Online Font Inspector — No Extension or Install Needed
- Browser extensions like "Font Inspector" or "WhatFont" identify fonts on web pages — but they can't read the internals of a font file you have locally.
- To inspect what's inside a font file (license, embedding rights, version, glyph count), you need a file-based metadata reader.
- This browser-based tool does that without any extension or installation.
Table of Contents
If you've searched for a "font inspector," you've probably seen two kinds of results: browser extensions that identify what fonts a website is using, and tools that open font files and show you their contents.
These are different problems. The first is about identifying fonts on live web pages. The second is about reading the metadata stored inside a font file you already have.
This guide is about the second kind — and the tool below does it directly in your browser without any extension or software to install.
Font Inspector Extensions vs Font File Inspection
Browser extensions like WhatFont, FontFace Ninja, and Chrome's built-in DevTools work by reading the CSS applied to elements on a page — font-family, font-weight, and the computed @font-face source URLs. They're useful for identifying what fonts a website is using.
They cannot, however, open a font file and tell you its internal metadata — the license text, fsType embedding permissions, glyph count, weight class value, or unicode coverage. For that, you need a tool that actually parses the binary font file structure.
The WildandFree Font Metadata Viewer handles that second task. Drop a TTF, OTF, or WOFF file onto it and you get the full internal metadata — no extension, no software, no upload to a server.
What the Font File Inspector Reveals
Drop any TTF, OTF, or WOFF file and the tool reads and displays:
- Family name — the official name of the typeface
- Designer — the type designer's name
- Version — the version string embedded by the font author
- Copyright — the copyright notice
- License text — full embedded license terms (when present)
- License URL — link to the license online
- Glyph count — how many glyphs the font contains
- Weight class — the numeric weight (100–900)
- Unicode ranges — which scripts and character blocks are covered
- Embedding permissions (fsType) — whether the font may be embedded in documents, web pages, or apps
When You Need a Font File Inspector (Not a Page Extension)
Checking a client-supplied font — a client sends you a font file for a project. Before using it, you need to know if their license covers your use case and whether the font version matches what's on their end. An extension can't help here. A file inspector can.
Verifying web embedding rights — before adding a font to your CSS via @font-face, check that the fsType flag permits web embedding. A font with fsType 2 (Restricted) cannot be legally web-embedded.
Debugging rendering differences — two machines rendering the same font differently often means different font versions are installed. Check the version string on both to confirm.
Auditing a font library — if you manage a collection of fonts, a file inspector is how you find which ones lack embedded license information or have outdated version strings.
Your Font File Is Never Uploaded
Unlike cloud-based font inspection services, this tool runs entirely in your browser. Your font file is read locally — no bytes are sent to any server. No file is stored, logged, or retained.
This is important when working with fonts under NDA (pre-release typefaces, proprietary brand fonts, or licensed fonts that can't be redistributed). The inspection happens on your machine, not in the cloud.
Inspect Any Font File in Seconds
No extension. No install. Drop a TTF, OTF, or WOFF file to read its license, version, embedding rights, and all embedded metadata fields.
Open Font Metadata ViewerFrequently Asked Questions
Can a browser extension inspect a local font file?
No. Browser extensions like WhatFont and FontFace Ninja identify fonts on web pages by reading CSS. They can't open a local font file and show you its internal metadata, version, license, or embedding flags.
What is the difference between a font inspector and a font viewer?
A "font viewer" typically refers to a tool that shows you a visual preview of a font's letterforms. A "font inspector" reads the internal metadata — the binary tables that store the name, license, permissions, and technical parameters. This tool is a font inspector.
What formats does the inspector support?
TTF (TrueType), OTF (OpenType), and WOFF (Web Open Font Format). WOFF2 is not directly supported — convert WOFF2 to TTF/OTF first if you need to inspect it.
