View Windows Font Link Fallback Tables in Regedit

Windows uses font linking to seamlessly display foreign language characters and missing Unicode glyphs by mapping base fonts to secondary fallback fonts. This article explains exactly where to find the registered font link tables in the Windows Registry (Regedit) and how to read the fallback entries configured on your system.

To inspect the font link fallback tables, open the Registry Editor by pressing Win + R, typing regedit, and pressing Enter. Then, navigate to the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\FontLink\SystemLink

You can also paste this path directly into the address bar at the top of the Registry Editor window.

Inside the SystemLink key, you will see a list of REG_MULTI_SZ (multi-string) values. Each value name corresponds to a primary system or application font, such as Segoe UI, Tahoma, or Arial.

When you double-click any font name, the editor reveals an ordered list of fallback font files and font faces. A typical entry looks like:

How the Fallback Mechanism Works

When an application attempts to render a character not supported by the primary font, the Windows Graphics Device Interface (GDI) checks the list under SystemLink from top to bottom. It renders the glyph using the first font in the sequence that contains the required character, ensuring that text containing mixed scripts—such as Latin, Japanese (Kanji/Kana), Chinese (Hanzi), or Korean (Hangul)—renders correctly without displaying missing glyph boxes.