InDesign replaced my font with Myriad Pro. Why?
Myriad Pro is what we see InDesign reach for when it cannot use the font a text asks for. Testing across five versions we met several reasons, some of which raise no warning at all.
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First, see what the document really uses
Open Type > Find Font. It lists every font in use and marks the missing ones. Text in a missing font is normally highlighted pink, but look at the list: not every substitution warns you.
The causes
| Cause | How to tell | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| The font is not installed | Listed as missing in Find Font | Install it and reopen the file |
| A font cache out of date | Installed, but InDesign reports it unavailable, often after a font was added or removed | Close InDesign, delete the AdobeFnt*.lst files, reopen. It does not always help, so look at the other rows too |
| InDesign 2022 and four Noto faces | Armenian, Georgian, Ethiopic or Canadian syllabic text on 2022 | Open the file in another version |
| A font in Document Fonts named wrongly | The file names no PostScript name for it | Install the font in the system |
| Arial Narrow carried in Document Fonts | InDesign 2026 on Windows reports it found and still sets the text in Myriad | Install the font in the system, as Office does |
| Noto Sans Symbols | Symbols turn to boxes or to the stand-in | Use another symbol font: InDesign files this one as an emoji font |
| A file opened by script with no window | Fonts report as present and text still shows Myriad | Open it in a window |
The test that does not lie: export a PDF
What InDesign reports about a font and what it prints can differ in both directions. InDesign 2024 and 2025 report Cambria Bold and Italic as unavailable even in a new document with none of our files in it, and print them correctly. A file opened by script can report a font as present and set its text in Myriad.
So when it matters, export a PDF and look at File > Properties > Fonts in Acrobat or any PDF reader. The fonts listed there are what was really printed. We count text this way on every test file, and we never trust the status alone.
Clearing the font cache
- Close InDesign and other Adobe applications.
- Search your system drive for files named AdobeFnt*.lst.
- Delete them. They are caches, and InDesign rebuilds them.
- Reopen InDesign, then the file, and look at Find Font again.
A related trap: replaced without a word
On Windows, a file naming Arial Narrow can silently get plain Arial: no warning, wider text, hidden text at the end. It is not Myriad, but it comes from the same place, InDesign not finding the font under the name asked. So if your text is the wrong width and no font is reported missing, look at Find Font anyway.
Why a replacement matters more than it looks
A different font has different widths, so lines break elsewhere, the story grows, and text can drop into overset at the end. Fix the font before you fix the layout, or you will do the layout twice.
How our files help
Each font in our IDML is named the way InDesign knows it, a font's missing letters are set in an open font, and the list after the download says exactly what to install.
Questions
Why Myriad Pro and not something else?
It is the stand-in we saw InDesign use in the versions we run.
Is it safe to delete AdobeFnt files?
They are font caches, built again when needed. Close InDesign first.
InDesign says Cambria Bold is missing, but the text looks right. Is it?
On 2024 and 2025 that report is wrong in our tests, even in a new document. Export a PDF and check its fonts to be sure.
Will Adobe Fonts activate my missing font automatically?
If the font is in Adobe's library, InDesign can offer to activate it. Fonts outside it you install yourself.
Try it on a file you would otherwise rebuild
Upload the PDF, the Word file or the scan. Download the copy for InDesign, and the translation too if you ordered one, and open them in your version.
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