{"id":40522,"date":"2014-04-20T18:24:25","date_gmt":"2014-04-20T12:54:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/?p=40522"},"modified":"2026-10-08T19:20:57","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T13:50:57","slug":"remove-google-fonts-lato-twenty-fourteen-wordpress-theme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2014\/04\/remove-google-fonts-lato-twenty-fourteen-wordpress-theme\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Remove Google Fonts Lato from the Twenty Fourteen Theme"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Is the Lato font slowing down your Twenty Fourteen WordPress theme? Twenty Fourteen loads seven variants of Lato by default, and on slow connections that can delay your text from appearing. We used the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/11\/default-twenty-fourteen-wordpress-theme\/\">Twenty Fourteen theme<\/a> on this site, and this is how we fixed it. Here&#8217;s how to remove Google Fonts Lato variants, or the whole font, from Twenty Fourteen with a few lines in a child theme, updated for 2026.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Quick answer:<\/strong> To remove Lato completely, add this to your child theme&#8217;s <code>functions.php<\/code>: <code>add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', function () { wp_dequeue_style( 'twentyfourteen-lato' ); }, 11 );<\/code>. Then set a fallback font in your child theme&#8217;s CSS, such as a system font stack. To keep Lato but load less, override the font URL to load only the 400 and 700 weights.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ae0efc060c90\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ae0efc060c90\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2014\/04\/remove-google-fonts-lato-twenty-fourteen-wordpress-theme\/#Why_Lato_slows_down_Twenty_Fourteen\" >Why Lato slows down Twenty Fourteen<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2014\/04\/remove-google-fonts-lato-twenty-fourteen-wordpress-theme\/#Option_1_Load_fewer_Lato_variants\" >Option 1: Load fewer Lato variants<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2014\/04\/remove-google-fonts-lato-twenty-fourteen-wordpress-theme\/#Option_2_Remove_Google_Fonts_Lato_completely\" >Option 2: Remove Google Fonts Lato completely<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2014\/04\/remove-google-fonts-lato-twenty-fourteen-wordpress-theme\/#More_font_speed_tips\" >More font speed tips<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2014\/04\/remove-google-fonts-lato-twenty-fourteen-wordpress-theme\/#Frequently_asked_questions\" >Frequently asked questions<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2014\/04\/remove-google-fonts-lato-twenty-fourteen-wordpress-theme\/#Is_Twenty_Fourteen_still_supported\" >Is Twenty Fourteen still supported?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2014\/04\/remove-google-fonts-lato-twenty-fourteen-wordpress-theme\/#Will_removing_Lato_change_my_sites_design\" >Will removing Lato change my site&#8217;s design?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2014\/04\/remove-google-fonts-lato-twenty-fourteen-wordpress-theme\/#Does_this_work_for_other_themes\" >Does this work for other themes?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_Lato_slows_down_Twenty_Fourteen\"><\/span>Why Lato slows down Twenty Fourteen<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Twenty Fourteen&#8217;s <code>functions.php<\/code> builds its font URL like this:<\/p>\n<pre><code>function twentyfourteen_font_url() {\r\n    $font_url = '';\r\n    if ( 'off' !== _x( 'on', 'Lato font: on or off', 'twentyfourteen' ) ) {\r\n        $font_url = add_query_arg( 'family', urlencode( 'Lato:300,400,700,900,300italic,400italic,700italic' ), 'https:\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\/css' );\r\n    }\r\n    return $font_url;\r\n}<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>That&#8217;s seven font files: four weights plus three italics. When we tested it, the fonts had a big impact on load time:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-40524\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/lato-load-time.png\" alt=\"Remove Google Fonts Lato load time in Twenty Fourteen\" width=\"500\" height=\"226\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/lato-load-time.png 500w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/lato-load-time-150x67.png 150w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/lato-load-time-300x135.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>While the fonts download, many browsers hide the text (a &#8220;flash of invisible text&#8221;), so visitors see a blank page on slow connections. It also adds to your Largest Contentful Paint, one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2020\/05\/core-web-vitals\/\">Core Web Vitals<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2026 note:<\/strong> recent versions of Twenty Fourteen bundle Lato with the theme and load it from your own server instead of Google, for privacy reasons. That removes the extra connection to Google, but the seven font files are still there, so trimming or removing them still speeds things up. Update the theme first, then check which fonts load in your browser&#8217;s developer tools (Network tab, filter by Font).