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Belec
Belec
Participant
March 30, 2026
Answered

Adobe Fonts not working with Shared Device Licensing (K-12 education setup)

  • March 30, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 73 views

I am an IT administrator for a K-12 educational institution and we are using Adobe Creative Cloud Shared Device Licensing.

In the Adobe Admin Console, we have the following setup:

  • Creative Cloud – All Apps (Shared Device)

  • Adobe Express for education

  • Custom Fonts

I have assigned a user (teacher) to the Creative Cloud product as well as to Custom Fonts. The user received the confirmation email that Custom Fonts are available and should be accessible after signing into Creative Cloud.

However, when the user signs into Creative Cloud Desktop on a shared device, they cannot use Adobe Fonts. In the Fonts section, they see a message indicating that permission may be required and that they should contact their administrator.

I have already verified:

  • The user is correctly assigned to the product and Custom Fonts in Admin Console

  • The user can sign in successfully

  • The issue persists even after signing out and back in to Creative Cloud Desktop

Additionally, I am managing the Admin Console from a separate admin account.

Could you please clarify:

  1. Are Adobe Fonts and Custom Fonts supported in Shared Device Licensing environments?

  2. If not, what is the recommended setup for teachers to use Adobe Fonts in this scenario?

Thank you for your help.

    Correct answer Anshul_Nautiyal

    Hi ​@Belec 

    Thanks for reaching out.

    Based on your query, it appears you are using Creative Cloud Shared Device Licensing (SDL) in a K–12 environment and are encountering issues with Adobe Fonts / Custom Fonts not being available to users, even though the entitlement is assigned in the Admin Console.

    From your description, the configuration on the assignment side appears correct. However, the behavior you’re experiencing is expected due to a limitation of Shared Device Licensing.

    Adobe Fonts (including Custom Fonts) are not fully supported in SDL environments. SDL is designed for device-based access, whereas Adobe Fonts relies on user-based entitlements to sync and activate fonts. As a result, even if a user is assigned to Custom Fonts in the Admin Console, fonts will not activate when they sign in on a shared device, and the “permission required” message will be displayed.

    While users are required to sign in on shared devices, an SDL license does not provide access to cloud-based services such as Adobe Fonts, Libraries, or cloud storage. These services are only available when the user is assigned a Named User License (NUL), which explains the behavior you are seeing.

    Please refer to the following document for more details:
    https://adobe.ly/4szWCNo

    For your use case, where teachers need access to Adobe Fonts, the recommended approach is to assign them a Named User License (NUL) for Creative Cloud (either instead of or in addition to SDL) and ensure they are also assigned to Custom Fonts in the Admin Console.

    Hope this answers your query. Please let me know if you need any further assistance or clarification.

    Regards,
    ^AN

    1 reply

    A
    Community Manager
    Anshul_NautiyalCommunity ManagerCorrect answer
    Community Manager
    March 30, 2026

    Hi ​@Belec 

    Thanks for reaching out.

    Based on your query, it appears you are using Creative Cloud Shared Device Licensing (SDL) in a K–12 environment and are encountering issues with Adobe Fonts / Custom Fonts not being available to users, even though the entitlement is assigned in the Admin Console.

    From your description, the configuration on the assignment side appears correct. However, the behavior you’re experiencing is expected due to a limitation of Shared Device Licensing.

    Adobe Fonts (including Custom Fonts) are not fully supported in SDL environments. SDL is designed for device-based access, whereas Adobe Fonts relies on user-based entitlements to sync and activate fonts. As a result, even if a user is assigned to Custom Fonts in the Admin Console, fonts will not activate when they sign in on a shared device, and the “permission required” message will be displayed.

    While users are required to sign in on shared devices, an SDL license does not provide access to cloud-based services such as Adobe Fonts, Libraries, or cloud storage. These services are only available when the user is assigned a Named User License (NUL), which explains the behavior you are seeing.

    Please refer to the following document for more details:
    https://adobe.ly/4szWCNo

    For your use case, where teachers need access to Adobe Fonts, the recommended approach is to assign them a Named User License (NUL) for Creative Cloud (either instead of or in addition to SDL) and ensure they are also assigned to Custom Fonts in the Admin Console.

    Hope this answers your query. Please let me know if you need any further assistance or clarification.

    Regards,
    ^AN

      Belec
      BelecAuthor
      Participant
      March 31, 2026

      Hi ​@Anshul_Nautiyal ,

      Thank you for the clear explanation and confirmation. This helps a lot and clarifies the limitation with SDL.

      We will review the option of assigning Named User Licenses for teachers who need Adobe Fonts.

      Appreciate your help!

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