fontfont-book
Is there a way in Font Book to identify which (non-system) fonts are currently activated and required by Applications AND vice-versa which can be safely disabled (or removed from /Font folders?
Looking to significantly reduce the Font options in dropdown menu for FCPX and other Apps.
You can use TinkerTool to change the default system fonts and increase their size.
Yes, automatic font activation should be perfect for this scenario. Disable all the fonts you can then open all your apps. Apps that require certain fonts will activate the fonts that you need.
Note that you should also try some documents including PDFs as they may use additional fonts that the app itself will not ask to be activated.
Best Answer
MacOS comes with fonts installed in two locations:
The fonts in the /System location cannot be disabled**, and are required for the 'safe' rendering of all text that the interface needs.
The fonts in
/Library/Fontscan all be disabled in Font Book. This location is also where some applications install fonts that they use. (Though well-behaved apps will store fonts that they need inside their bundle, so they are always available, but not shown in the font menu.)It is possible to open a document that requires some font which is not currently enabled. Some apps may give you a warning of that fact.
** Catalina introduced a 'Supplementary' folder to the /System fonts folder, some of whose fonts can be disabled.
There are third-party font managers which offer greater degree of control and 'auto-activation', where fonts can be enabled when requested.