.dfont

What is a .dfont file?

A macOS font wrapper format — TrueType fonts in a Mac-flavoured container.

Safe format
Type Font
By Apple
MIME application/x-dfont

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What is it

DFONT (data fork font) is a macOS-specific font format that stores TrueType font data in the data fork of a file, rather than the resource fork that classic Mac OS used. It was Apple's transitional solution when Mac OS X moved away from the resource fork architecture that classic Mac fonts depended on.

Inside, a .dfont file contains the same TrueType tables you'd find in a .ttf file — glyf, cmap, head, hhea, hmtx, and friends — but wrapped in a resource-fork-style container structure stored in the data fork. Multiple font faces can live in a single .dfont file, which is how macOS bundles font families. The system fonts that ship with macOS (Helvetica Neue, Geneva, Monaco, etc.) were historically distributed as .dfont files.

DFONT is a Mac-only format. Windows and Linux can't use .dfont files without conversion, and even on macOS the format is gradually being replaced by .ttc (TrueType Collection) and .otf files. If you need cross-platform compatibility, convert to TTF or OTF using FontForge or a similar tool.

Technical details
Full Name
Mac Data Fork Font
MIME Type
application/x-dfont
Developer
Apple
Magic Bytes
00 00 01 00
Safety
.dfont is a known, safe format.
What opens it
Font Book
FREE macOS
FontForge
FREE Win / Mac / Linux
TransType
$97 Win / Mac
FAQ
Can I use .dfont files on Windows?
Not directly. Convert to TTF or OTF using FontForge (free) or an online converter first.
Are dfont files still used on macOS?
They're being phased out. Newer macOS versions ship system fonts as .ttc (TrueType Collection) files instead. Existing .dfont files still work but Apple is moving away from the format.
Related formats