Matplotlib cannot find basic fonts

Question

I am using matplotlib version 2.0.0 on Python 3 in a miniconda virtual environment. I am working on a unix scientific computing cluster where I don\'t have root privileges.

Answer 1

A solution for Windows users, when confronted with the warning:

UserWarning: findfont: Font family ['serif'] not found. Falling back to DejaVu Sans
(prop.get_family(), self.defaultFamily[fontext]))

1. Delete the fonts located in matplotlib's cache.
   Cache's location: import matplotlib as mpl; print(mpl.font_manager.get_cachedir())

2. Find matplotlib's font directory. The path might be similar to
   C:\Miniconda3\pkgs\matplotlib-2.2.2-py36_1\Lib\site-packages\matplotlib\mpl-data\fonts\ttf

3. Copy necessary fonts like Computer Modern to this directory.

The warning may persist, but your plots' font should change appropriately.