<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Option_1_Load_fewer_Lato_variants\"><\/span>Option 1: Load fewer Lato variants<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If you like Lato, keep it but load only regular and bold. Copy the font function into your <strong>child theme&#8217;s<\/strong> <code>functions.php<\/code> with fewer weights. The simplest way is to dequeue the original and enqueue your own:<\/p>\n<pre><code>add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', function () {\r\n    wp_dequeue_style( 'twentyfourteen-lato' );\r\n    wp_enqueue_style( 'qot-lato', 'https:\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\/css?family=Lato:400,700&amp;display=swap', array(), null );\r\n}, 11 );<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>The <code>display=swap<\/code> parameter shows text immediately in a fallback font while Lato loads. Italic text and blockquotes may look slightly different, as the browser creates a fake italic.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Option_2_Remove_Google_Fonts_Lato_completely\"><\/span>Option 2: Remove Google Fonts Lato completely<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>This is what we did. Add to your child theme&#8217;s <code>functions.php<\/code>:<\/p>\n<pre><code>\/\/ Remove Lato font from Twenty Fourteen\r\nfunction qot_dequeue_fonts() {\r\n    wp_dequeue_style( 'twentyfourteen-lato' );\r\n}\r\nadd_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'qot_dequeue_fonts', 11 );<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>The priority 11 makes it run after the theme has enqueued the font. Then give your text a fast fallback in the child theme&#8217;s <code>style.css<\/code>:<\/p>\n<pre><code>body, button, input, select, textarea,\r\n.site-title, .entry-title, .widget-title {\r\n  font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, \"Segoe UI\", Roboto, Arial, sans-serif;\r\n}<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>A system font stack uses the font already on each device, so it loads instantly and looks native on Windows, Mac, Android and iPhone.<\/p>\n<p>Always make these changes in a child theme, not in Twenty Fourteen itself, or your edits are lost when the theme updates. And back up <code>functions.php<\/code> first: a typo can take your site offline.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"More_font_speed_tips\"><\/span>More font speed tips<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Load only the weights you actually use, and prefer modern WOFF2 files.<\/li>\n<li>Self-host fonts and preload the main one.<\/li>\n<li>Use <code>font-display: swap<\/code> so text is never invisible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>See our full guide to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/10\/load-google-web-fonts-faster\/\">load Google Fonts faster<\/a>, and how to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/03\/delay-loading-non-critical-css\/\">delay non-critical CSS<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Frequently_asked_questions\"><\/span>Frequently asked questions<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_Twenty_Fourteen_still_supported\"><\/span>Is Twenty Fourteen still supported?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes. WordPress still updates its older default themes for compatibility and security, though newer block themes such as Twenty Twenty-Five offer more features.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Will_removing_Lato_change_my_sites_design\"><\/span>Will removing Lato change my site&#8217;s design?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Slightly. Headings and text will use the fallback font. Choose a fallback with similar proportions if you want the design to stay close.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Does_this_work_for_other_themes\"><\/span>Does this work for other themes?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes. Find the font&#8217;s style handle in the theme&#8217;s <code>functions.php<\/code> (look for <code>wp_enqueue_style<\/code>) and dequeue that handle the same way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is the Lato font slowing down your Twenty Fourteen WordPress theme? Twenty Fourteen loads seven variants of Lato by default,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":40524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49,17],"class_list":["post-40522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogging","tag-tutorials","tag-wordpress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40522"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63679,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40522\/revisions\/63679"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}