Install Read / Write Indian Language Fonts on Android

Android Phones released these days in India generally comes with atleast Hindi Font support but again it depends upon Manufacturer; Google doesn’t provide it. And after Flashing Custom ROMs, you even lose that so, here is a way to install Indic fonts / Indian Regional Languages on Android.

It all depends on Font and you just need proper Font which supports these languages whether unicode or whatever. You need following things to proceed:

  1. Rooted Android Device
  2. ES File Explorer (Free download from Android Market)
  3. DroidSansFallback.ttf Indic TrueType Font
[alert-note] How to Root Most Android Phones and Tablets with zergRush Exploit Toolkit [/alert-note]

Root access is necessary as we are installing Font in System Root Directory. If you haven’t rooted, You should search google “Root <device name>” or use popular one click rooting tools like Z4Root, Super One click root, etc.

Regional Language Fonts Adroid

Font Supports most popular Languages of India:

  • Hindi, Marathi, Sanskrit (Devnagri Script)
  • Nepali
  • Bengali / Bangla
  • Gujarati
  • Kannada
  • Tamil
  • Telugu
  • Malayalam
  • Punjabi / Gurmukhi
[alert-note] Set Hindi Keyboard for Jellybean as Input in Android 4.1 [/alert-note]

Devnagri Font Website AndroidRegional Language Font Android Talk

How to install regional Fonts on Android

  1. Download the Font and Save it in SD Card
  2. Open ES File Explorer – In settings, Enable Root Explorer and Mount System as RW
  3. Copy the file from SD Card root and Paste it to /System/Fonts (Overwrite if necessary)
  4. Reboot
  5. Test if Fonts are rendering properly by sending an SMS from SMS440 or open some website in regional language.
[alert-note]How to create your own fonts easily with Free Font Builder Software[/alert-note]

Font is not restricted to just SMS Messages but also applicable everywhere on System. Like you can browse websites from browser, read Emails, etc and there will be no more Boxes or Question Marks symbol.

Note: There is a problem with rendering of joint alphabets in some languages but they still it is readable. Font link will be updated if I find some other good font with proper rendering and appearance.

[alert-note] How To Know the Font Used in an Image? [/alert-note]

Install Regional Language Keyboard and Write Multilingual

After installing the fonts, you may implement it even to write in various languages. For that, you need proper keyboard.

I found some language Keyboards which I am listing here.

Bengali Writing Keyboard

[alert-success] Writing in Regional Language Was Never So Easy Before Google Input Keyboard[/alert-success]
  1. Write Hindi Keyboard for Android (Marathi Sanskrit Nepali Devanagari Font Keyboard) – Download
  2. Write Kannada Keyboard for Android – Download
  3. Write Bangla keyboard for Android – Download
  4. Write Punjabi Keyboard for Android – Download
  5. Write Telugu Keyboard for Android – Download
  6. Write Malayalam Keyboard for Android – Download
  7. Urdu / Arabic Keyboard for Android – Download
  8. Gujarati Keyboard for Android – Download

All above fonts require Font already installed on Phone else they will type in English only.

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P.S. I could find only few Language Keyboard layout, if you find or have developed one for your language, please comment and let us know so that we will include in post and all will be benefited.

Click Here to Leave a Comment Below 61 comments
gursaab - September 22, 2011

hi,, I have HTC hd2 with miui stable rom ,,I checked my root status and m rooted, then I download the fonts from ur link and tried to copy in system/fonts but got a error. exception found, ,,permission denied …what should I do plz help

Reply
    Rohit Langde - September 23, 2011

    Which File Manager did you use to do this copying operation? Please note that you have to mount your system as R/W before you can proceed. In some case there may be existing same file in same directory so, overwriting has to be done.

    Reply
      MOHSIN - December 17, 2012

      IAM USING ROOTED MICROMAX A52 ANDROID MOBILE PHONE. BEFORE ROOT I CANT READ HINDI FONT. AFTER INSTALLING THE DroidSansFallback.ttf FONT IN MOBILE SYSTEM/FONT AS SUGGESTED BY YOU NOW I CAN READ HINDI FONT BUT I CAN’T READ MATRA’S PROPER PLZ SUGGEST ON THIS ISSUE.

      Reply
      Jagjot Singh - May 23, 2013

      How to mount my system as R/W….
      Using es explorer
      Phone micromax canvas hd

      Reply
        Rohit Langde - May 23, 2013

        Is your Phone rooted?
        If so, you can mount it from the option under Settings.

        Reply
          Tamal - June 17, 2013

          How to: Mount System RW in Micromax a52 ?
          My phone is rooted .

          Reply
gursaab - September 22, 2011

success, ,,copied, overwrite. fonts but still seeing boxes instead of Punjabi fonts on web browser 🙁

Reply
    Rohit Langde - September 23, 2011

    Please confirm if other fonts like Hindi are rendering properly. If none of the language fonts are showing up then you may have to repeat procedure.

    Reply
    Harsimran - February 22, 2014

    While I know it is a long pending question and would have been resolved now, still answering as it might help other.

