Local Fonts / Custom Fonts in Figma Make / Sites

Hey hey ​@JIkushirin 🤩 Thanks for the write-up.

A couple of quick questions:

• Which fonts are we talking about, and are they already available to you inside Figma? Meaning: installed on your computer (via the Figma font installer or desktop app), or uploaded as shared fonts by an admin on an Organization/Enterprise plan? The font uploader in Make Settings > Fonts only lists fonts it already knows about from your Figma setup. If your custom fonts aren't in Figma yet, that would explain why nothing you've tried has stuck
• Where does it break — in the Make editor/preview, in the published app, or both? Those use different font sources, so the fix is different depending on which one you're seeing
• On the EU point, I want to make sure I understand. Is the concern that no font requests should go out to Google's servers when someone loads your app? Or is it that the font files need to be served from your own domain or infrastructure? Or something else (I know there can be complexity here) 

If you can share a screenshot of what you see under Settings > Fonts in your Make file, that'd help a lot too.

Docs for reference, in case any of it is new:

• Upload a web font to Figma Make
• Add a font to Figma (the local install step)

Thanks! — Jaycee

So, this applies to all fonts in general. I can't embed fonts locally that are available on Google Fonts, such as Inter, nor can I embed others, such as TT Ricordi Marmo.

I've now tested this with an account that has an Education License, and no matter what I do, I never see the option to upload fonts. 

“The use of Google Fonts without the user’s consent violates the GDPR if this requires establishing a connection to Google servers in the U.S.,” as ruled by the Munich Regional Court (Case No. 3 O 17493/20).

When embedding an external font, the visitor’s IP address is transmitted to the third-party provider (Google), which constitutes an impermissible infringement of personal rights and a data protection violation.

Screenshot of my lovely Fonts Tab: 

Hi, ​@JIkushirin - stepping in for ​@Jaycee Lewis. Thank for the screenshot and further details!

You shouldn’t actually need to upload or locally provide Google fonts as those should be readily available within Figma Design as font choices. If you open a Figma Design file and edit a text layer, are you able to set the font to Inter or another Google font? Normally, you should be able to just tell Figma Make to use Inter or another font we provide so you don’t need to locally host it.

@adamsmasher As mentioned previously, I need to host the fonts locally. Otherwise, I won’t be able to use Figma Make for my projects.

Ok, I think I understand. The reason why you want to host them locally is because of the cookie consent issue in the EU as it applies to Google Fonts. Are you an educator or student at a higher level school, like a university or college? The features with that version of Figma for Education mostly mirror the Professional plan, so you won’t be able to upload a custom font like those that have the Organization or Enterprise plan. 

Are you concerned about cookie consent with your Make prototype, or with the published web app?

I have a Professional Account as well and on this one It doesn’t work either. Do i need a Organization or Enterprise plan for this? 

“Are you concerned about cookie consent with your Make prototype, or with the published web app?”

Yes absolutely.

Hi ​@JIkushirin, thanks for following up! 
 

Short answer: no. An Org/Enterprise won't fix this. That plan tier only adds shared team fonts; it doesn't change how uploads work. Make/Sites can only upload a web font for something Figma already recognizes (an org-shared font, or one installed locally via the Figma Font Helper). It's not a "bring any font file" tool yet, which is likely why TT Ricordi Marmo isn't showing up.

Does TT Ricordi Marmo appear under "Installed by you" in the font picker on a regular Design file? If not, that may be the missing step.

Also, to be upfront: fully self-hosting a custom, non-Google font in Make/Sites isn't supported today. This a known gap, not something specific to your setup. And since your GDPR concern covers both the prototype and published site: Sites doesn't have a built-in cookie banner either, so you'd need to handle that compliance piece yourself for now.