How to Get the Operator Mono Font For Free

This article will tell you how to obtain the Operator Mono font for free*. Operator mono is a popular monospaced font created by Hoefler&Co. that is usually sold for $199. Monospace fonts are favored by programmers because all the characters are the same size which makes reading any code written with it easier to read.

*for personal use only.

What's The Big Deal About Operator Mono

Quite simply, nothing. It is monospaced font with cursive italics. If cursive italics aren't your thing, then this will not be a good font for you. However, some people enjoy them and if you one of those people why not give it a try and make up your own mind about it.

Personally, I like how it looks and am currently (2019) using it in my code editor. You may have also heard it mentioned multiple times by Wes Bos as his personal font of choice on SyntaxFM (a popular front-end podcast).

Like many things, beauty is in the eye of the beholder so please don't switch to Operator Mono just because someone tells you to.

However, if you spend a lot time in your editor then finding that perfect font can pay dividends. No sense in spending all those hours looking at an aesthetically inferior font.

Downloading Operator Mono

The Operator Mono font can be downloaded for free at cufonfonts.com. Yep, it's as simple as that :panda_face:

FYI - cufonfonts.com is a good site to find other free and paid fonts.

Installing Operator Mono in VScode

Changing the font in VSCode is super easy. If you are using a different editor than these instructions probably won't work for you.

1. Download and install the font.

   • To install any font you need only double-click on the font file. (Alternatively) You can drag the unpacked font files into your system's font directory.
   • Windows (most setups): move font files to c:/windows/fonts/
   • Mac (most setups): double-click on the font file(s)

2. Configure VS Code to use Operator Mono,

   • Open VS Code
   • Open the settings.json file file -> Preferences -> Settings

There are two different ways to change the font in the settings file.

1. Change the settings.json file directly:

   • Click on top right of the settings file '{}'
   • User Settings should open up
   • Add the following line:

1"editor.fontFamily": "Operator Mono",

2. Change the setting using the built-in setting UI:

   • Navigate to the 'Editor: Font Family' setting
   • Change the font to 'Operator Mono'

If done right, VSCode will update the font immediately.

Other Poplar Font Options

If Operator Mono isn't for you, then why not give one of these alternates a try:

• Fira Code

• Source Code Pro

• Victor Mono

• Inconsolata

• DejaVu Sans Mono

• Cascadia Code

• JetBrains Mono

  Enjoy!

Find a mistake? Help me fix it by submitting a pull request.