Since updating to Mavericks, I've had some issues with the system fonts. Most notably, I seem to be missing some variation of Helvetica. The system seems to replace with a similar font (maybe Lucida Grande?) so it's not much of a nuisance but I want to fix it. Here's Numbers giving an error because of it:
Now, Apple has a support page listing all the included fonts. Here's what I have on my system:
mbp:~$ cd /System/Library/Fonts/
mbp:Fonts$ ls
Apple Symbols.ttf LastResort.ttf
AppleSDGothicNeo-Bold.otf LucidaGrande.ttc
AppleSDGothicNeo-Regular.otf Menlo.ttc
AquaKana.ttc Monaco.ttf
Arial Bold.ttf STHeiti Light.ttc
Arial Italic.ttf Symbol.ttf
Arial Narrow.ttf Tahoma Bold.ttf
Arial.ttf Tahoma.ttf
ArialHB.ttc Thonburi.ttf
Courier New Bold.ttf Times LT MM
Courier New Italic.ttf Times New Roman Bold.ttf
Courier New.ttf Times New Roman Italic.ttf
Courier.ttc Times New Roman.ttf
Geeza Pro.ttf Times.ttc
Geneva.ttf TimesLTMM
Georgia Bold.ttf Trebuchet MS Bold.ttf
Georgia Italic.ttf Trebuchet MS Italic.ttf
Georgia.ttf Trebuchet MS.ttf
HelveLTMM Verdana Bold.ttf
Helvetica LT MM Verdana Italic.ttf
Helvetica.ttc Verdana.ttf
HelveticaNeue.ttc ZapfDingbats.ttf
HelveticaNeueDeskUI.ttc ヒラギノ角ゴ ProN W3.otf
Keyboard.ttf
And for the user installed ones:
mbp:Fonts $ cd /Library/Fonts/
mbp:Fonts $ ls
Al Nile.ttc MshtakanBold.ttf
Al Tarikh.ttc MshtakanBoldOblique.ttf
AlBayan.ttf MshtakanOblique.ttf
AlBayanBold.ttf MshtakanRegular.ttf
AmericanTypewriter.ttc Muna.ttc
Andale Mono.ttf Myanmar MN.ttc
Apple Chancery.ttf Myanmar Sangam MN.ttf
Apple LiGothic Medium.ttf NISC18030.ttf
Apple LiSung Light.ttf Nadeem.ttf
AppleGothic.ttf NanumGothic.ttc
AppleMyungjo.ttf NanumMyeongjo.ttc
AppleSDGothicNeo-ExtraBold.otf NanumScript.ttc
AppleSDGothicNeo-Heavy.otf NewPeninimMT.ttc
AppleSDGothicNeo-Light.otf Oriya MN.ttc
AppleSDGothicNeo-Medium.otf Oriya Sangam MN.ttc
AppleSDGothicNeo-SemiBold.otf Osaka.ttf
AppleSDGothicNeo-Thin.otf OsakaMono.ttf
AppleSDGothicNeo-UltraLight.otf PCmyoungjo.ttf
Arial Black.ttf PTMono.ttc
Arial Bold Italic.ttf PTSans.ttc
Arial Bold.ttf PTSerif.ttc
Arial Italic.ttf PTSerifCaption.ttc
Arial Narrow Bold Italic.ttf Papyrus.ttc
Arial Narrow Bold.ttf Pilgiche.ttf
Arial Narrow Italic.ttf PlantagenetCherokee.ttf
Arial Narrow.ttf Raanana.ttc
Arial Rounded Bold.ttf STIXGeneral.otf
Arial Unicode.ttf STIXGeneralBol.otf
Arial.ttf STIXGeneralBolIta.otf
ArialHB.ttc STIXGeneralItalic.otf
Athelas.ttc STIXIntDBol.otf
Ayuthaya.ttf STIXIntDReg.otf
Baghdad.ttf STIXIntSmBol.otf
Bangla MN.ttc STIXIntSmReg.otf
Bangla Sangam MN.ttc STIXIntUpBol.otf
Baoli.ttc STIXIntUpDBol.otf
Baskerville.ttc STIXIntUpDReg.otf
Beirut.ttc STIXIntUpReg.otf
BiauKai.ttf STIXIntUpSmBol.otf
BigCaslon.ttf STIXIntUpSmReg.otf
Brush Script.ttf STIXNonUni.otf
Chalkboard.ttc STIXNonUniBol.otf
ChalkboardSE.ttc STIXNonUniBolIta.otf
Chalkduster.ttf STIXNonUniIta.otf
CharcoalCY.dfont STIXSizFiveSymReg.otf
Charter.ttc STIXSizFourSymBol.otf
Cochin.ttc STIXSizFourSymReg.otf
Comic Sans MS Bold.ttf STIXSizOneSymBol.otf
Comic Sans MS.ttf STIXSizOneSymReg.otf
Copperplate.ttc STIXSizThreeSymBol.otf
Corsiva.ttc STIXSizThreeSymReg.otf
