Removing foreign language fonts

Anonymous
2009-10-30T16:13:49+00:00

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.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Accessibility

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Anonymous
2009-12-05T14:33:12+00:00

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

Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-01-14T17:12:45+00:00

    Brilliant! Worked like a charm! Thanks for sharing this scheme.

    I solved this problem once before by taking ownership of the font files. But this time, winblows didn't allow me to do that. (I had had to restore factory settings because $*&% Mcafee fell asleep on the job and my puter got virused.)

    I'm sort of wondering how you deduced this process might work. As others have said, MS's documentation of their quirky decisions is inadequate. The key idea (which was a complete surprise to me) is that when you choose "install as shortcut", the actual file in the Fonts folder is *replaced* with a shortcut. The fact that this is allowed to happen seems like another undocumented "feature". :)

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-01-18T15:45:00+00:00

    The real problem here is not the number of fonts, the space taken up on the hard drive, the load on the system or even the fact that they have near-as-nevermind no use or relevance for the majority of English speaking users.

    The problem is that they cannot be hidden or changed such that other apps do not list them.

    In WordPerfect X4 (I've been using WordPerfect since dos days), the first 38 (?) fonts listed in the drop down menu are begin with @. That they are there, that I must navigate past them...only to find them repeated in alphabetical order but without ******@...is not just annoying, it is a travesty.

    Microsoft could fix this. They assured people here that they would. That they do not, seems to be yet another attempt to force an increasingly restrictive vision of how third party software should respond...and nevermind those that use either the operating system or non-Microsoft apps.

    And despite pleas...humble supplications...Microsoft cannot...will not...even provide a list of fonts that can be safely deleted from the system. they won't even address that problem in a forthright manner. 

    We are customers. We pay for a product. But it seems money is not enough...

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-06-05T11:06:56+00:00

    This is ridiculous. So many steps to delete one font file - and in the end it still doesn't work, because the CMD tells you "file not found".

    Please grow up Microsoft. This you do only to annoy users and to show your power.

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