How to Add More Fonts for the Command Prompt window in Windows

Command Prompt window is the window that opens when you run cmd.exe. It is also known as the CLI (command line interface) window or console window. This allows you to run commands that are impossible to be executed from the GUI (graphical user interface) of Windows. Apart from basic commands for various file operations, it also allows you to run commands to manage your disks and system configuration. Windows 7 is very strict about the choice of fonts for the command prompt window. It allows you to choose from the raster fonts, Lucida Console font or Consolas font for the command prompt window. But what if you do not like any of them and want to add more fonts for the command prompt window? Here is a workaround for adding more fonts for the command prompt window.

Note : You can skip the first two steps if you want to use an already installed font. These two steps explain how to install a new monospaced font in Windows.

  1. First of all find a monospaced (or fixed width) true type font that you want to use. You can search the internet for such free-to-use fonts. I personally like the monofur font in the command prompt window. I am going to use this monofur font as an example in this article.
  2. You can install the font, by right-clicking on its TTF file and choosing Install as shown. Make sure that you do not install the italicized edition of the font. You can only use a non-italic font in the command prompt window. You can preview the font to see if its italic edition.

    Add Fonts in Command Prompt Window

  3. Your next step is to find out the name by which Windows identifies this font. Usually you can double-click on the TTF file that you used to install the font and you would see the font name on the top-left corner of the window. In the following window, it is shown as monofur (True Type)

    Add Fonts in Command Prompt Window

    Another way to find out the name is to use the registry. Open the Windows Registry Editor by clicking on the Start Menu, typing Regedit and pressing Enter. In the Registry Editor window, navigate to the following key :

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Fonts

    Add Fonts in Command Prompt Window

    On the right side pane, you would a list of all the fonts installed in Windows. Scroll down and find the name of your font. Note it down, because we are going to need it later.

  4. Now navigate to to the following registry key :
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Console\TrueTypeFont

    On the right hand side, you would find all the fonts that can be used in the console window. You would find various values like 0, 00 etc. under the Name column. To add a new font, create a new String value with a name by appending another 0. For example, if you already have a value named 0, then create a String value named 00. If you already have a String value named 00, then create 000. If you already have a String value named 000, then create 0000 and so on. To create the new String value, right-click on the right side pane and choose New → String Value. Type in the new value name (as already explained) and press Enter.

    Add Fonts in Command Prompt Window

  5. Now that you have created a new String value (in the previous step), its time to assign it a value. Remember the font name we found out in the step #3 ? You have to drop (True Type) from its name. For example, I found out the font name to be monofur (True Type); after dropping (True Type), I get monofur. Assign this as the value of the newly created String value. To do so, double-click on the newly created value and type in the font name. I created a new String value named 000 and I assigned it a value of monofur as shown in the following picture :

    Add Fonts in Command Prompt Window

  6. You can repeat above steps to add more fonts (as long as they are monospaced true-type fonts and do not have italicized editions). But for now, you can check the new installed font in your command prompt window. Open your command prompt window and change its font to your new font. You can find how to change the font in this short article – how to change the command prompt font in Windows 7. The following screenshot shows the new monofur font in my command prompt window.

    Add Fonts in Command Prompt Window

  7. If even after selecting the font, you do not see it in the command prompt window, then you have to reboot after steps #5 and #6 both.

So if you are bored with the old and dull looking fonts of your command prompt window, then you can follow the above instructions to install a cool new font for your command prompt window. You can find lots of great monospaced (or fixed width) true-type fonts at http://www.dafont.com/ (I found monofur on this site).