How to Install Microsoft Fonts on Ubuntu 26.04, 24.04 and 22.04

Broken Word layouts, shifted page breaks, and missing Arial or Times New Roman usually mean Ubuntu is substituting Liberation or DejaVu fonts for Microsoft’s originals. To install Microsoft fonts on Ubuntu, use the ttf-mscorefonts-installer package from Ubuntu’s multiverse component, accept the Microsoft license prompt, and refresh the font cache so LibreOffice, browsers, and other desktop applications can see the new typefaces.

The classic Microsoft Core Fonts package is the standard repository path on Ubuntu for Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana, Georgia, Courier New, and related fonts. An optional extraction path can add older Office ClearType fonts such as Calibri, Cambria, Candara, and Consolas. That optional method does not provide Aptos, the current Microsoft 365 default font, so use a licensed Microsoft 365 or Office source if a workflow specifically requires Aptos.

Install Microsoft Core Fonts on Ubuntu

The ttf-mscorefonts-installer package is available for Ubuntu 26.04, 24.04, and 22.04 in the multiverse repository component. Standard desktop installs often already have multiverse enabled, but minimal or customized systems may need the Universe and Multiverse repositories enabled on Ubuntu before APT can find the package.

Refresh your APT metadata before installing the package:

sudo apt update

If your account cannot run sudo yet, configure administrator access first. The Ubuntu sudoers walkthrough explains how to add a user to sudoers on Ubuntu.

Install the Microsoft Core Fonts package:

sudo apt install ttf-mscorefonts-installer

The same package can also be installed with sudo apt-get install ttf-mscorefonts-installer if you prefer apt-get. Some users install ubuntu-restricted-extras instead, but that larger package group pulls in multimedia codecs and other extras. Use ttf-mscorefonts-installer when you only need the fonts.

The installer needs an active internet connection. During package configuration, it downloads the original font executables from SourceForge and extracts the TrueType files locally.

Accept the Microsoft Fonts EULA

During installation, the package configuration interface displays Microsoft’s End User License Agreement. The first screen shows the license text.

Press the Tab key to highlight Ok, then press Enter.

The second prompt asks whether you accept the license terms. You must select Yes to install and use the Microsoft fonts. Selecting No cancels the installation.

Press Tab until Yes is highlighted, then press Enter. After the package downloads and extracts the fonts, the terminal prints a completion message.

Rebuild the Ubuntu Font Cache

The installer normally triggers fontconfig automatically. If an application was open during installation or still cannot see the new fonts, rebuild the cache manually:

sudo fc-cache -fv

The -f option forces a rescan, and -v prints the directories being processed. Close and reopen applications that were already running before checking their font menus.

Fonts Included in ttf-mscorefonts-installer

The package installs Microsoft’s Core Fonts for the Web collection. These fonts remain common in older Office files, business templates, PDFs, and web layouts:

• Andale Mono: a monospace font for technical documents and code samples
• Arial, including Arial Black and bold or italic variants: a common sans-serif business-document font
• Comic Sans MS: an informal sans-serif font
• Courier New: a monospace font often used in code, forms, and fixed-width layouts
• Georgia: a serif font designed for screen readability
• Impact: a heavy display font used for headings and short labels
• Times New Roman: a standard serif font for academic papers, contracts, and formal documents
• Trebuchet MS: a sans-serif font often found in presentations and older web designs
• Verdana: a sans-serif font designed for clear on-screen reading
• Webdings: a symbol font used in older documents and decorative layouts

This package does not install Calibri, Cambria, Consolas, Aptos, Wingdings, or other newer Microsoft Office fonts. Webdings is included, but Wingdings requires a separate licensed font source. Use the optional ClearType method only when you need the older Office 2007-era fonts that were bundled with PowerPoint Viewer.

Verify Microsoft Fonts on Ubuntu

Use fc-match to check individual font names, then use fc-list with the grep command to confirm the installed fonts resolve to Microsoft files rather than Ubuntu’s fallback families:

fc-match Arial
fc-match "Times New Roman"
fc-list | grep -iE "Arial.ttf|Times_New_Roman.ttf|Verdana.ttf"

Relevant output includes the Microsoft font names and the /usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts/ path:

Arial.ttf: "Arial" "Regular"
Times_New_Roman.ttf: "Times New Roman" "Regular"
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts/Arial.ttf: Arial:style=Regular
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts/Times_New_Roman.ttf: Times New Roman:style=Regular
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts/Verdana.ttf: Verdana:style=Regular

If fc-match Arial returns LiberationSans-Regular.ttf instead, the Microsoft package is not installed or the font cache has not updated yet. Rebuild the cache, close the affected application, and reopen it.

Verify Microsoft Fonts in the Fonts App

You can also verify the fonts from Ubuntu’s graphical font viewer. Open the application menu, search for Fonts, and launch the Fonts application.

Search for Arial, Times New Roman, or Verdana. If the font appears with its regular, bold, italic, and bold italic variants, the package installed correctly.

Test Microsoft Fonts in LibreOffice Writer

For document compatibility work, test the fonts directly in LibreOffice Writer:

1. Open LibreOffice Writer from the application menu, or launch it with libreoffice --writer.
2. Type sample text such as Testing Microsoft Fonts on Ubuntu.
3. Select the text with your mouse.
4. Open the font dropdown in the toolbar.
5. Choose Arial, Times New Roman, or another installed Microsoft font.
6. Confirm the selected text changes to the chosen font.

If the font appears in the dropdown and applies to the selected text, LibreOffice can use the installed Microsoft typefaces. Documents created or edited with these fonts will keep closer spacing and pagination when shared with Windows users.

Why Ubuntu Uses Font Substitutes by Default

Ubuntu ships open-source font families such as Liberation, DejaVu, Noto, and Ubuntu because they can be redistributed freely. Some of them are metric-compatible with Microsoft’s fonts, which means letters occupy similar widths and line heights, but they are not identical designs.

Microsoft Font	Common Ubuntu Substitute	Compatibility Notes
Arial	Liberation Sans	Metric-compatible but visually different
Times New Roman	Liberation Serif	Metric-compatible for many document layouts
Courier New	Liberation Mono	Metric-compatible monospace substitute
Georgia	DejaVu Serif	Similar role, not a pixel match
Verdana	DejaVu Sans	Similar role, not a pixel match

For casual use, those substitutes are usually enough. For resumes, client documents, print-ready PDFs, and Office templates where page breaks or line lengths matter, installing the original Microsoft fonts reduces layout drift.

Install Older Office ClearType Fonts on Ubuntu

The core fonts package does not include Calibri, Cambria, Candara, Constantia, Corbel, or Consolas. These older Office ClearType fonts were bundled with Microsoft’s discontinued PowerPoint Viewer, which is now archived. Use this optional method only when you specifically need those fonts for document compatibility.

The archived PowerPoint Viewer installer is a Microsoft product binary hosted by Archive.org, but the fonts remain Microsoft property. For commercial, legal, or enterprise use, confirm your licensing obligations before deploying them.

Fonts Included in PowerPoint Viewer

The PowerPoint Viewer archive includes the Office 2007-era ClearType collection:

• Calibri: the former Microsoft Office default document font
• Cambria: a serif font used for body text and headings
• Consolas: a monospace font often used in code blocks and terminals
• Candara: a humanist sans-serif font
• Constantia: a serif font designed for screen and print reading
• Corbel: a sans-serif font for body text and interface-style layouts

It does not include Aptos. If a current Microsoft 365 document depends on Aptos, this archive will not satisfy that requirement.

Download and Extract ClearType Fonts

Install cabextract, the utility used to unpack Microsoft cabinet archives:

sudo apt install cabextract

Create a temporary working directory, download the archived PowerPoint Viewer installer with wget, and verify the file hash before extracting anything:

mkdir -p /tmp/microsoft-fonts
cd /tmp/microsoft-fonts
wget -q "https://archive.org/download/PowerPointViewer_201801/PowerPointViewer.exe"

EXPECTED="249473568eba7a1e4f95498acba594e0f42e6581add4dead70c1dfb908a09423"
ACTUAL=$(sha256sum PowerPointViewer.exe | cut -d' ' -f1)

if [ "$ACTUAL" = "$EXPECTED" ]; then
    echo "Checksum verified successfully"
else
    echo "Checksum verification failed"
    rm -f PowerPointViewer.exe
    exit 1
fi

Extract the embedded cabinet archive, then extract its contents:

cabextract -q PowerPointViewer.exe -F ppviewer.cab
cabextract -q ppviewer.cab

You may see a warning about extra bytes at the end of ppviewer.cab. That warning appeared during validation and did not prevent the TrueType fonts from extracting.

Create a user font directory and move the extracted TrueType files into it. The find command uses -exec and case-insensitive matching here, which works across Ubuntu 26.04, 24.04, and 22.04 even when cabextract handles uppercase patterns differently.

mkdir -p ~/.local/share/fonts/microsoft
find . -maxdepth 1 -type f \( -iname "*.ttf" -o -iname "*.ttc" \) -exec mv {} ~/.local/share/fonts/microsoft/ \;
fc-cache -f

Leave the temporary directory before removing it so your shell does not stay inside a deleted working directory:

cd ~
rm -rf /tmp/microsoft-fonts

Verify the Calibri font family resolves from your user font directory:

fc-match Calibri
fc-list | grep -i calibri | head -4

Expected output includes Calibri files under your home directory:

CALIBRI.TTF: "Calibri" "Regular"
/home/username/.local/share/fonts/microsoft/CALIBRIB.TTF: Calibri:style=Bold
/home/username/.local/share/fonts/microsoft/CALIBRI.TTF: Calibri:style=Regular
/home/username/.local/share/fonts/microsoft/CALIBRIZ.TTF: Calibri:style=Bold Italic
/home/username/.local/share/fonts/microsoft/CALIBRII.TTF: Calibri:style=Italic

Remove ClearType Fonts

To remove the optional ClearType fonts, delete the user font directory and refresh the cache:

Deleting ~/.local/share/fonts/microsoft permanently removes everything in that directory. If you manually added other fonts there, move them elsewhere first.

rm -rf ~/.local/share/fonts/microsoft
fc-cache -f

Troubleshoot Microsoft Fonts on Ubuntu

The most common failures involve a disabled multiverse repository, EULA navigation, interrupted downloads, or applications keeping an old font cache.

Package Has No Installation Candidate

If APT reports Package 'ttf-mscorefonts-installer' has no installation candidate or Unable to locate package ttf-mscorefonts-installer, enable multiverse and refresh package metadata:

sudo add-apt-repository multiverse
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ttf-mscorefonts-installer

If add-apt-repository is missing or your sources are heavily customized, use the dedicated Ubuntu Universe and Multiverse guide to repair the repository configuration before retrying the font install.

SourceForge Font Download Failures

The package downloads several small executables from SourceForge during configuration. If a mirror times out or your connection drops, rerun the package configuration after confirming internet access:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure ttf-mscorefonts-installer

Accept the EULA again when prompted. The command restarts the font download and extraction process without changing the rest of your system.

EULA Navigation Problems

If the EULA screen appears stuck, the terminal is usually waiting for keyboard navigation. Press Tab to move focus to Ok or Yes, then press Enter. If you accidentally cancel the prompt, rerun sudo dpkg-reconfigure ttf-mscorefonts-installer.

Fonts Not Appearing in Applications

Applications that were open during installation may keep an old font list. Rebuild the cache, then restart the affected application:

sudo fc-cache -fv

If the font still does not appear, log out and back in so your desktop session reloads its font list.

Remove Microsoft Fonts from Ubuntu

Remove the classic Microsoft Core Fonts package with APT:

sudo apt remove ttf-mscorefonts-installer

The package removal script deletes the downloaded font files from /usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts/. Refresh the font cache afterward:

sudo fc-cache -f

Verify Arial now falls back to Ubuntu’s substitute font:

fc-match Arial

LiberationSans-Regular.ttf: "Liberation Sans" "Regular"

If APT says cabextract or another dependency is no longer required, you can remove orphaned packages after reviewing the package list:

sudo apt autoremove

Conclusion

Ubuntu can use Microsoft’s classic TrueType fonts once ttf-mscorefonts-installer downloads them, accepts the license, and updates the font cache. The core package covers the main Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana, Georgia, Courier New, and Trebuchet MS compatibility cases. For older Office files that depend on Calibri, Cambria, or Consolas, the optional PowerPoint Viewer extraction adds those fonts to your user font directory, while Aptos remains outside both methods and needs a licensed Microsoft source.