Using Meslo LG with the Windows Console

Disclaimer: The information presented in this Wiki article is provided “as-is”.
By using this information you acknowledge that any use happens solely at
your own risk. Please do not use this information if you do not know your
way around the Windows Registry. You can seriously damage your Windows
system if you change the wrong keys!

If you want to use Meslo LG fonts with the Windows console (cmd.exe)
you will have to follow a specific procedure to set a registry value
that allows Meslo LG to appear in the Font Settings section of a
console window’s Properties dialog.

Microsoft has an article about it in it’s knowledge base.

I recommend that you follow the instructions outlined in that article,
but here’s a quick overview of what to do (in case the web page becomes
unavailable in the future):

Requirements:
You need a TrueType font which classifies itself as modern.
As required by that article I have set the MS font identification bit to
FF_MODERN for all Meslo LG variants.

Procedure:
Using regedit.exe go to the following registry key

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Console\TrueTypeFont

On Windows 10

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Console\TrueTypeFont

Add a REG_SZ entry with the following contents:

Name = “00”
Value = “Meslo LG M”

the double quotes should not to be entered — they are just for clarification

NOTE: if there is already an entry for “00” you don’t need to change it. Simply
use “000” instead. You can also add multiple Meslo LG variants that way, e.g.
“000” => Meslo LG M
“0000” => Meslo LG S
…

Actually, the exact font name to enter for the Value needs to be determined based
on the version of Windows you are on.

It should be Meslo LG M, MesloLGM or MesloLGM-Regular (in order of probability).

The Microsoft article linked above goes into more detail by saying that the Value has
to match the font name as seen at the following registry key:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Fonts

On Windows 10

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Fonts

After you’re finished making the Registry changes you need to log out and back in.

Then fire up a console window (cmd.exe) and right-click in the title bar. From the
context menu choose Properties. In the dialog that opens find the font settings tab
and change the raster font to Meslo LG 11pt.

NOTE: on my Windows 7 system I actually didn’t need to log out, I just needed to
spawn a new cmd window by closing all instances. Also the target font size is usually
higher on later systems. I am using 14 pt or 16 pt now.