Add Custom Fonts like Operator Mono to Intellij IDEA in Windows

Even if your have monospace fonts like Operator Mono is installed in your Windows machine, it will not be listed in Settings.

In this article I will show how you can add monospace fonts which are not listed in Intellij IDEA settings.

First option: install fonts in Administrator mode

FYI: This option does not work in all cases.

You can install the fonts with administrator privilege and it should be done for all users of the system [1]. Like this:

Then restart the Idea to see if the font is listed in settings.

Second option: copy the fonts to IDEA’s font directory

If previous step does not work for you, then you can do the following steps [2]:

1. Copy the .ttf or .otf files of the given font.
2. Go to C:\Program Files\JetBrains\IntelliJ IDEA XXXX.X.X\jbr\lib\fonts directory (Or go to to <INSTALLATION DIR>\JetBrains\IntelliJ IDEA <Version>\jbr\lib\fonts).
3. Paste the fonts.
4. Restart Intellij IDEA.

Then you should be able to select your font from Settings > Editor > Font:

In conclusion

I hope this article will help you to set up your favourite font in IntellijIDEA or any Idea products.

References:

1. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/57216846/font-is-installed-but-doesnt-show-in-the-menu-of-jetbrains-intellij-idea
2. https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/IDEA-180897/Operator-Mono-font-is-not-listed-as-a-monospaced-font-on-Windows

Last updated: Feb 24, 2025