Google Fonts · GDPR

Host Google Fonts Locally: GDPR-Friendly Guide for WordPress and Custom Sites

If your website loads fonts from Google, every visitor's IP address goes to Google. Since a 2022 ruling by the Regional Court of Munich this is a well-known GDPR issue in Europe. The fix takes about half an hour.

Measure first, then fix. The free check shows in seconds what your site sends to Google, Meta and co. before any consent. The Fix Kit (€19) shows the fix for every finding – local Google Fonts, click-to-load for YouTube and Maps, tracking after consent, security headers.

Check your website for free Get the Fix Kit Network report (€39)

Four steps

Find out which fonts and weights your site uses (the check shows the Google URL with font names).
Download the fonts as WOFF2, e.g. via google-webfonts-helper.
Put the files on your own server and load them with @font-face.
Remove every reference to fonts.googleapis.com – including plugins, page builders and CSS files using @import.

WordPress

Plugins such as “OMGF – Host Google Fonts Locally” or “Local Google Fonts” download the fonts and rewrite the embed. Page builders and some themes load Google Fonts through their own settings – switch those off or to local as well and check again.

Custom code

@font-face {
  font-family: "Inter";
  font-weight: 400;
  font-display: swap;
  src: url("/fonts/inter-latin-400.woff2") format("woff2");
}

FAQ

Are Google Fonts forbidden?

No. The fonts themselves are free to use. The issue is loading them dynamically from Google's servers without consent, because the IP address is transmitted. Served from your own server, that transfer disappears.

How do I know whether my site loads Google Fonts from Google?

Search the page source or the browser's network tab for fonts.googleapis.com and fonts.gstatic.com – or enter the address in the free check.

Check your website for free Get the Fix Kit Network report (€39)