How to prevent Chrome 12 trying to use Helvetica Neue when it isn't installed

windows-7 google-chrome fonts

5,016

Solution 1

It turns out that Helvetica was installed, but Windows wasn't showing it in the Fonts folder.

I used FontExpert to track it down and remove it and that seems to have fixed things.

Solution 2

I can't see your screenshot.

Chrome should use another font, which is set in the CSS, or which is set in the browser settings. The CSS should work for all browsers the same, although a (not so?) clever css-developer might want to use alternate css for different browsers.

In Chrome, click on the wrench-icon right next to the address bar, choose preferences, then choose "under the hood", web content > customize fonts. There you can set which font you want to see as standard serif/sans-serif or mono font.

5,016

Jon

I am a Java and Javascript/Typescript developer mainly working with the Atlassian Cloud products.

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

Jon over 1 year

This is what I see when I view a website using Helvetica Neue in Chrome 12.

I'm running Windows 7 Professional 32-bit, and IE9 and FF5 both render the text ~~differently~~ readable (using the next font in the CSS stack).

I've checked my Fonts folder (C:\Windows\Fonts) and I can't see any version of Helvetica anywhere.

Does anyone have any ideas?
- Almir Sarajčić almost 13 years
  
  It seems the problem is not preventing Helvetica Neue (because it isn't installed, anyway) but making IE9 and FF5 use the same font instead. Doesn't the font stack apply to both?
- Jon almost 13 years
  
  @pavium, except that if IE9 and FF5 did what Chrome does then I wouldn't be able to read sites using Helvetica in any browser.
- kinokijuf almost 11 years
  
  @Jon Helvetica looks unreadable anyway even if displayed correctly. It is a display typeface, not designed for running text.
slhck almost 13 years

I reupped the screenshot, you should be able to see it.
Jon almost 13 years

@slhck Thanks for updating the screenshot. I understand that Chrome should use another font - what I don't understand is why it isnt doing that. The customized font settings are Times New Roman and Arial (which Chrome has no problem rendering). My encoding is set to Western ISO-8859-1 if that makes any difference...
Jon almost 11 years

@JoshSamBob not sure I'm afraid, might be worth a shot!