Powershell script to install font family

Question

Below is my script istalling Monserrat fonts from zip file. I can't figure how to check if a font already installed. After installation I can open folder C:\Windows\Fonts\Montserrat and I see al of them. When I am running script second time, it is not recognize existance of this folder. Where is my mistake?

$Source = "Montserrat.zip"
$FontsFolder = "FontMontserrat"
Expand-Archive $Source -DestinationPath $FontsFolder
$FONTS = 0x14
$CopyOptions = 4 + 16;
$objShell = New-Object -ComObject Shell.Application
$objFolder = $objShell.Namespace($FONTS)
$allFonts = dir $FontsFolder
foreach($File in $allFonts)
{
    If((Test-Path "C:\Windows\Fonts\Montserrat") -eq $True)
    {
        echo "Font $File already installed"
    }
    Else
    {
        echo "Installing $File"
        $CopyFlag = [String]::Format("{0:x}", $CopyOptions);
        $objFolder.CopyHere($File.fullname,$CopyFlag)
    }
}

If you're on Windows 10, fonts are not installed into a folder, so your check is incorrect. Also, the location is privileged so you need to ensure powershell is running as admin. — Maximilian Burszley, Apr 01 '20 at 13:50
Modify your code so `$allFonts = dir c:\windows\fonts | select -expand Name` then instead of `Test-Path`, you can use `if($allFonts -contains $file.Name){...` to check if the font is installed or not. — FoxDeploy, Apr 01 '20 at 13:58

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 04 '20 at 23:08

Finally my script:

$Source = "Montserrat.zip"
$FontsFolder = "FontMontserrat"
Expand-Archive $Source -DestinationPath $FontsFolder -Force
$FONTS = 0x14
$CopyOptions = 4 + 16;
$objShell = New-Object -ComObject Shell.Application
$objFolder = $objShell.Namespace($FONTS)
$allFonts = dir $FontsFolder
foreach($font in Get-ChildItem -Path $fontsFolder -File)
{
    $dest = "C:\Windows\Fonts\$font"
    If(Test-Path -Path $dest)
    {
        echo "Font $font already installed"
    }
    Else
    {
        echo "Installing $font"
        $CopyFlag = [String]::Format("{0:x}", $CopyOptions);
        $objFolder.CopyHere($font.fullname,$CopyFlag)
    }
}

I am running this script by following cmd:

set batchPath=%~dp0
powershell.exe -noexit -file "%batchPath%InstMontserrat.ps1"

I don't have to run it as administrator, but user have admin permissions.

This works. Note that on Windows 10 20H2, even in an elevated prompt, the above code installs my font into my local application data folder: `~\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Fonts`. — Aaron Jensen, Jun 03 '21 at 19:44

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 01 '20 at 13:56

0

Corrections of your script based on my comment assuming Windows 10:

# well-known SID for admin group
if ('S-1-5-32-544' -notin [System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent().Groups) {
    throw 'Script must run as admin!'
}

$source = 'Montserrat.zip'
$fontsFolder = 'FontMontserrat'

Expand-Archive -Path $source -DestinationPath $fontsFolder

foreach ($font in Get-ChildItem -Path $fontsFolder -File) {
    $dest = "C:\Windows\Fonts\$font"
    if (Test-Path -Path $dest) {
        "Font $font already installed."
    }
    else {
        $font | Copy-Item -Destination $dest
    }
}

answered Apr 01 '20 at 13:56

Maximilian Burszley

18,243
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Great help!!! One more question: how to run ps1 as administrator? I used cmd script to run it. – Arkady Karasin Apr 01 '20 at 14:22
@ArkadyKarasin Look for "self-elevating script". There are many examples here on SO, but nothing immediately comes to mind. – Maximilian Burszley Apr 01 '20 at 14:30
This does not work. Copying a font file into "C:\Windows\Fonts" does not install the font. – Aaron Jensen Jun 03 '21 at 19:38

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 22 '22 at 10:57

If you do not want to install the font on OS level but only make it available for programs to use until reboot you may want to use this script that:

Will fail/throw if it cannot register/unregister font.
Broadcasts WM_FONTCHANGE to inform all windows that fonts have changed
Does not require administrator privileges
Does not install fonts in Windows, only makes them available for all programs in current session until reboot
Has verbose mode for debugging
Does not work with font folders

Usage:

register-fonts.ps1 [-v] [-unregister <PATH>[,<PATH>...]] [-register  <PATH>[,<PATH>...]] # Register and unregister at same time
register-fonts.ps1 [-v] -unregister <PATH>
register-fonts.ps1 [-v] -register <PATH>
register-fonts.ps1 [-v] <PATH> # Will register font path

Param (
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$False)]
  [String[]]$register,

  [Parameter(Mandatory=$False)]
  [String[]]$unregister
)

# Stop script if command fails https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9948517/how-to-stop-a-powershell-script-on-the-first-error
$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"

add-type -name Session -namespace "" -member @"
[DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
public static extern bool AddFontResource(string filePath);
[DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
public static extern bool RemoveFontResource(string filePath);
[return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
[DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError = true, CharSet = CharSet.Auto)]
public static extern bool PostMessage(IntPtr hWnd, int Msg, int wParam = 0, int lParam = 0);
"@

$broadcast = $False;
Foreach ($unregisterFontPath in $unregister) {
  Write-Verbose "Unregistering font $unregisterFontPath"
  # https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/wingdi/nf-wingdi-removefontresourcea
  $success = [Session]::RemoveFontResource($unregisterFontPath)
  if (!$success) {
    Throw "Cannot unregister font $unregisterFontPath"
  }
  $broadcast = $True
}

Foreach ($registerFontPath in $register) {
  Write-Verbose "Registering font $registerFontPath"
  # https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/wingdi/nf-wingdi-addfontresourcea
  $success = [Session]::AddFontResource($registerFontPath)
  if (!$success) {
    Throw "Cannot register font $registerFontPath"
  }
  $broadcast = $True
}

if ($broadcast) {
  # HWND_BROADCAST https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/winuser/nf-winuser-postmessagea
  $HWND_BROADCAST = New-Object IntPtr 0xffff
  # WM_FONTCHANGE https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/gdi/wm-fontchange
  $WM_FONTCHANGE  = 0x1D

  Write-Verbose "Broadcasting font change"
  # Broadcast will let other programs know that fonts were changed https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/winuser/nf-winuser-postmessagea
  $success = [Session]::PostMessage($HWND_BROADCAST, $WM_FONTCHANGE)
  if (!$success) {
    Throw "Cannot broadcase font change"
  }
}

The script was inspired by this gist https://gist.github.com/Jaykul/d53a16ce5e7d50b13530acb4f98aaabd

Powershell script to install font family

3 Answers3