It offers an intuitive interface and an amazing set of features, including Google Fonts support. It’s surely the best free font manager for Mac. RightFont 5 — the Professional Font Manager for Mac. If you are a professional designer, RightFont 5 is one of the best font managers for macOS.
How big is your font collection? If you’ve been busy downloading all the free fonts you can find, or if you’ve invested in some premium typefaces chances are you’ve got hundreds (or thousands!) of font files that are bogging down your system. Font managers are important tools that allow you to activate and deactivate your fonts on the fly, organise your collection into groups, and easily test out multiple typefaces at once to find the perfect choice for your designs. I browsed through graphic design forums and messageboards to find out which font managers were recommended by real professionals. This roundup features the most popular programs for both Windows and Mac, including free and premium apps for you to consider.
- Sep 24, 2021 As a FontCreator user for many fonts for many years, I can clearly say for sure, after looking at all the alternatives and software available on the market, for Windos and Mac, I can say for sure, FontCreator is the best software on the market in terms of reliability and simplicity, fast performance and zero Bugs, easy and convenient to use.
- Suitcase (Win) / Suitcase Fusion (Mac) Suitcase Fusion (Mac) and Suitcase (Win) are powerful.
What do you want from a font manager?
Aside from the basic function of activating and deactivating fonts, are there any other features you might find useful from a font manager? There’s plenty of lightweight and often free choices, but sometimes the premium apps contain some really handy capabilities that can really benefit design professionals. Grouping, labelling, tagging and organsing your fonts helps you pick out the exact style of typeface that you need from your massive library. Previewing multiple fonts at once with custom wording can really speed up your logo designs by allowing you to visually compare different typefaces. Some font managers even come with Photoshop, Illustrator & InDesign plugins so any required fonts will be automatically activated when they’re needed. These are important features to consider when weighing up the value of the different programs on offer.
Windows Only Font Managers
NexusFont (Free!)
NexusFont is the most commonly recommended font manager for Windows. It’s simple little freeware application that has all the basic functions of activate & deactivating, sorting and searching your collection.
The Font Thing (Free!)
Font Expert For Mac
It was made in 1999, but The Font Thing is a tried and tested piece of freeware that is still in service for many designers. It allows you to install, organise, preview and filter your fonts from a lightweight program.
FontBase (Free!)
FontBase is a new font manager for Windows 7 or higher. Unlike many free programs for Windows, this app has a beautiful interface that makes it easy to live edit, style, preview, search and compare your fonts.
AMP Font Viewer (Free!)
AMP Font Viewer is another free option for Windows users. It has many features for installing and categorising your fonts, including temporary installation of fonts so they remain active until the program is closed.
Mac Only Font Managers
RightFont ($39.95)
RightFont is a relatively new font manager for Mac. It helps you preview, sync, and organise fonts stored in any location without installing them, which is great for users with multiple devices. Fonts can also be filtered by classification, width or weight.
FontAgent Pro ($99)
FontAgent Pro is a classic font manager for Mac. It’s quite pricey, but you know you’re getting a tried and tested piece of software with lots of features. FontAgent Pro also comes with auto-activation plugins for the latest versions of Adobe CC and Quark.
Best Free Font Managers
Fontyou (Free!)
Fontyou is a new style of cloud based font manager. Rather than import all your fonts from your hard drive and access them via a traditional utility program, you upload your files to the cloud and manage your collections via the browser.
Font Explorer X 1.2.3 (Free!)
Font Explorer X has been my font manager of choice for many years. Originally this was a free version of Font Explorer X Pro, but it has since been removed from the Font Explorer website. Thankfully this handy free version is still accessible via Softpedia.
Free Font Manager
The Professional’s Choice (Win & Mac)
Suitcase Fusion ($119.95)
Suitcase is the biggest name in the design industry when it comes to managing fonts. At $120 it’s the most expensive program in this roundup, but it’s compatible with all the Adobe Creative Cloud software, QuarkXPress and even basic desktop appplications.
FontExplorer X Pro ($99)
FontExplorer X Pro is a comprehensive font manager with a wealth of features. It can also connect to FontExplorer X Server, which provides shared font management between entire teams, making it a great solution for teams and agencies.
Install fonts
Free Font Manager For Mac Os X
Double-click the font in the Finder, then click Install Font in the font preview window that opens. After your Mac validates the font and opens the Font Book app, the font is installed and available for use.
Font Manager by Alexander G. Styopkin is a free piece of software that will help you view, organize, install and manage your font collection. Even though there is no information about the development of Font Manager for Mac, you can use other tools to manage fonts on Mac. FontBase is a beautiful font manager for designers, available on Windows, macOS and Linux. The application features built-in Google fonts, with the ability to preview and easily use them in desktop applications like GIMP, Photoshop, Sketch, etc.
Font Manager For Mac
You can use Font Book preferences to set the default install location, which determines whether the fonts you add are available to other user accounts on your Mac.
Fonts that appear dimmed in Font Book are either disabled ('Off'), or are additional fonts available for download from Apple. To download the font, select it and choose Edit > Download.
Disable fonts
You can disable any font that isn't required by your Mac. Select the font in Font Book, then choose Edit > Disable. Crashed app on macbook pro unable to download. The font remains installed, but no longer appears in the font menus of your apps. Fonts that are disabled show ”Off” next to the font name in Font Book.
Free Fonts Download For Mac
Remove fonts
Best Font Manager For Mac
You can remove any font that isn't required by your Mac. Select the font in Font Book, then choose File > Remove. Font Book moves the font to the Trash.
Learn more
macOS supports TrueType (.ttf), Variable TrueType (.ttf), TrueType Collection (.ttc), OpenType (.otf), and OpenType Collection (.ttc) fonts. macOS Mojave adds support for OpenType-SVG fonts.
Legacy suitcase TrueType fonts and PostScript Type 1 LWFN fonts might work but aren't recommended.