How to Install Microsoft Fonts on Manjaro Linux

Most Linux Distributions use open-source fonts to substitute Microsoft’s iconic typefaces like Arial, Courier New, and Times using Red Hat Liberation family to replace these similar-looking but different sizes, but you may require the original fonts for work purposes or to make your document work. The following tutorial will teach you how to install Microsoft TrueType Core Fonts on Manjaro Linux utilizing the command line terminal with the Arch Linux user repository (AUR).

Recommended Steps Before Installation

First, update your system to ensure all existing packages are up to date. This will ensure no conflicts arise as best as possible during the installation.

sudo pacman -Syu

Sometimes, you may need a complete database download if you have not upgraded your Arch Linux system for a while; use the following command if the above update command does not work.

sudo pacman -Syyu

Lastly, for users that have Pamac installed, which most Manjaro desktops do, I would optionally suggest running an update; this will ensure that your Arch Linux and Manjaro packages are fully up-to-date.

sudo pamac checkupdates -a

sudo pamac upgrade -a

Troubleshooting Updating Manjaro Packages

Manjaro/Arch Linux is a rolling release; occasionally, updating packages with Pacman GPG keys can become invalid or corrupt. If both commands do not work, use the following command.

Note, this is only if you have errors updating with the first two commands above if you can skip these.

sudo pacman -S archlinux-keyring manjaro-keyring

sudo pacman-key --populate archlinux manjaro

The above should work in nearly all cases, but if it does not, use the following steps as a last resort.

sudo rm -r /etc/pacman.d/gnupg

sudo pacman-key --init

sudo pacman-key --populate manjaro

sudo pacman-key --populate archlinux

sudo pacman -Syvv manjaro-keyring

Then repeat the update process.

Install Microsoft Fonts with Pamac

The following method will use the default installed Manjaro package manager and enable the AUR for users who have not yet enabled it.

First, by default, AUR is disabled. You will first need to enable it, which you can do with the following command.

sudo sed -Ei '/EnableAUR/s/^#//' /etc/pamac.conf

Next, run the install command; you can use install or build, given it’s only available from the AUR, but I would stress using the build command for best practice.

pamac build ttf-ms-fonts

If successful, you should see a similar output at the end of your terminal.

And that’s it. Open up your favorite application, such as LibreOffice, and Microsoft Fonts will be present.

Additional Commands & Tips

How to Update Microsoft Fonts

The best way to check for updates and upgrade fonts is to use the following command.

sudo pamac checkupdates -a

sudo pamac upgrade -a

Please note these fonts do not require updating often, as not many new fonts have come out. You will be lucky to see one update a year. This is ok, as it is not a security issue or performance requirement, given its just fonts!

How to Remove (Uninstall) Microsoft Fonts

When you no longer want the fonts installed on your system, use the following command to remove them.

pamac remove ttf-ms-fonts

Lastly, this is optional but good practice, clear up orphans and clear your cache to reduce clutter.

Clear orphan leftovers that are no longer required.

pamac remove -o

Clear packages deleted from the package cache.

pamac clean -uv -k 0

Clear redundant package versions from the package cache (keep the last two versions)

pamac clean -v -k 2

Lastly, for users that enabled pamac and then had second thoughts about using it and instead wanted to use something else, you can easily disable it using the following command.

sudo sed -Ei '/EnableAUR/s/^/#/' /etc/pamac.conf

Conclusion

The small tutorial taught you how to quickly and easily install Microsoft Fonts on Manjaro Linux with AUR using the command line terminal. This method should work for all future versions of Manjaro, given you are constantly building through the AUR when you check for updates, but as I said previously, an update only occurs when new fonts are available from Microsoft that cannot be easily installed by other means which is going to be pretty rare.