Here are 5 free software to preview fonts without installing. While other software let you view fonts after installation, these software are helpful to preview any downloaded font without installing them to your PC. All these software support both OpenType (OTF) and TrueType (TTF) font files. Some of these free font viewer software also come with the feature to preview system fonts (or installed fonts).
With each of these font viewer software, you will find some unique features. For example, you can export font preview with custom text as BMP, PNG, or some other supported image format. You can also take Print of font preview, install fonts temporarily, compare fonts side by side, set font size, font color, background color, etc.
Let’s start with the first software to preview fonts without installation present in this list.
PrintMyFonts
PrintMyFonts is a portable software that lets you preview fonts without installation. It supports OpenType as well as TrueType font files. One of its good features is that you can preview any supported font with custom text. You can preview multiple fonts together with custom text on its interface.
You can export the font preview with custom text as PNG, RTF, HTML, JPG, or BMP image. It also lets you take print of the preview of input fonts with custom text. So, there are so many interesting features that make it a very good font viewer software.
Apart from previewing downloaded fonts without installation, you can also preview system fonts with a custom text. I really like this software.
You may also read its detailed review here.
FontViewOK
FontViewOK comes with the installer as well as portable versions. It also comes with the feature to preview font files without installing them. What makes this software special is its dual pane font viewer interface. You can use its dual pane view mode to preview multiple fonts with different font size, separate custom text, font color, and background color. This feature may come in handy when you have to compare same fonts in different sizes, colors, etc. I like this feature a lot. If you are not interested in dual pane view mode, then you can also switch to single view mode to preview fonts without installation.
Like other software covered in this list, this free font viewer is also helpful to view installed fonts. You can also take print of font anytime you want. So, this is definitely a very good font viewer software for Windows.
Here is its detailed review.
Opcion Font Viewer
Opcion Font Viewer is another handy software to preview OTF and TTF fonts without installing them to your PC. However, unlike PrintMyFonts (mentioned above), it doesn’t let you view multiple fonts together. You can add one font file at a time and then preview it within its interface. You can also add a custom text to preview the font with that particular text.
This free font viewer software also lets you add fonts to a Favorites list. This will help you skip manual work of adding fonts again and again. Once the font files are added to the Favorites list, you can preview all of those fonts (one by one) on its interface with a text of your choice.
Apart from that, it also lets you set the font size, make font italic, bold, and underline. You can also use it to view installed fonts. So, it is a multipurpose software that is very useful.
Font Xplorer
Font Xplorer is also able to preview fonts without any need to install them first. Its interface doesn’t look so nice, but that won’t matter much as previewing fonts with custom text is very simple in this software. It has its ‘Navigation Pane‘ feature which is very helpful. You can explore drives and folders within its interface using that navigation pane to select a downloaded font. It shows font file preview with default text, but there is a text box on the bottom part of its interface to add a custom text and preview the selected font. Only one font file can be previewed at a time.
There are other important features also present in this free font viewer software. You can preview installed fonts, install a particular font file, copy and move a font file to any folder, increase font size to preview font easily, etc. Because of all these handy features, it has easily managed to reserve a place in this list.
AMP Font Viewer
AMP Font Viewer is also a good competitor to rest of the software in this list. Like Font Xplorer (mentioned above), it also comes with navigation pane to select a folder containing the font files. After that, you can select a font file and then it will show font preview with default text. You can easily edit or delete the default text and add your own text to preview the selected font. Options to set font size and color are also present.
You can also view full font name, font family, version, subfamily, and type of font (TrueType and OTF). A unique feature that you won’t find in rest of the software is also available here. It lets you install fonts temporarily. Apart from that, you can also view system fonts. So, all these features make it a good option to try.
The Conclusion:
These are my best picked software to preview fonts without installation. All these font viewer software do their job of previewing fonts without installation very well. Still, my favorite software is PrintMyFonts (placed at #1 position) software. It lets you preview multiple fonts together and export font preview in different formats, which I like a lot.
