How to sync fonts across Macs?

UPDATE: please note that this technique stopped working in macOS Ventura. We recommend against trying it.

If you own more Macs, such as a desktop and a laptop, you may already use iCloud Drive to synchronise your Desktop and Documents.

But what if you wanted to synchronise other things? While the instructions below could work for more folders on your Mac, we focus on one place some power users might find very useful: Fonts in your Library.

In earlier versions of macOS, it was possible to make an alias of a folder on iCloud and put it in your Fonts folder. That technique, however, stopped to work in Big Sur.

Luckily, it is still possible to change your Fonts folder to a symbolic link pointing to iCloud Drive with your only fonts repository. Follow the instructions below after you back up your fonts (and preferably everything with Time Machine). Also it's advised to close all applications first. And as with other instructions containing sudo, be extremely careful - although it worked for us, we don't take any responsibility for potential data loss.

Main Mac

  1. Open Terminal in Applications > Utilities
  2. Run cd ~/Library to go to your Library
  3. Run sudo mv Fonts Mobile\ Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs to move your Fonts to iCloud Drive
  4. Enter your password (no typing is shown)
  5. Run ln -s Mobile\ Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/Fonts to create the symbolic link

Other Macs

  1. Open Terminal in Applications > Utilities
  2. Run cd ~/Library to go to your Library
  3. Run sudo rm -r Fonts to delete fonts folder
  4. Enter your password
  5. Run ln -s Mobile\ Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/Fonts to create the symbolic link

PS: partial credit goes to Brent Alexander.


1 comment

  • Bruno

    Hi. How can I undo this?

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