If you type in Hindi on a computer older than ten years, chances are you still use Kruti Dev font. It’s everywhere: newspapers, government offices, court papers, pandit jis, and every cyber cafe from Lucknow to Bhopal. But in 2025, almost every website, app, WhatsApp, and even new government portals refuse to read Kruti Dev. They want Unicode. Suddenly your old files look like boxes or total garbage. This guide is for everyone stuck in that mess right now.
Why Kruti Dev Is Dying in 2025 (And Unicode Won)
Kruti Dev was never a real font for computers; it was a clever trick made in the 90s. It uses English keyboard letters to show Devanagari shapes. Type “v” and you get व, type “fd” and you get द. It worked great when internet was slow and Unicode support was bad. But today phones, Google, Instagram, banking apps, and even Indian Railways website run on Unicode only. From April 2025 the Government of India made Unicode mandatory for all new official documents. Old Kruti Dev files are now officially “legacy”. If you don’t convert, your text becomes unreadable the moment you send it anywhere new.
The Fastest Free Ways to Convert Kruti Dev to Unicode Right Now
The good news: you don’t need to pay anyone. These three tools are still the best in 2025 and work perfectly:
- iLovePDF’s Hindi Converter (completely free, no sign-up, handles 100-page PDFs in seconds)
- Google Input Tools website (paste your Kruti text, click convert, done)
- Lipikaar’s online box (works even on phones)
Just copy your Kruti text, paste into any of these, and you get clean Unicode Hindi that looks right on WhatsApp or Word.
How to Batch Convert Hundreds of Old Kruti Dev Files at Once
Got folders full of old .doc files from 2010-2020? Do this:
Open Notepad++, install the “Converter” plugin, select all files, choose Kruti Dev → Unicode. Takes two minutes for 500 files. For PDFs: upload the whole folder to iLovePDF batch tool, tick “Kruti to Unicode”, download clean searchable PDFs. Court clerks and lawyers in Uttar Pradesh are doing exactly this in 2025 because high courts now reject Kruti submissions.
Best Offline Software If You Don’t Trust Online Tools
Many people still worry about privacy (especially lawyers and journalists). These two offline programs are free and work without internet:
- DevLys Kruti to Unicode Converter (tiny 2MB file, works on Windows 7 to 11)
- Akshar Unicode Converter (supports drag-and-drop, never sends data anywhere)
Both get updated every few months and handle conjuncts like क्ष, त्र, ज्ञ perfectly.
Common Mistakes That Still Break Your Conversion in 2025
Even good tools fail when:
- You use a mixed font file (half Kruti, half DevLys, half Mangal) – always separate them first.
- You copy from a scanned PDF – run OCR first (Adobe Acrobat or free NAPS2).
- You forget “shiro-rekha” settings – some old Kruti files hide the top line; tick “show headline” before converting.
Do these wrong and you’ll see weird gaps or letters joined badly.
How to Type Fresh Unicode Hindi That Never Needs Converting Again
Stop using Kruti Dev keyboard forever. Switch to:
- Google Input Tools (on computer)
- Gboard or Microsoft Indic on phone
- In Windows 11 just press Win + Space and choose “Hindi” – type phonetically and it comes out perfect Unicode.
Once you spend one day getting used to it, you’ll never go back. Every new file you create stays readable everywhere.
What to Do With Old Kruti Dev Fonts on Your Computer
Delete them. Seriously. Keep only Mangal, Noto Sans Devanagari, or Kohinoor. Old Kruti fonts confuse Word and make new documents look broken when shared. In 2025 Windows Update even started hiding Kruti Dev from the font list because too many people were complaining.
Kruti Dev had a good 25-year run, but its time is over. Convert your old stuff once using the free tools above and start typing in Unicode today. Your future self (and everyone you send files to) will thank you.
