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Which is the correct font folder? (I have duplicate fonts)

Anonymous
2021-09-11T02:36:42+00:00

I was very surprised to find today that Nexusfont (a font management program) says I had over 3,000 fonts installed—to my knowledge I had only ever installed half that number. To my surprise, under Windows 10’s native ‘Font settings’ (as opposed to the Control Panel font directory), I found a lot of duplicates, at both c:\users[My name]\appdata\local\microsoft\windows\fonts and the usual c:\windows\fonts. I’ve never reinstalled any, especially the defaults, so this is Windows’ doing. (Trust me, I’d know if I had ever sat here reinstalling 1,227 fonts into another directory.)

My question is: which one may I delete (because presumably this is contributing to a much longer load time and putting wear on my SSD)? Or which is the definitive font folder from where Windows builds its font directory (and the registry entries)?

All fonts are installed for ‘all users’ even though there’s just me on this PC. Thank you in advance!

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Files, folders, and storage

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-09-12T12:53:12+00:00

    Hi Jack,

    The font will go the C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Fonts if you select only the install option. While the install for all user options will go to the default c:\windows\fonts directory.

    You might be receiving an error deleting the fonts because it is still in use by the system. Open the registry editor then navigate to this location "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Fonts"

    Delete all the instances there then reboot the PC. Once logged in you can then delete the fonts in the C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Fonts.

    Best regards,

    Van

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-09-25T01:34:45+00:00

    Great news, Van, the registry deletions worked. Let me figure out a way to mark your answer as the solution!

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-09-25T01:08:25+00:00

    Hi Van, the thing is I always install for all users (since being given the option), so the duplicates have been created solely by Windows and not through any human agency. In that appdata directory are fonts I installed years ago before Windows distinguished between ‘Install’ and ‘Install for all users’. This is why it’s puzzling (and a bit annoying).

    Of the 1,226 in the appdata folder, I was only able to remove 2. Windows says the rest are ‘open in System’. 🙁 In safe mode, Windows says another program is using the fonts, and I was only able to remove 1. I’ll try your registry removal idea now and report back.

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-09-12T12:26:05+00:00

    Thank you, Van, I’ll delete the fonts from c:\users in that case, and see what happens! Any idea how they got there?

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-09-11T03:19:01+00:00

    Hi, I am Van. I'll be glad to assist you today.

    Base on my end, the one we are using as default is in the C:\Windows\Fonts. And upon checking on the other directory C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Fonts, this folder is empty on my PC.

    Best regards,

    Van

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