Get Started on the Desktop

Font Awesome icons can be used on the desktop. Add icons to your design mockups, presentations, and elsewhere. We’ve tried to make it super easy with our new ligature-based font files. And for the times where you need more, we’ve included polished vector SVG versions of each icon separately.

Before You Get Started

Make sure you’ve already:

• Downloaded a copy of our desktop-specific files. and have them handy.
• Checked out Upgrading on the Desktop if you’re upgrading from a previous version.

We fixed some issues with using our OTF and TTF font files on mobile projects. After updating your font files, double-check that your icons are rendering as expected.

What’s in the Download?

Our Desktop-focused download contains the following directories and files:

Folders & files	What They Are
/otfs	Ligature-based font files for each style in Font Awesome
/svgs	Individual optimized .svg vector files for each icon in Font Awesome (separated by style)
/metadata	All of our icon metadata in case you’re using something to crawl/organize things yourself

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Install the Ligature-based Font Files

Get up and running using ligatures to insert icons into your documents by first installing all of the styles you’d like to use. Here’s a run down of what font file corresponds to which Font Awesome style:

Font Files	Icon Style	Availability
/otfs/Font Awesome 5 Free-Solid-900.otf	Solid	Free Plans
/otfs/Font Awesome 5 Free-Regular-400.otf	Regular	Free Plans
/otfs/Font Awesome 5 Brands-Regular-400.otf	Brands	Free Plans
/otfs/Font Awesome 5 Pro-Solid-900.otf	Solid	Pro only
/otfs/Font Awesome 5 Pro-Regular-400.otf	Regular	Pro only
/otfs/Font Awesome 5 Pro-Light-300.otf	Light	Pro only

You’ll want to install these into your the Font Manager your operating system uses and manages its fonts with. For Macs, that is often Font Book or Font Explorer X. Also, depending on your operating system and management software, make sure that you’ve activated/enabled these fonts in the Font Manager once they are installed. They will only be available to use in your apps if they have been activated.

Check out these PC and Mac help articles for more details and guidance.

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Using SVGs

You can add our SVG files into most vector-friendly desktop design apps, like Figma, Sketch, and Adobe Illustrator. Just remember to make a copy to work with, so you don’t edit the original file! You’ll find them organized by style in the SVG directory of the Font Awesome download.

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Next Steps

Check out how to reference icons in your documents. If you’d rather not use ligatures, feel free use the individual icons found in the /svgs folder or stick with our older and still supported glyph-based method.