Missing font files

Silktide finds font files that your pages ask for but that fail to load, usually because the file was moved or deleted, or its web address was mistyped. When a font fails to load, text falls back to a substitute font and your pages stop looking the way they were designed.

/* If this font file is missing, text renders in a fallback font */
@font-face {
  font-family: "Brand Sans";
  src: url("/fonts/brand-sans.woff2") format("woff2");
}

Why this matters

Typography carries your brand. When a custom font fails, the browser silently substitutes another one - text still appears, but spacing shifts, headings look wrong, and icon fonts can degrade into meaningless squares or random characters, which is far worse than a cosmetic issue.

Because there is a fallback, missing fonts often go unnoticed by the site's own team for months. Meanwhile every visitor's browser wastes time requesting the file and waiting for the failure on every page that references it.

How to fix it

Find the reference to the missing file - typically a @font-face rule in your , or a font loaded from a font hosting service.
If the file moved, update the reference to its new address. If the font was retired deliberately, remove the rule that requests it.
If the file should exist, restore it. Fonts have an extra common failure mode: cross-origin restrictions. A font served from another domain must be sent with permissive headers, or browsers refuse to use it.
Test the page afterward and confirm text renders in the intended font.

How Silktide tests this

Load each page in a real browser and record every file the page requests.
Keep the requests for font files.
Report each one that fails to download - an error response from the server, such as 404, or a connection failure. Momentary timeouts and requests the browser itself abandoned are not reported, to avoid false alarms.
Highlight where on the page each missing file is referenced.

Troubleshooting

The file loads when I try it

The file may be behind a login, blocked for automated visitors, or served inconsistently. Also check for mixed content: a font requested over plain HTTP from a page served over is blocked by the browser even though the file exists. If it is genuinely fine, the finding.

The text looks fine to me

Fallback fonts can be close enough that you don't notice the substitution, especially for body text. Compare a heading against your design, or check the browser's developer tools for failed font requests.