Courier New Bold Italic.ttf STIXSizTwoSymBol.otf
Courier New Bold.ttf STIXSizTwoSymReg.otf
Courier New Italic.ttf STIXVar.otf
Courier New.ttf STIXVarBol.otf
DIN Alternate Bold.ttf Sana.ttc
DIN Condensed Bold.ttf Sathu.ttf
Damascus.ttc Savoye LET.ttc
DecoTypeNaskh.ttf Seravek.ttc
Devanagari Sangam MN.ttc Silom.ttf
DevanagariMT.ttf Sinhala MN.ttc
DevanagariMTBold.ttf Sinhala Sangam MN.ttc
Didot.ttc Skia.ttf
Diwan Kufi.ttc SnellRoundhand.ttc
Diwan Thuluth.ttc Songti.ttc
EuphemiaCAS.ttc SuperClarendon.ttc
Farah.ttc Tahoma Bold.ttf
Farisi.ttc Tahoma.ttf
Futura.ttc Tamil MN.ttc
GenevaCY.dfont Tamil Sangam MN.ttc
Georgia Bold Italic.ttf Telugu MN.ttc
Georgia Bold.ttf Telugu Sangam MN.ttc
Georgia Italic.ttf Times New Roman Bold Italic.ttf
Georgia.ttf Times New Roman Bold.ttf
GillSans.ttc Times New Roman Italic.ttf
Gujarati Sangam MN.ttc Times New Roman.ttf
GujaratiMT.ttf Trebuchet MS Bold Italic.ttf
GujaratiMTBold.ttf Trebuchet MS Bold.ttf
Gungseouche.ttf Trebuchet MS Italic.ttf
Gurmukhi MN.ttc Trebuchet MS.ttf
Gurmukhi Sangam MN.ttc Verdana Bold Italic.ttf
Gurmukhi.ttf Verdana Bold.ttf
Hannotate.ttc Verdana Italic.ttf
Hanzipen.ttc Verdana.ttf
HeadlineA.ttf Waseem.ttc
Hei.ttf WawaSC-Regular.otf
HelveticaCY.dfont WawaTC-Regular.otf
Herculanum.ttf Webdings.ttf
Hiragino Sans GB W3.otf WeibeiSC-Bold.otf
Hiragino Sans GB W6.otf WeibeiTC-Bold.otf
Hoefler Text Ornaments.ttf Wingdings 2.ttf
Hoefler Text.ttc Wingdings 3.ttf
Impact.ttf Wingdings.ttf
InaiMathi.ttf Xingkai.ttc
Iowan Old Style.ttc Yu Gothic Bold.otf
Kai.ttf Yu Gothic Medium.otf
Kailasa.ttf Yu Mincho Demibold.otf
Kaiti.ttc Yu Mincho Medium.otf
Kannada MN.ttc Yuanti.ttc
Kannada Sangam MN.ttc YuppySC-Regular.otf
Kefa.ttc YuppyTC-Regular.otf
Khmer MN.ttc Zapfino.ttf
Khmer Sangam MN.ttf ヒラギノ丸ゴ Pro W4.otf
Kokonor.ttf ヒラギノ丸ゴ ProN W4.otf
Krungthep.ttf ヒラギノ明朝 Pro W3.otf
KufiStandardGK.ttf ヒラギノ明朝 Pro W6.otf
Lantinghei.ttc ヒラギノ角ゴ Pro W3.otf
Lao MN.ttc ヒラギノ角ゴ Pro W6.otf
Lao Sangam MN.ttf ヒラギノ角ゴ Std W8.otf
Libian.ttc ヒラギノ角ゴ StdN W8.otf
Malayalam MN.ttc 儷宋 Pro.ttf
Malayalam Sangam MN.ttc 儷黑 Pro.ttf
Marion.ttc 华文仿宋.ttf
Microsoft Sans Serif.ttf 华文细黑.ttf
Mishafi.ttc 华文黑体.ttf
As can be seen, I have the correct versions of Helvetica on both those folders. What should I do to fix this issue?
Best Answer
Actually you don't have the correct version of Helvetica in the right spot.
You are missing the files
Helvetica.dfontandHelveticaNeue.dfontwhich are the correct files for the missing fonts. They should be in /System/Library/Fonts. Have a good look at the support page you point to and you will see those two files listed against the fonts.You do have two files,
Helvetica.ttcandHelveticaNeue.ttc, which are not included in a standard Mavericks install but they are not where the System is expecting to find the two fonts.As an experiment move these two files into ~/Library/Fonts and see what happens (I'd be interested to know the result).
In the long term grab a copy of the two missing files from another Mac running 10.8 or 10.9 and put them into
/System/Library/Fonts. You will have to do this by hand since Font Book will only install fonts in either/Library/Fontsor~/Library/Fonts.