    After copying and pasting the font, ensure that you grant read permission for others on the font. Long press the font after pasting and get into the properties, change access control and grant read access to everyone. Reboot and it should be done.

    Reply
gursaab - September 24, 2011

hi,,,,I ve downloaded fonts from ur link and copies with es file manager and overwrites successfully ,,still no indian language fonts are rendering properly …I repeated the procedure 2,3 times but results are same, ,,should I try some other fonts ? from where I can download?

Reply
    Rohit Langde - September 25, 2011

    The DroidSansFallback.ttf Font I gave has maximum language support which other fonts lacked infact this can be said to be complete. I am clueless on why it didn’t turn out to be working for you.
    I don’t think it’s a ROM problem because even I am on MIUI and the screenshots above were taken on same time.

    Reply
gursaab - September 27, 2011

which rom u use ,currently m using miui 2.3.4 stable, I ll change which u suggest but I want these font on my phone, ,

Reply
    Rohit Langde - September 28, 2011

    The Screenshots above refers to when I was MIUI 1.9.09 Stable 2.3.4 but then upgraded to 1.9.16 Beta for Galaxy S even where it worked fine. Now, I am on HawKish Premium 4 RC2 even where the fonts are rendering properly.
    Only difference between both of us following procedure is I used Root Explorer which I think won’t make difference as such because even you over written the older file.

    Reply
      saumil parmar - August 29, 2012

      Really thanks Rohit..I have rooted Galaxy ace to cynogen 7.2 so i lost my guj.fonts now after ur updates ,it works 4 me…Really thanx 4 ur help.. 🙂

      Reply
gursaab - October 3, 2011

hey buddy, ,fonts r working but only on opera mini I can read and copy easily , but they r not working on internet browser ,,email, ,Facebook, nimbuzz and all. is there anything remains, ,secondly I m not able to download gurmukhi keyboard coz m using custom rom on HTC hd2 and market do not recognize my device is there any link from where i can download apk file…..

Reply
Faisal - October 31, 2011

Hi
I cant read malayalam properly..Is there any update for the malayalam fonts in it…?

Thanks

Reply
    rishin - June 25, 2012

    mee too… 🙁

    Reply
PSG - February 8, 2012

Working perfectly for my samsung i9000…

Reply
    ssss - March 19, 2012

    bro plz tell me how to root i9000 and full process

    Reply
Raj Domadiya - March 26, 2012

Can u tell me that how can i install gujarati fonts in browser …so that i can view gujarati blogs and news paper also in my galaxy pop….

Reply
Maddy - March 29, 2012

Can u please tell me Which font i need to copy for gurmukhi keyboard.

Reply
dr.s.v.sawant - April 30, 2012

on my galaxy y duos gt s6102 android phone.it is not possible to set as root enable and mount as rw with es file explorer.what to do to install devanagari fonts.phone already has droidindia.ttf and droidSansFallback.ttf (4.7mb).what todo next.

Reply
Rishi Khanna - May 4, 2012

Rohit you had a query about keyboard formats
I think thePARKATCHAT (??????) format which is nothing but a variation of inscript format is going to be the future of the hindi keyboard
Just like people say QWERTY they will say PARKATCHAT (??????)
Apple, HTC are the 2 companies already giving this as native to the device. I know samsung is following soon. And in the android marketplace many of the free keypads are indeed PARKATCHAT (??????)such as multiling, go keyboard etc

Reply
pradip bhatere - August 15, 2012

I want read write hindi font in micromax a50 android. mobile plz help

Reply
Jeet Chowdhury - August 16, 2012

my original DroidSansFallback.ttf is some about 3.xxmb but this one only 7xxKB… why? can you please tell me?

Reply
Jeet Chowdhury - August 17, 2012

ok its working fine but… with this font some special character showing as box. can i merge those two font?

Reply
Jeet Chowdhury - August 17, 2012

do u know how to merge fonts using fontforge?

Reply
    Rohit Langde - August 17, 2012

    Hi Jeet, Good to know that it worked alright for you.
    Reason behind some special characters appearing BOX is they are undefined in the Font file.
    I haven’t really tried FontForge but you can give it a shot. Let me know outcomes of your experiment. If something goes wrong, replace the Font file again with the one given in article 🙂

    Reply
      Jeet Chowdhury - August 17, 2012

      if something got messed up how to restore the font as everything will be shown then as box lol 😛 anyways i think there are some adb push method… have to search on google….

      Reply
diganta - September 18, 2012

nyc work now i can read bengali txts on my android phone

Reply
Suhas - October 16, 2012

Hi Rohit,

We have developed a keyboard app ‘Velocity’ that supports almost all the major Indian languages, and are adding even more languages including other South Asian languages.
A trial version can be downloaded from the link : http://tinyurl.com/tryVelocity

Thanks
Suhas

Reply
    Rohit Langde - October 16, 2012

    Hi Suhas, Thanks for dropping by valuable comment.
    Velocity is great because user won’t have to install number of keyboards as mentioned in article.
    But the need of installing (copying Font file) is still there? Right?

