No symbols in referenced styles in ArcMap

Description

Symbols are used to graphically describe, categorize, or rank geographic features on a map. In ArcMap, the Symbol Selector window is used to select the right symbol for a project.

A problem may occur when attempting to apply a symbol to features on a map, the font symbols are not displayed in the Symbol Selector window. No symbols are in referenced styles. This may occur under the following conditions:

• After a reboot, the fonts are removed from the machine due to a Windows security policy that blocks untrusted fonts.
• The permission on the folder may have been revoked due to some changes on the Windows level.

Cause

• The style folder can be empty.
  • One can easily distinguish which style folders contain map elements and symbols, which can be modified, and which are empty. A yellow folder indicates read/write permission, a gray folder indicates read-only permission, and a white folder indicates an empty folder.
• Read and write permissions must be given to the folder.
• You may be working with an annotation layer and annotation supports only 'text symbols' and instead, the 'Marker symbol' category was chosen.

Solution or Workaround

1. Copy the files from the style folder and paste them into the ArcMap folder.
2. If unable to paste the files, provide permissions to the ArcMap folder.
3. Browse to the particular layer properties to access the Symbol Selector> Style References, select Esri, and click OK.

Styles are now visible.