O.S. and Application Specific Font Cache Files

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Erwin Denissen
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O.S. and Application Specific Font Cache Files

Post by Erwin Denissen »

When a font doesn't show up correctly in Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office or Adobe products you might be able to fix this by deleting one or more font cache files.

Windows
When one or more fonts don't show up in general, it is likely Windows fonts cache file is corrupt. Delete the font cache file:
Windows NT, 2000, XP and Vista C:\WINDOWS\system32\FNTCACHE.DAT
Windows 95, 98, and Me C:\WINDOWS\ttfCache
Reboot Windows so it can re-create the cache file.

NOTE: You need to be able to view hidden files to see the cache file. To view hidden files, click Options on the View menu in Windows Explorer, click Show All Files, and then click OK.

Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint or Excel)
First close all running Office applications.
Locate the permanent file (with the surprising tmp extension) that Microsoft Office creates to cache the font previews:
Go to C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Microsoft\Office\ and delete any fbc*.tmp files.
Restart your Office product (e.g. Word).

Adobe Products (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign)
Go to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\TypeSpt and delete any AdobeFnt*.lst files.
Warning: Do not delete AdobeFnt.db and FntNames.db

NOTE: Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop places fonts that start with a lowercase character on the bottom of the font list.

Comments and improvements are welcome. Also do let us know if you know about other font cache files.
Erwin Denissen
High-Logic
Proven Font Technology
Erwin Denissen
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 11108
Joined: Fri Oct 04, 2002 12:41 am
Location: Bilthoven, The Netherlands
Contact:

Post by Erwin Denissen »

Mac OSX
FontNuke, a free utility on Mac OS X removes numerous font cache files including system font caches, Adobe font caches (*.lst), Microsoft Office font caches, and QuarkXPress 6.x/7.x font cache files.

https://www.jamapi.com/products/fontnuke/

I haven't tried it myself, so use at you own risk.
Erwin Denissen
High-Logic
Proven Font Technology
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