Fix Fonts Issues in Safari 3 for Windows
If you are running Safari 3 on Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista, you may have noticed that the fonts on the application menu bar, contextual menus and certain web pages are not displayed properly.
Check this screenshot of Safari 3 for Windows with fonts replaced by random characters and numbers.
The problem occurs due to the Lucida Grande font that ships with the Safari installer - it probably conflicts with your existing copy of Lucida Grande font for Windows.
Here's an easy fix for font issue:
1. Open the Safari 3 installation folder (C:\Program Files\Safari)
2. Double click the "Safari.resources" folder. You will see have two font files - Lucida Grande Bold.ttf and Lucida Grande.ttf.1.
3. Either rename the files with some different extension or delete them completely from your system.
Restart Safari - everything should look perfect now. No greek or strange characters anymore in the UI.
Update: If the above trick doesn't solve your font display problems in Safari, here's another workaround that works for sure.
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Reader Comments:
I have NO fonts displayed in Safari, I tried deleting the two fonts listed in the "Safari.resources" folder but restarting Safari just installed them again.
Exactly the problem that I'm having!
Yep, same problem here - no fonts at all. I'm running vista so I don't know whether that's a problem.
I know apple promised a 'clean, sleek look' but I think no fonts/text at all is a bit too much.
My problem is that under Vista Home Premium and Windows XP Pro I don't see the menu fonts, and because of this I can't write anything into the address bar. Do you have an idea what font am I missing?
Im having the same problem as the above 4 comments.
No fonts rendering in the safari toolbars or on the apple start page... however when i head else where I can see the fonts on google etc. seems to be a problem with safaris system fonts... im wondering if someone has previously installed fonts on this machine that clash with it some how?
Or, you could just copy the windows fonts Lucida Grande.ttf, and Lucida Grandd bold.ttf from your c:/windows/fonts folder to you c:/program files/safari/safari.resources folder, that worked for me
Or you could just copy the lucida grande.ttf and lucida grande bold.ttf from your c:/windows/fonts folder to your c:/program files/safari/safari.resources folder.
That worked for me.
The fonts aren't displayed on my winXP machine either. No addresses are visible in address bar. Pages take a long time to load too! More beta testing please Mr Jobs.
It fixed the menu fonts and the toolbar but most of the websites I visit it do not disply some tof the contant, try download.com, or and blog site, all underlined text do not show up.!!!!
Thanks for the post. The first fix worked for me. Kind of off-putting that Apple thinks no one with Windows likes Lucida Grande...
Same problem - no fonts rendering.
The issue for me was two-fold - I have a million fonts installed AND I have a non-standard location for my program files.
#1 - the fonts.plist file did not appear to create entries for all of my fonts - it did not get as far as Lucida Grande alphabetically.
#2 - when I copied fonts.plist from a successful install on my laptop, I had to edit the string tags for the Lucida Grande fonts to point to my program files drive (E, in this case).
This cleared up the issue.
Same issue - cause was two-fold for me - I have a million fonts installed and a non-standard default location for my program files.
#1 - The fonts.plist file did not seem to create entries for all of my fonts - it did not list keys that went into the "L"s alphabetically, so there was no entry for Lucida Grande fonts.
#2 When I copied a fonts.plist file from a successful install on my laptop (much less than a million fonts), I had to also change the string entries for the LUcida Grande fonts to point to my program drive folders.
This cleared it up. And I submitted the bug to Apple.
I got Safari showing in Windows Vista the way it should by editing my Fonts.plist file (In Vista: C:Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Apple Computer\Safari\Fonts.plist) and copying the Lucida Grande.ttf & Lucida Grande Bold.ttf from the C:Program Files\Safari\Safari.resources folder to the C:Windows\Fonts folder.
My Windows Vista installation renames the .ttf fonts to Lucida Grande_0.ttf & Lucida Grande Bold_0.ttf so I reference that in the Fonts.plist file:
--------------------
Lucida Grande
C:\WINDOWS\Fonts\Lucida Grande_0.ttf
Lucida Grande Bold
C:\WINDOWS\Fonts\Lucida Grande Bold_0.ttf
---------------------
I also made sure there were references to the Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Georgia, Trebuchet fonts in the Fonts.plist file (including bold, italic and bold-italic). Be sure to go into your Windows Fonts folder and check the names of the font files to make sure they match your Fonts.plist file.
For my XP box, I did the same steps but referenced the C:Documents and Settings\[username]\Local Settings\Application Data\Apple Computer\Safari\Fonts.plist location. XP kept the names as they appear in the C:Program Files\Safari\Safari.resources folder. So, I added these lines to my Fonts.plist file:
--------------------
Lucida Grande
C:\WINDOWS\Fonts\Lucida Grande.ttf
Lucida Grande Bold
C:\WINDOWS\Fonts\Lucida Grande Bold.ttf
---------------------
Hope this helps.
That fixed it, just deleted the fonts.plist file, restarted Safari and all's working (welll the fonts anyway).
Just found another "cool" bug. I can install / reinstall how much i want to. Do all the tricks and workarounds and still - there is no fonts.plist file! Also there is no font displayed and the brand new apple website looks like crap. My system is Vista, fonts are a lot (!) and this beta is showcasing in a very impressive way that Apple is far far away to join the Good Side of the Force. Strike 1 for Safari
Problem: If you have a ton of fonts install, Safari Beta 3 won't index them all properly on some Windows XP installations (I have SP2). The solution is to manually create a Fonts.plist file with all the "stock" Windows XP fonts, plus Lucida Grande and voila - works.
I have complete instructions plus a ready-made Fonts.plist file here:
http://www.menga.net/archives/001486.html
This is the only solution I know that 100% works for Safari installs that have no fonts show up whatsoever.
yea, well this is all cool and very helpful, but why oh why didn't Apple fix this or even have any info regarding this problem, I have seen several sites talking about this issue but nothing on the Apple site... mmm perhaps as a guy said in another blog I was reading: "If you think there is a problem with Safari, then the problem is you. Check with your nearest Apple re-education center" LOL
I used the following and it worked!! THANKS!!
Written by Anonymous at 13/6/07 9:32 AM
I got Safari showing in Windows Vista the way it should by editing my Fonts.plist file (In Vista: C:Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Apple Computer\Safari\Fonts.plist) and copying the Lucida Grande.ttf & Lucida Grande Bold.ttf from the C:Program Files\Safari\Safari.resources folder to the C:Windows\Fonts folder.
It would seem the unuseable fonts are not compatible with windows font viewer.. right clicking will not open them. Uninstalling Safari will leave the safari resources folders in program files. From a properly working version, copy the lucida fonts into your windows Font directory and into C:\Program Files\Safari\Safari.resources. Copy the fonts.plist into C:\Documents and Settings\[user]\Local Settings\Application Data\Apple Computer\Safari
I have just done the "upgrade" and it's mucked up the fonts again. It seems the most effective fix is:
(1) Copy the Lucida Grande fonts from C:\Program Files\Safari\Safari.resources
to the Fonts gallery in Control Panel (this installs the font in Windows)
(2) Delete Fonts.plist in C:\Documents and Settings\[user]\Local Settings\Application Data\Apple Computer\Safari
(3) Restart Safari, which rebuilds it's font list
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