How to Use a WOFF2 Font in Desktop Apps

You have a font as a .woff2 file, perhaps from a website project or a web font kit, and you want to use it in a design tool, a word processor, or a presentation. Double-clicking it does nothing useful, and the app does not list it.

That is expected. This guide explains why, how to turn it into a font your computer can install, and what to check before you do.

Why desktop apps do not accept WOFF2

WOFF2 was designed for one job: delivering fonts to web browsers. The W3C WOFF2 specification describes it as a font packaging format designed for better compression and lower use of network bandwidth. Browsers download it and unpack it before drawing text.

Operating systems and desktop apps work with installed fonts, and they expect the desktop formats: TrueType (.ttf) and OpenType (.otf). Many will not install or list a WOFF or WOFF2 file at all, even though the font data inside is the same kind of data.

So the fix is not a setting in your app. You unpack the WOFF2 into a TTF or OTF file and install that. WOFF2, WOFF, TTF, or OTF? covers the differences between the formats in more detail.

First: check the license

Before converting, make sure you are allowed to use the font on your computer.

• Web licenses and desktop licenses are often separate. Many commercial fonts are sold with a web license that covers serving the font on a website, and a different desktop license that covers installing it. Having the WOFF2 file does not mean you have the desktop license.
• Files taken from someone else’s website are licensed to that site’s owner, not to you.
• Open-source fonts, for example those under the SIL Open Font License, usually come with their original TTF or OTF files. Downloading those from the font’s official source is simpler and gives you the complete font.

Converting a font does not change what its license allows. If the license is unclear, ask the foundry or the place you got the font from. FontPivot cannot tell you what a license means for your situation.

The font viewer shows the license and copyright text stored in the font, which can tell you who made it and where to look.

Should you convert to TTF or OTF?

A WOFF2 file contains one of two kinds of outlines:

• TrueType outlines, the same as a .ttf file. Many web fonts use these.
• CFF (PostScript) outlines, as found in most .otf files.

Converting to the matching format is a pure unpacking step: the font data comes back unchanged. Converting to the other one means rebuilding the outlines. FontPivot’s converter keeps the font’s names and OpenType features when it does that, but the hinting is lost.

You do not need to know in advance which kind your file holds. The converter reads it from the file: if the format you pick would mean rebuilding the outlines, it shows a note saying so, and you can switch to the other format. For a variable font, the format that would need a rebuild is turned off, because rebuilding would lose every axis.

Step by step

1. Open WOFF2 to TTF or WOFF2 to OTF. Both run in your browser, and the font is not uploaded.
2. Add the WOFF2 file. You can add every weight and style of a family at once.
3. Check the preview to make sure it is the font you expect. If a note says the outlines will be rebuilt, pick the other format instead.
4. Convert, then download the file, or a ZIP with every converted file if you added several.
5. Install it:
   • macOS: double-click the file and choose Install in Font Book.
   • Windows: right-click the file and choose Install, or Install for all users.
6. Restart the app if it was open, so it picks up the new font.

Keep the original WOFF2 for your website. The TTF or OTF is uncompressed and noticeably larger, so it is not the file to serve to visitors.

Check the converted font

Open the new file in the font viewer and compare it with the WOFF2:

• Name, style, and weight should be the same.
• Characters: the count should match.
• OpenType features: the features panel should list the same features as the original.

If the font does not show up

• Restart the app. Many apps read the list of installed fonts when they start.
• Look for the family name, not the file name. Apps list fonts by the name stored inside the file. The font viewer shows it.
• Remove older copies. If a different version of the same family is already installed, the app may show that one or list both. Uninstall the old version first.
• Bold or italic appears as a separate font. Apps group styles by the names stored in each file. If the files come from different sources or versions, their names may not line up. Convert every style from the same set of WOFF2 files.
• On Windows, install for all users if an app does not see fonts installed for your account only.

Why the desktop version might look different

Even a perfect conversion gives you exactly what was in the WOFF2, and web files are sometimes trimmed for the web:

• Missing characters. Web fonts are often subset to the characters a site needs, so accented letters or symbols may simply not be there. The font viewer lists the characters a file contains, and its text tester flags any you type that are missing.
• Fewer features. A subset or optimized web font may have had OpenType features removed.
• Hinting. Some web fonts have their hinting removed to save space, which can make small text look softer on some screens. Should you remove hinting from web fonts? explains the trade-off.

If you need the complete font, get the original desktop files from the foundry or the font’s official source rather than converting the web version.

Summary

• Desktop apps expect TTF or OTF; WOFF2 is a web delivery format.
• Check that your license covers desktop use before converting.
• Convert with WOFF2 to TTF or WOFF2 to OTF. Matching the original outline type keeps the font data unchanged.
• Check the result in the font viewer, and keep the WOFF2 for the web.

Further reading

• W3C: WOFF File Format 2.0
• Microsoft: OpenType font file
• SIL: Open Font License FAQ