Where apps hide your files
Adobe Fonts you add through Creative Cloud are kept in a hidden CoreSync folder, not in your Fonts folder. Here is where it is, why it can look empty, and Adobe's own fixes when fonts stop showing up.
Fonts you add from Adobe Fonts are not installed like a font file you download. Creative Cloud keeps them in a hidden folder inside your Library:
~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CoreSync/plugins/livetype/Inside it are folders whose names start with a dot, which is what hides them. Reports on Adobe's community forum say active fonts sit in livetype/.r, as files named by number rather than by font name. Adobe's own help pages give no folder path for added fonts, so treat that detail as a community report.
On the Mac used for this guide, livetype exists and holds seven hidden folders (.c, .e, .r, .t, .u, .w and .x), all empty, because no Adobe Fonts are active there. So the folder can exist and be empty. If yours is empty and your fonts still work, nothing is broken.
~/Library is hidden, and so are the dot folders in livetype. In Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder (⇧⌘G), paste the path above and press Return, then press ⇧⌘. (Shift, Command, full stop) to show hidden items. From Terminal, this lists names and sizes only:
ls -la ~/Library/Application\ Support/Adobe/CoreSync/plugins/livetype
du -sh ~/Library/Application\ Support/Adobe/CoreSync/plugins/livetypeAdobe says fonts you add from Adobe Fonts appear in the font menus of your desktop apps, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Microsoft Office and iWork, alongside your locally installed fonts. They are switched on by the Creative Cloud desktop app, which must be running and signed in to the account that holds your subscription; Adobe's troubleshooting page says the fonts become unavailable for a while if it is not.
Fonts you install yourself are ordinary files, usually in one of two folders:
| Folder | Who can use the fonts |
|---|---|
~/Library/Fonts | Your user account |
/Library/Fonts | Every account on the Mac |
Adobe Fonts do not go in either, so looking there will not find them. The supported place to see your list is the Creative Cloud desktop app: Adobe's help says added fonts are shown by clicking the f icon in the upper right corner. The same list is on the Adobe Fonts website under Added Fonts in My Adobe Fonts.
Adobe's licensing FAQ says Adobe Fonts are not compatible with packaging workflows that transfer font files to another user or computer, and that you may not package or share the fonts with designers or print bureaus. A client who needs to edit your design needs their own licence, through a Creative Cloud subscription or a font bought from the foundry.
What you can send is the result. Adobe says you can use the fonts in any desktop program to make images, vector artwork and PDFs, and a client does not need a licence to receive files with rasterized or properly embedded font data. This post does not describe copying the font files out of the folder.
Adobe says Creative Cloud periodically cleans up fonts you do not appear to be using, so fonts unused for several months expire for non-Adobe apps such as Pages or Word (Adobe notes the length of time can change). They stay available in Adobe apps. To bring one back, open the fonts panel in Creative Cloud desktop: Adobe's help has described an Install button next to the font in your Added Fonts list, and its newer page says expired fonts appear in the Removed tab with an Add family button. Use whichever your version shows.
Adobe also says a few apps need a restart before a newly added font appears, naming Acrobat and Microsoft Office.
Adobe's troubleshooting steps, in its order:
Adobe also notes that turning off the Adobe Creative Cloud login item in System Settings stops the background processes Adobe Fonts needs. Deleting the livetype folder is not on Adobe's list. Some community answers suggest it, but that is not Adobe guidance, so try the steps above first.
There is nothing to copy. Adobe keeps the record on your account: fonts you remove go to a Removed (previously added) list, so you can add them again. On a new Mac, install Creative Cloud, sign in and add the fonts you want from that list. Adobe recommends keeping your added list short for performance, and removing fonts you no longer use from Creative Cloud desktop, not by deleting files.
Dot folders are hidden, ~/Library is left out of Finder and Spotlight searches, and community reports say the files are numbered, so even a direct look shows no font names.
Typing livetype into Everywhere finds the folder, hidden subfolders included, since Everywhere indexes dot folders in ~/Library/Application Support without any extra permission. A font's name will not find an added Adobe font, because the files are numbered. Fonts you installed yourself are another matter: type the font's name and it turns up in ~/Library/Fonts or /Library/Fonts. Everywhere matches file names only, not a font's contents.
In ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CoreSync/plugins/livetype/, in hidden dot folders. Community reports point to .r, with numbered file names; Adobe's help pages give no path.
They are added through the Creative Cloud desktop app rather than installed as ordinary font files, so they are not in ~/Library/Fonts. Adobe says to see them with the f icon in Creative Cloud desktop.
Adobe says fonts unused for several months expire for non-Adobe apps. Reinstall them from the fonts panel in Creative Cloud desktop (an Install button, or Add family in the Removed tab in newer versions).
No. Adobe's licensing FAQ says Adobe Fonts are not compatible with workflows that transfer font files to another user or computer. Add them again from your account on the new Mac.
Everywhere keeps track of every file on your Mac — including the folders Spotlight hides and drives you have unplugged. Free for a day, then $19 once.
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