Install Microsoft Fonts on Debian 11 Bullseye
If you’ve ever opened a Word document on Debian and got “missing font” warnings, you know the pain. This guide shows exactly how to pull in the classic Windows fonts so your PDFs, LibreOffice files and web pages look right. You’ll get the package installed, the license accepted, and the fonts visible to every app.
Enable the non‑free repository
Debian keeps Microsoft’s TrueType collection out of the main archive. Add the contrib and non-free sections to your sources list, then refresh the package index:
sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list
Append contrib non-free to any deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye main line, save, exit.
Now update and upgrade so you’re working from a clean slate:
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y
Why this matters: without the extra sections apt won’t see the font installer at all.
Pull in the required helpers
The installer pulls files over HTTPS and verifies signatures, so make sure the transport and crypto tools are present:
sudo apt install dirmngr ca-certificates software-properties-common gnupg apt-transport-https curl -y
I’ve run into a broken download once because ca‑certificates was out of date; this line prevents that.
Install the Microsoft core fonts package
Now grab the actual font bundle:
sudo apt install ttf-mscorefonts-installer -y
The first time you run it, a text UI pops up asking you to accept the EULA. Hit <Enter> to scroll, then type yes. If you miss this step the installer aborts and leaves a half‑finished directory – just rerun the command.
Refresh the font cache
Debian caches fonts for speed. After installation force a rebuild so every program sees the new files:
sudo fc-cache -f -v
You’ll see lines like “/usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts: ... OK”. If you skip this, LibreOffice may still report missing fonts.
Verify the fonts are available
Open any graphical font viewer (search for “Fonts” in Activities) or launch a program like GIMP and look for “Arial”, “Times New Roman” or “Comic Sans MS”. They should be listed under TrueType.
Troubleshooting tips
- Network hiccup during download – The installer downloads each .ttf from SourceForge. If the connection drops, you’ll see an error about a missing file. Rerun sudo apt install --reinstall ttf-mscorefonts-installer to try again.
- Fonts not showing in GTK apps – Some desktop environments need a logout/restart after the cache rebuild. A quick reboot clears it up.
- License prompt hidden – If you run the installer in a non‑interactive script, set DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive and preseed the answer with echo "ttf-mscorefonts-installer msttcorefonts/accepted-eula boolean true" | sudo debconf-set-selections.
That’s it. Your Debian 11 box now talks the same typographic language as any Windows machine.
