here.
Linux has capability to choose a similar and font-metric compatible alternative to unknown or uninstalled font. You mentioned Times New Roman, Arial, and Verdana. So, on my system:
$ fc-match Verdana
NotoSans-Regular.ttf: “Noto Sans” “Regular”
$ fc-match Arial
LiberationSans-Regular.ttf: “Liberation Sans” “Regular”
$ fc-match “Times New Roman”
LiberationSerif-Regular.ttf: “Liberation Serif” “Regular”
and when you visit wikipedia pages on these fonts, you will be able to read:
”
This means that the characters of each Liberation font are identical in width and height to those of each corresponding Monotype font. It allows the Liberation fonts to serve as free, open-source replacements of the proprietary Monotype fonts without changing the document layout. (…)
Liberation Serif is metrically identical to Times New Roman.
”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_fonts#Characteristics
If you click the “Comparison of Liberation Sans with Arial” link, you will even be able to view each glyph of each font and see how similar they are.
If you do a search with “open-source metric-compatible font”, you will find several equivalence between free and non-free fonts.
Websites and websites creators over-excessively and too frequently want to force particular and specific fonts (thanks to embedding webfonts: woff and woff2 types) for unnecessary reasons. This increases download, process and rendering times and bandwidth.
Thanks for sharing this perspective, Gérard. You raise valid points about Liberation fonts and metric compatibility. They absolutely work well as substitutes for many users.
This guide targets a specific scenario: users who need exact font matching for professional document workflows, publisher templates, or cross-platform collaboration where clients or employers explicitly require Microsoft fonts. When opening .docx files with embedded formatting or working with design specs that reference Arial by name, Liberation Sans renders similarly but metadata mismatches can trigger substitution warnings in LibreOffice or formatting shifts in PDF exports.
Your
fc-matchoutput demonstrates fontconfig’s fallback behavior perfectly. Liberation fonts are the system default substitutes. That works seamlessly for personal documents and general browsing. However, enterprise environments, legal documentation, or collaborative editing often mandate exact font matching to preserve layout fidelity across Windows, Linux, and macOS systems.The guide includes removal instructions precisely because this isn’t a universal recommendation. Users who don’t need strict cross-platform font consistency should absolutely stick with Liberation fonts or other open alternatives. For those who do need Microsoft fonts (law firms exchanging court filings, marketing teams matching brand guidelines, developers testing web rendering against Windows defaults), the
ttf-mscorefonts-installerpackage provides a straightforward path.Appreciate you highlighting the metric-compatible alternatives. Readers evaluating whether they truly need proprietary fonts will benefit from understanding Liberation fonts cover most use cases without the licensing overhead.