What is a WOFF file?
Web Open Font Format
- Developed By
- Mozilla, W3C
- Initial Release
- 2010
- MIME Type
- font/woff
The Web Open Font Format (WOFF) is a wrapper format for TrueType (TTF) and OpenType (OTF) fonts, developed by Mozilla, Opera, and Microsoft and standardized by the W3C in 2012. WOFF applies zlib compression to the underlying font data to reduce latency and bandwidth usage during web page rendering. The format structure includes a unique header containing metadata and private data blocks, allowing for the inclusion of licensing information without altering the original font rendering data.
How to open a WOFF file
WOFF files are designed for interpretation by web browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) via the CSS @font-face rule and are not intended for desktop installation. While they cannot be opened directly by OS font viewers, users can convert WOFF files back to desktop-compatible formats (TTF/OTF) using online converters or developer tools like FontForge. Developers can inspect WOFF resources using browser Developer Tools (F12).