    Reply
      Suhas - October 17, 2012

      Yes, you are right, Velocity depends on system for font support.

      Reply
Ishan - October 23, 2012

Works perfectly on my Wildifire S !! thank you so much, now i can use my phone to read anything and everything !

Reply
Shashank - November 15, 2012

Thank You very very much!! Working perfectly!!!

Reply
heeralal - November 18, 2012

i have a micromax a50 mobile. i have downloaded ES File Explorer. i go to setting –>root seetings–>click on root then message is shown “Soory,this test is failed.this feature cannot be run on your phone.”
please solve this issue.

Reply
    Rohit Langde - November 19, 2012

    You need to ROOT your phone before using this feature.

    Reply
      nishant - March 20, 2013

      how to root my micromax a52

      Reply
heeralal - November 19, 2012

Can I know benefit of root mobile?

Reply
cvramana - November 23, 2012

hi very thankfull to u,its wrkg for read my languege.but i can’t write without regional keyboard.

Reply
    Rohit Langde - November 23, 2012

    Yes, Installation of Regional keyboard is essential to write.

    Reply
cvramana - November 23, 2012

thanq rohit, can u suggest me some keypads for telugu except paninikeypad.

Reply
cvramana - November 24, 2012

Hi rohit when i installed font frm android market it ask reboot system,i made yes but it’s not work just give samsung name only

Reply
Dhakshina - January 21, 2013

Hai, i am using micromax a50. i cant able to view tamil fonts. and cannot able to use uc browser latest versions. please help me.

Reply
Kishor - January 25, 2013

I have rooted HTC Desire HD using Sabsaprime v11

I can see Marathi font correctly on esakal (using browser)

BUT when I use face book all the words are crumpled (??? —– > ??? , ?????? —–> ??? ?? )
Pl help, thanks

Reply
Pradip - March 21, 2013

Hey i am using Galaxy ace cm 7 version .i have tried the above procedure not once but many of the times but not succeeded. this method is not at all helpful.
Please suggest some other method, just make that easy

Reply
    Rohit Langde - March 22, 2013

    I am clueless, why it isn’t working for you. Same Font file was tested on Galaxy ACE running Stock ROM and it worked well.

    Reply
    Harsimran - February 22, 2014

    I think one key thing that this article is missing – no offense though ; is the requirement to grant read access to the system/everyone to the font after copying/pasting.

    I rooted my nexus5 yesterday, replaced the font, it did not work. granted the read access and restarted (tried mutiple versions of the font and this process is true for all) and it worked.
    For granting read access, after replacing the font, in es explorer, long press the font, get into the properties and ensure everyone has read access to it. reboot.

    Reply
sajayan ks - April 6, 2013

Please help me to root. Bsnl penta ws802c 2 g. Is it possibile to. Upadate to jellybean if yes how to……..thank you

Reply
Prathamesh - June 25, 2013

hello
i want to know that lenovo ideapad A2107 can support Marathi & hindi
thank you

Reply
Akif - July 3, 2013

bangla charterers are broken what to do ???

Reply
Arsh_Sekhon - July 7, 2013

……..plzzzz post any help regarding rooting and installing custom rom,overclocking bsnl pnta ws802c 2g…………plzzz help———i will be thankful to u

Reply
Girijesh - September 12, 2013

Thanks dude.. It works for my Xperia.. 🙂

Reply
nagarajan - December 12, 2013

sir, i have pandigital-nova tablet with android 2.3.4.. As instructed in this site, i have rooted the device and installed unicode devanagari and Tamil fonts. Now iam able to see Sanskrit (Deevanagari) letters in the document. I have even installed panini keyboard for Sanskrit and Tamil and am able to enter text in Devanagai script in mangal font. Bu the conjunct consonants like tya, rtha etc. are displayed as- t y ya and r t ya. How to correct this error. Solution is needed

Reply
sahej singh - April 21, 2014

i am having problems in copying that font in systeme/font folder i hv already rooted my device and enabled root explorer in ES file manager but i cant find tht option Mount System as RW .. please help me to install punjabi fonts on my Nexus 5 device. thnks

Reply
sahej singh - April 21, 2014

Hi ,, i have rooted nexus 5 and i am not able to copy that font file in system/font folder it shows access denied , i hv Enable Root Explorer and but dont know hot to Mount System as RW , so may be coz of mount system its not getting copied ,, please help me to install punjabi fonts in this device … thnks

Reply
amit - May 3, 2014

how I can read and send hindi sms and also same in whatsapp in mobile idea280 model no. U8180 plz help me.

Reply
gurjeet - July 18, 2014

thanks alot dear… its work for me..

i am using miui rom 2.3.7 on my galaxy s

i have replace the given file (after extraction only) and it works with out restart

Reply
dhruvika - August 15, 2014

Can I add gujrati language as voice search .it means I am speaking gujrati and typing in gujrati fonts.

Reply
viraj - January 31, 2016

Thank you sir , u help a lot

Reply

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