Variable Font Custom Instance Doesn't Load in Adobe Illustrator

[oneweioranother]

I wonder if anyone has encountered this issue in Adobe Illustrator 2026, I would ask on the Adobe Forums but I’ve seen the issue raised with no answer so I wonder if anyone has an idea here:

A client has created a document in CC 2025 with a variable font but when it’s opened in 2026 the font can no longer be found.

This is the same issue I believe (again here). I’ve tested it with Fraunces and I get the same problem: you can select a name instance and save the document, then reopen it and the font loads correctly, however if you save a custom instance it can’t find the font?

I’ve tried the suggestion of turning off missing glyph protection too.

[qassimhaider]

And what about FontGoggle? Works on it or not.

[oneweioranother]

Yes it works in FontGoggles. The font works fine in Adobe Illustrator 2025 but not 2026.

The relevant errors I can see from fontspector are:

A different font with the same issue has the following errors, I can’t reproduce it on my version of Illustrator, so I’ll try fixing these and get the client to test it: