Installing Microsoft fonts on Fedora provides essential compatibility with documents and web pages that rely on Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri, and other Microsoft TrueType fonts. Fedora does not include these fonts by default due to licensing restrictions, but you can add them through the community-maintained msttcore-fonts-installer package. This single package installs both the classic Core Fonts collection (Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana) and modern ClearType fonts (Calibri, Consolas, Candara, Constantia, Corbel) used in Office 2007 and later.
This guide covers installing Microsoft fonts via the mscorefonts2 project, verifying font availability through terminal commands and the GNOME Fonts application, and removing fonts when no longer needed. An optional method for obtaining additional fonts (including the complete Cambria font family) from an archived PowerPoint Viewer is also included for users who need maximum font coverage.
Compare Microsoft Fonts Installation Methods
Two methods exist for installing Microsoft fonts on Fedora, each with different coverage and complexity:
| Method | Channel | Fonts Included | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| msttcore-fonts-installer | SourceForge | Core Fonts + most ClearType fonts (Calibri, Consolas, Candara, Constantia, Corbel) | Most users needing Microsoft font compatibility |
| Archive.org PowerPoint Viewer | Archive.org | Complete ClearType fonts including Cambria Regular and Meiryo (Japanese) | Users needing the full Cambria font family or updated 2010 font versions |
For most users, the msttcore-fonts-installer method is recommended because it provides automatic installation of both classic and modern Microsoft fonts in a single package. The Archive.org method is only necessary if you specifically need Cambria Regular (the installer includes Cambria Bold, Italic, and Bold Italic, but not Regular) or prefer the updated 2010 font versions.
Update System Packages
Update your Fedora system before installing fonts to ensure package compatibility. Open your terminal by searching for “Terminal” in Activities:
sudo dnf upgrade --refreshInstall Microsoft Fonts via msttcore-fonts-installer
The msttcore-fonts-installer package from the mscorefonts2 project downloads Microsoft fonts from SourceForge mirrors during installation and registers them with your system font cache. This method installs fonts system-wide to /usr/share/fonts/msttcore/, making them available to all applications and users.
Microsoft retains the license for these fonts. You may use them to create and view documents (including commercial documents), but you cannot redistribute the font files themselves or embed them in software applications without proper licensing. The installation requires an active internet connection to download font data from SourceForge.
Install Required Dependencies
The font installer requires tools to download and extract Microsoft cabinet archive files. Desktop Fedora Workstation installations typically include these packages by default, while minimal server installations or containers require manual installation:
sudo dnf install curl cabextract xorg-x11-font-utils fontconfigThe dependencies include curl for downloading files, cabextract for extracting Microsoft cabinet archives, xorg-x11-font-utils for X11 font management, and fontconfig for system font configuration.
Fedora Atomic Users (Bazzite, Silverblue, Kinoite): Immutable Fedora variants use
rpm-ostreeinstead ofdnffor system packages. Runrpm-ostree install curl cabextract xorg-x11-font-utils fontconfigand reboot before proceeding.
Download and Install the Font Package
The msttcore-fonts-installer package version 2.6 includes both classic Core Fonts and modern ClearType fonts. Download the package from SourceForge:
curl -LO https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/mscorefonts2/rpms/msttcore-fonts-installer-2.6-1.noarch.rpmDNF5 (Fedora 41+) rejects this community package because it lacks proper digest signatures. Install it with rpm directly, bypassing the signature checks:
sudo rpm -ivh --nodigest --nofiledigest msttcore-fonts-installer-2.6-1.noarch.rpmThe --nodigest and --nofiledigest flags are required because the package was built before DNF5 adopted stricter signature requirements. This is standard practice for community-maintained packages hosted on SourceForge.
The version documented above (2.6-1) was current at publication. Check the mscorefonts2 project page on SourceForge for newer versions. You can verify package integrity with
sha1sum msttcore-fonts-installer-2.6-1.noarch.rpm(expected:0cd8fc72921f917ce27b2e639da6fe25eaa736b4).
Fedora Atomic Users (Bazzite, Silverblue, Kinoite): Immutable systems cannot use standard rpm installation. Install the local RPM with
sudo rpm-ostree install ./msttcore-fonts-installer-2.6-1.noarch.rpm, then reboot to apply the layered package.
Fonts Included in msttcore-fonts-installer 2.6
During installation, the package downloads and installs the following fonts:
Classic Core Fonts (1990s):
- Andale Mono, Arial (with Bold, Italic, Bold Italic), Arial Black
- Comic Sans MS (with Bold), Courier New (with Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
- Georgia (with Bold, Italic, Bold Italic), Impact
- Times New Roman (with Bold, Italic, Bold Italic), Trebuchet MS (with Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
- Verdana (with Bold, Italic, Bold Italic), Webdings, Tahoma
Modern ClearType Fonts (Office 2007+):
- Calibri (Regular, Bold, Italic, Bold Italic): the default document font in Microsoft Office since 2007
- Cambria (Bold, Italic, Bold Italic only): a serif font for headings. Cambria Regular requires the Archive.org method below.
- Consolas (Regular, Bold, Italic, Bold Italic): a monospace font popular for programming
- Candara (Regular, Bold, Italic, Bold Italic): a humanist sans-serif
- Constantia (Regular, Bold, Italic, Bold Italic): a serif with wedge-shaped serifs
- Corbel (Regular, Bold, Italic, Bold Italic): a sans-serif for on-screen display
The installation downloads approximately 30 MB of font data and takes 30 to 90 seconds depending on your internet connection.
Verify Microsoft Fonts Installation
Expected Installation Output
During installation, the terminal displays progress as the installer downloads font packages from SourceForge, extracts them to /usr/share/fonts/msttcore/, and rebuilds the font cache:
Preparing... ######################################## Updating / installing... msttcore-fonts-installer-2.6-1 ######################################## ### Using tmp directory /tmp/refresh-msttcore-fonts-XXXXXX ### Downloading andale32.exe from http://downloads.sourceforge.net/corefonts ### cab file andale32.exe successfully downloaded ### extracting fonts from andale32.exe directly into /usr/share/fonts/msttcore ... ### Downloading PowerPointViewer.exe from http://downloads.sourceforge.net/mscorefonts2 ### cab file PowerPointViewer.exe successfully downloaded ### extracting fonts from PowerPointViewer.exe directly into /usr/share/fonts/msttcore ... ### Indexing the new fonts for Xft /usr/bin/fc-cache-64: succeeded
The installer downloads font packages including PowerPointViewer.exe (which contains the modern ClearType fonts), extracts the TrueType files, and updates the font cache. The message “/usr/bin/fc-cache-64: succeeded” confirms the fonts are registered and immediately available.
Verify Fonts from Terminal
Confirm the fonts are accessible using the fc-list command with grep to filter results:
fc-list | grep -iE 'Arial|Times|Calibri|Consolas'Successful installation shows font paths in /usr/share/fonts/msttcore/:
/usr/share/fonts/msttcore/arial.ttf: Arial:style=Regular /usr/share/fonts/msttcore/arialbd.ttf: Arial:style=Bold /usr/share/fonts/msttcore/times.ttf: Times New Roman:style=Regular /usr/share/fonts/msttcore/timesbd.ttf: Times New Roman:style=Bold /usr/share/fonts/msttcore/calibri.ttf: Calibri:style=Regular /usr/share/fonts/msttcore/calibrib.ttf: Calibri:style=Bold /usr/share/fonts/msttcore/consola.ttf: Consolas:style=Regular
If you see entries for Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri, and Consolas, the installation completed successfully. All 54 fonts from both the classic and modern collections are now available system-wide.
Verify Fonts in GNOME Fonts
The GNOME Fonts application provides a visual method to confirm Microsoft fonts integrate correctly with your desktop. Open it by searching for “Fonts” in Activities.
Search for “Arial,” “Calibri,” or “Times New Roman” to confirm these fonts appear in your system library. Each font family displays all its style variants (Regular, Bold, Italic, Bold Italic) separately.
Test Fonts in LibreOffice
Test the fonts in LibreOffice Writer to confirm they render correctly in productivity applications:
- Search for “LibreOffice Writer” in Activities and open the application.
- Type a sentence, highlight it, and select a Microsoft font (Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman) from the font dropdown.
- Verify the text changes to the selected font without substitution warnings.
Documents that specify Microsoft fonts now render with the correct typefaces instead of Linux alternatives like Liberation Sans or Liberation Serif.
Troubleshoot Common Issues
SourceForge Download Failures
If the installer fails during the font download phase, you see error messages like:
### Downloading andale32.exe from http://downloads.sourceforge.net/corefonts Could not download andale32.exe Failed to download andale32.exe from http://downloads.sourceforge.net/corefonts
This indicates SourceForge mirrors are temporarily unavailable. Verify your internet connection:
ping -c 3 sourceforge.netIf the network is reachable, wait a few minutes and retry by removing then reinstalling the package. The installer tries multiple mirror servers, so transient failures often resolve on retry:
sudo dnf remove msttcore-fonts-installer
sudo rpm -ivh --nodigest --nofiledigest msttcore-fonts-installer-2.6-1.noarch.rpmClearType Fonts Missing After Installation
If classic fonts (Arial, Times New Roman) are present but modern fonts (Calibri, Consolas) are missing, the PowerPointViewer.exe download likely failed during installation. Check for placeholder files:
ls -la /usr/share/fonts/msttcore/calibri.ttfIf the file size is only 7 bytes (showing “filler” content), the ClearType fonts failed to download. Remove and reinstall the package:
sudo dnf remove msttcore-fonts-installer
sudo rpm -ivh --nodigest --nofiledigest msttcore-fonts-installer-2.6-1.noarch.rpmA successful installation shows Calibri.ttf at approximately 350 KB.
DNF5 Package Signature Error
Attempting to install the package with DNF directly produces this error:
Transaction failed: Rpm transaction failed. Warning: skipped OpenPGP checks for 1 package from repository: @commandline - package msttcore-fonts-installer-2.6-1.noarch does not verify: no digest
This confirms the package lacks DNF5-compatible digest signatures. Use the rpm -ivh --nodigest --nofiledigest installation method documented above. This is expected behavior for community packages not rebuilt with current tooling.
Fonts Not Appearing in Applications
If fonts do not appear in applications after installation, verify the font files exist:
ls /usr/share/fonts/msttcore/ | grep -E 'arial|times|calibri'Expected output:
arial.ttf arialbd.ttf ariali.ttf calibri.ttf calibrib.ttf calibrii.ttf times.ttf timesbd.ttf
If files exist but applications do not show them, rebuild the font cache manually:
sudo fc-cache -fvThe output should include /usr/share/fonts/msttcore: caching, new cache contents: 54 fonts. Restart open applications to reload their font lists.
Install Complete Cambria Font Family (Optional)
The msttcore-fonts-installer includes Cambria Bold, Italic, and Bold Italic, but not Cambria Regular. The Regular style is stored in a TrueType Collection file (CAMBRIA.TTC) that the installer does not extract. If you need the complete Cambria font family or prefer updated 2010 font versions, install them manually from the archived PowerPoint Viewer.
These fonts are extracted from Microsoft’s discontinued PowerPoint Viewer archived on Archive.org. While commonly used for personal document compatibility, the fonts remain Microsoft property. For commercial or enterprise use, verify your licensing obligations.
Additional Fonts Available
The Archive.org PowerPoint Viewer (63 MB) contains updated 2010 versions of fonts and includes:
- Cambria Regular (via CAMBRIA.TTC): the missing Regular style not extracted by msttcore-fonts-installer
- Cambria Math: included in the same TTC file, useful for mathematical documents
- Meiryo: Japanese fonts (Regular and Bold) for CJK document support
- Updated ClearType fonts: 2008-2010 versions with larger file sizes than the 2006 versions in msttcore-fonts-installer
Download and Install Cambria Fonts
The cabextract utility should already be installed from the earlier steps. If not, install it:
sudo dnf install cabextractDownload the PowerPoint Viewer from Archive.org and verify its checksum:
cd /tmp
curl -o PowerPointViewer.exe -fsSL "https://archive.org/download/PowerPointViewer_201801/PowerPointViewer.exe"
# Verify the download integrity
EXPECTED="249473568eba7a1e4f95498acba594e0f42e6581add4dead70c1dfb908a09423"
ACTUAL=$(sha256sum PowerPointViewer.exe | cut -d' ' -f1)
if [ "$ACTUAL" = "$EXPECTED" ]; then
echo "Checksum verified successfully"
else
echo "ERROR: Checksum mismatch. Expected: $EXPECTED"
echo " Actual: $ACTUAL"
exit 1
fiYou should see “Checksum verified successfully.” If the checksum fails, delete the file and try again.
Extract the fonts from the cabinet archive:
cabextract -q PowerPointViewer.exe -F ppviewer.cab
cabextract -q ppviewer.cab -F '*.TTF' -F '*.TTC'You may see a warning about “extra bytes at end of file” during extraction. This is expected and does not affect the font files.
Create a directory for the fonts in your home directory and move them into place:
mkdir -p ~/.local/share/fonts/microsoft
mv *.TTF *.TTC ~/.local/share/fonts/microsoft/Installing fonts to ~/.local/share/fonts/ makes them available only to your user account, which is appropriate for fonts with licensing restrictions.
Update the font cache:
fc-cache -fVerify the complete Cambria font family is available:
fc-list | grep -i cambriaExpected output showing Regular style from the TTC file:
/home/username/.local/share/fonts/microsoft/CAMBRIA.TTC: Cambria:style=Regular /home/username/.local/share/fonts/microsoft/CAMBRIA.TTC: Cambria Math:style=Regular /home/username/.local/share/fonts/microsoft/CAMBRIAB.TTF: Cambria:style=Bold /home/username/.local/share/fonts/microsoft/CAMBRIAI.TTF: Cambria:style=Italic /home/username/.local/share/fonts/microsoft/CAMBRIAZ.TTF: Cambria:style=Bold Italic
Clean up the temporary files:
rm -f /tmp/PowerPointViewer.exe /tmp/ppviewer.cabRemove Microsoft Fonts
The removal process differs based on which installation method you used.
Remove Core Fonts Package
Remove the package with DNF. The package’s post-uninstall script automatically deletes font files from /usr/share/fonts/msttcore/ and rebuilds the font cache:
sudo dnf remove msttcore-fonts-installerVerify the fonts are removed:
fc-list | grep -iE 'Arial|Times|Calibri'This command should return no output. Applications will fall back to Liberation Sans (Arial substitute) and Liberation Serif (Times New Roman substitute) for documents that previously specified Microsoft fonts.
Optionally, remove dependency packages installed earlier if no other software requires them:
sudo dnf autoremoveRemove Archive.org Fonts
To remove fonts installed from the PowerPoint Viewer, delete the font directory and refresh the cache.
The following command permanently deletes all fonts in
~/.local/share/fonts/microsoft. If you added other fonts to this location, back them up first.
rm -rf ~/.local/share/fonts/microsoft
fc-cache -fVerify the fonts are removed:
fc-list | grep -i cambriaThis command should return no results. Restart open applications to reload their font lists.
Conclusion
Your Fedora system now displays documents with proper Microsoft font rendering. The msttcore-fonts-installer package provides both classic typefaces (Arial, Times New Roman) and modern ClearType fonts (Calibri, Consolas) in a single installation, covering the vast majority of Microsoft Office document compatibility needs. For complete Cambria font family support, the Archive.org method adds Cambria Regular and updated 2010 font versions to your system.
That worked great. For other Windows fonts this didn’t install, I found a way to copy them from Windows to Linux, manually:
Copy from Windows (Direct Method):
If copying to the location in /usr, that needs to be done from the terminal.
Thanks for the feedback.
Thanks, worked well. The only hiccup was that it got stuck downloading PowerPointViewer.exe from sourgeforge.net for a while.
Trying to do this on Bazzite results in the following:
sudo rpm -ivh –nodigest –nofiledigest msttcore-fonts-installer-2.6-1.noarch.rpm
[sudo] password for [myusername]:
error: can’t create transaction lock on /usr/share/rpm/.rpm.lock (Success)
Thanks for reporting this, Blarg. Bazzite is an immutable Fedora Atomic variant, so
/usris read-only andrpmcannot create/usr/share/rpm/.rpm.lock, which triggers that error.Download the RPM as shown in the article, then layer it with
rpm-ostreeand reboot to apply the change:After reboot, the fonts should be in
/usr/share/fonts/msttcore/and available to applications.Hello, I can’t get the installation of the pre-requisite (curl cabextract xorg-x11-font-utils fontconfig) to work.
For some background, I’m trying it on Bazzite (Fedora Atomic)
ERROR: Feodra Atomic utilize rpm-ostree instead
Thanks for reporting this, Arthur. You are correct that the prerequisites command does not work on Bazzite or other Fedora Atomic variants (Silverblue, Kinoite, etc.). These immutable systems use
rpm-ostreeinstead ofdnffor base system packages.For Bazzite and Fedora Atomic systems, you have two options to install the Microsoft Fonts prerequisites:
Option 1: Layer packages with rpm-ostree (requires reboot)
After running that command, reboot your system to apply the layered packages. Then proceed with the font installation steps from the article.
Option 2: Install fonts to your user directory (no reboot needed)
Download the font installer RPM to your Downloads folder, then extract and install the fonts manually to your user font directory:
Note that the extraction script may require
cabextractto be available. If you encounter errors, layeringcabextractwith rpm-ostree is the most reliable approach. After fonts are installed, rebuild your font cache withfc-cache -fv.The article focuses on standard Fedora Workstation, but I will consider adding a note about Fedora Atomic variants for future readers.
Thank you very much that is very kind of you indeed. I am still getting acquainted with commands.
I managed to find an alternative way by copying over my Windows fonts .rtf files and by installing them using KDE options.
But the ‘rpm-ostree install’ instead of ‘dnf instal’ will come in handy. Have an excellent day.
doesn’t work december 2025, can’t install package
Thanks for reporting this, Joe. You were absolutely right. The article had the old DNF installation method that fails on Fedora 43 due to DNF5’s stricter package signature verification. The guide has been updated today with the working method.
The corrected installation uses two commands instead of one:
DNF5 in Fedora 43 rejects packages without proper digest signatures, so the installation requires using
rpmdirectly with the--nodigestand--nofiledigestflags. The fonts will install successfully and register with your system font cache. After installation, verify the fonts withfc-list | grep -i Arialto confirm they are available.Instructions were much easier than doing it by hand. Thanx
thanks worked for me
Worked perfectly. Thank you very much.
Thanks, there are no good tutorials to install the fonts on my Fedora. Post for those who do not have the app to check the font, run this command to install it “sudo dnf install gnome-font-viewer”
Thanks for sharing this, Fabian! That is a great tip for anyone running a minimal Fedora setup or a desktop environment that does not include the Fonts app by default.
If the Font Viewer is missing, install it with:
After installing
gnome-font-viewer, you can follow the steps in the “Verify via Fonts Application” section to check Arial, Verdana, Times New Roman, and the other Microsoft fonts visually. This is especially helpful alongside the terminal check withfc-list.