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Garbled font issue not solved with other solutions

Mitchell Campbell
Mitchell Campbell
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My browser displays many websites, emails, etc. using a strange garbled font (see attached image for reference).

I already checked the preference setting for allowing websites to select their own fonts. The issue also persists in Troubleshooting mode. I have also used the "Inspect element" tool when this has occurred, also to no avail. I imagine at this point the only real solution is to delete and reinstall Firefox, but I'd love to hear if someone has another solution! Thanks!

Note that text in bold / italics often shows up just fine. I can also copy-paste any of this text and it displays correctly.

My browser displays many websites, emails, etc. using a strange garbled font (see attached image for reference). I already checked the preference setting for allowing websites to select their own fonts. The issue also persists in Troubleshooting mode. I have also used the "Inspect element" tool when this has occurred, also to no avail. I imagine at this point the only real solution is to delete and reinstall Firefox, but I'd love to hear if someone has another solution! Thanks! Note that text in bold / italics often shows up just fine. I can also copy-paste any of this text and it displays correctly.
Attached screenshots

Chosen solution

This is usually a problem with a specific font (Helvetica Neue is mentioned) and you need to identify the font and fix this.

Did you check in Font Book for font issues like corrupted and duplicate fonts ?

You can right-click and select "Inspect" to open the built-in Inspector with this element selected.

You can check in the Rules tab in the right panel in the Inspector what font-family is used for selected text. You can check in the Fonts tab in the right panel in the Inspector what font is actually used because Firefox might be using a different font than specified by the website.

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All Replies (2)

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Chosen Solution

This is usually a problem with a specific font (Helvetica Neue is mentioned) and you need to identify the font and fix this.

Did you check in Font Book for font issues like corrupted and duplicate fonts ?

You can right-click and select "Inspect" to open the built-in Inspector with this element selected.

You can check in the Rules tab in the right panel in the Inspector what font-family is used for selected text. You can check in the Fonts tab in the right panel in the Inspector what font is actually used because Firefox might be using a different font than specified by the website.

Mitchell Campbell
Mitchell Campbell Question owner
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I was able to use the Inspector to identify Charter as the problem. I then used my font book and discovered that I indeed had two copies of the Charter font. Deleting one fixed the problem. Thanks!!