Windows: install fonts from cmd/.bat file

Question

anyone know how to install font files (.ttf, .TTF, .otf, .OTF, etc etc) through the command prompt on windows?

as i understand it, it requires moving the text file to the correct folder and then also creating a registry value i think? but I havent been able to find one that is confirmed working.

a note: I am using windows 8 so that might make a difference.

another note: what I am trying to do is batch install fonts that I ripped from MKV files. (so this will be a function that is part of a larger .bat file, i can post the code if needed)

Answer 1

maybe this is needed too:

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Fonts" /v "FontName (TrueType)" /t REG_SZ /d FontName.ttf /f

Answer 2

You'll need to use a PowerShell or VB script. They basically re-use the shell components that do the same thing in Windows Explorer, and they don't need a reboot.

See here for a PowerShell script that installs all fonts from a directory for Windows 8.1 or earlier: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/fr-FR/winserverpowershell/thread/fcc98ba5-6ce4-466b-a927-bb2cc3851b59

Here is a similar script for Windows 10 (Windows Server 2019) that also updates the Windows Registry: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/0c94dcf5-b89d-42e5-a499-06313f46f88b/can-no-longer-install-fonts-via-script-in-windows-10-1809?forum=win10itprogeneral

Also, you'll need to run the script in admin mode. So if the PowerShell script is InstallFonts.ps1, your batch file needs to look like:

powershell -command "Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted" 2>> err.out  
powershell .\InstallFonts.ps1 2>> err.out

Any powershell errors will appear in 'err.out' on the same folder as the script.