If your work revolves around making and actively sharing documents, there isn’t a better word processor than Google Docs. However, you may have discovered by now that the versatility of fonts in Google Docs is quite limited!
When preparing a document, it only shows a few fonts in the Font Picker. Call it optimization or a basic version, but that’s how things are. But that doesn’t mean you should hand out all your document copies in plain old Calibri and Ariel, either!
You can add as many custom fonts as you like. So, if you don’t know how to add fonts to Google Docs yet, you’re just about to find out.
Can You Use Windows Font with Google Docs?
Your windows word processor comes with many built-in fonts to choose from. And perhaps that’s only one of the aspects of what makes Microsoft Word so popular.
But to bring that same creativity and uniqueness to your writing on Google Docs, manually add fonts to Google Docs!
Google Docs has an extensive list of fonts, and I’ll elaborate step-by-step instructions under the next heading. But to answer the questions “Can you use Windows fonts with Google Docs?” and “How do you add custom fonts to Google Docs?” you can’t!
As of the time of writing this article, it is not allowed to add custom fonts.
How to Add Fonts to Google Docs?
You can add fonts to Google Docs on a PC in two ways. The first one is a more straightforward way to utilize the built-in Google Docs fonts from the directory, which is hidden. And that’s the one we shall go through first!
- Open a new document by typing docs—New in the search bar or going the orthodox way of launching it manually.
- Place the cursor on the document.
- Click on the Font Picker at the top of the page and select “More Fonts” from the drop-down menu that appears. A new Dialogue box shall appear with hundreds of fonts to choose from.
- Going through the list of available fonts, you’ll notice some are marked blue while others are black. Google Docs fonts highlighted in blue are available for quick access from the Font Picker. The black ones haven’t yet been added to your account’s Font Picker.
- Click on any font you like to add to your Font Picker directory. You will see the font turn blue once it’s done.
- If you’re having trouble finding the font you’re looking for, you can run an organized search. You shall see three sorting tabs at the top of the dialogue box that opened earlier (Scripts, Show, Sort). By selecting the right category, you can quickly find the font you’re looking for without going through hundreds of others in the list.
- Click the “OK” button at the screen’s bottom-left to save your changes. The new fonts will appear as recently used or alphabetically in the Font Picker.
How do you add fonts from a smartphone?
Though using a smartphone to edit Word documents is much less frequent, it is pretty simple.
If you’re using your iOS or Android device to add fonts to Docs, you can do it directly from the Font Picker. However, before adding fonts to Google Docs on a smartphone, you must ensure you’ve enabled the “Editing” mode for the document.
Launching a document on your smartphone and expanding the Font Picker won’t see “More Fonts.”
Instead, all fonts are already available to choose from the drop-down list of the Font Picker. To change the font for your Word document, highlight the text you want to change and pick a font you like!
How do you add fonts using an add-on?
The Google Docs fonts directory has evolved significantly, and you don’t usually require an Add-On to add fonts. But add-ons can still ease your writing and editing by having a visible window on your screen.
One such Add-On for Google Docs fonts is the Extensis Fonts add-on. It is free, easy to use, and adds over 900 fonts to your existing database. Here’s how to add Extensis Fonts to Google Docs:
- Search for “Extensis Fonts” at the Google Workplace Marketplace and install the add-on. Once installed, it will automatically appear in Google Docs.
- Create a new document in Google Docs.
- Expand the Add-on tab, select Extensis Fonts, and click Start.
Note: The Extensis Fonts add-on is unavailable in the Google Extensions menu. You have to install it from the Google Workplace Marketplace.
You will now see the Extensis Fonts window appear to the right of the screen, where you can select a font from an extensive list of 900. The add-on does not work as the native font picker. You must write text, highlight it, and select a suitable font.
Conclusion
While I hope you now know how to add fonts to Google Docs, I would also like to convey that you cannot add custom fonts. Whether you’ve got the custom font from an external source or made it yourself, Google Docs does not allow the integration yet.
Let us know which method worked best by leaving a comment below!
