Removing foreign language fonts

Anonymous

Does anyone know of a way to remove the many foreign language fonts from Windows 7? There wasn't an option to exclude them during setup. I've tried deleting them, but Windows tells me that they are system fonts which cannot be deleted. I've also tried "Hiding" them, but they still show up in the font list in Office and other programs. All I want and need are the basic English language fonts. Having to wade through dozens of useless (to me) fonts is a major annoyance. There should be a way to exclude them from my system if I don't need them.

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Anonymous

Hello mcbarker69,

The reason that I did not know the fonts in question is because no particular fonts were mentioned, and I had gone into fonts and removed a couple foreign fonts with no problem. However that being said, in order to remove the fonts that are being referred to follow these steps:

Take ownership of the file:

- Click Start Orb > type fonts in the search box > click Fonts

- Right-click the font > click Properties - Click Security tab > click Advanced - Click Owner > click Edit - Select your Username > click OK

Click OK on the Windows Security box

Change Permissions of the file:

- Click Permissions > click Change Permissions

- Select your Username > click Edit

- Checkmark Allow for Full control

- Click OK - Click OK

Click Yes on the Windows Security box

- Click OK

You will need to remember the names of your font(s) that you want to delete.

Delete the file:

Will need to start Safe mode with command prompt

Restart your computer and tap F-8 continually, this will bring you to your Advanced Boot Options, select Safe mode with command prompt.

Once you have booted:

In command prompt navigate to fonts:

- type cd c:\windows\fonts > press enter

- type del "font name" > press enter *Do not use the quotes around the font name

This should bring you back to a clean prompt.

Once you are finished > Ctrl+Alt+Del > select restart from the arrow in the bottom right corner of your screen and start Windows normally.

Hope this helps

As the Windows Security box states; this could cause Windows to act differently. Make sure you know which fonts you are removing and that Windows does not need them before you remove any protected system fonts. This could cause many complications with your installation of Windows.

Chris.H

Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

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133 additional answers

Anonymous

2011-02-04T23:37:25+00:00

You obviously don't use any non-Microsoft software on a regular basis which allows adding text (Adobe suites or other graphics utilities, for example). Having to wade through the dozens of useless fontsEVERYtime you want to add text to something, is both time consuming and annoying. For those of us who really don't need, or want these intrusive fonts (probably around 95% of us in English speaking countries), these fonts represent yet another bad programming decision by Microsoft. It isn't a matter of hard disk drive space. Now if MS had included the ability to hide, or delete the unwanted fonts in non-Microsoft environments, this thread probably wouldn't exist.
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Anonymous

2011-02-04T21:03:51+00:00

I'm surprised about the whole thread. One big advantage of Win 7 over XP (f.i.) is that you don't need to download and install fonts separately if you want a correct display of foreign (say, East-Asian) characters in Notepad or on webpages. Why would anyone wish to revert this functionality? The harddisk has a capacity of 30 MB, or what?

"192 GB ought to be enough for anybody." (from the miniseries "Next Generation's Jokes")
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Anonymous

2011-02-04T18:43:16+00:00

I'm surprised no one mentioned the easy way: edit the registry.

The usual disclaimer: back up your registry beforehand, yada yada yada.

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Fonts

Delete what you don't want. Be careful.

The fonts won't appear in font lists in InDesign, etc.
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Anonymous

2010-12-26T04:57:12+00:00

As I type this, it's still Christmas Day...and I'm hoping that Santa will do something soon about the 729 (mostly unwanted) fonts that are cluttering up all my applications when I try to select just one font to use.

I just recently installed Win 7 Pro and it has not been pleasant. In addition to the 23 fonts starting with @ at the top of each font list, the same 23 and duplicated without the @ further down in the listing. That's 46 idiocies to wade through.

And then there's the Font Navigator problem. It seems that Win 7 doesn't want FontNav to install any of my Type 1 fonts. Heavens, Win 7 won't install them either.

On top of that, Win 7 thinks it can forget about similar (but different) fonts. I installed Korinna and Korinna Kursiv along with their bold counterparts and also Korinna Extra Bold (the font used in the logos of several linked companies I do work for). The Extra Bold version seemed to be installed, but it isn't. Can't be found in the font selection drop down menus in apps.

So now, I have discovered that I need third-party software to install the fonts I need to use regularly, but I can't remove the idiocies that are confront me every time I select a font (very often each day). Grrr. Making me spend money to correct something that was foisted on me with no notice!

Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences about using FontExpert 2010 from Proxima? Does it work on installing Type 1 fonts? How about Multiple Masters? Can it remove archaic language fonts?

Help, Santa...Help!
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