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I am not an expert in LaTeX, but I was writing a paper, everything was going fine, until it suddenly crashed giving me the error:

The fontspec package requires either XeTeX or LuaTeX to function.

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    That means that you have to use xelatex <document> or lualatex <document> instead of pdflatex <document> to compile your document if you want to use the fontspec package. For some background, try tex.stackexchange.com/q/36/86
    – Andrew Stacey
    Oct 4, 2012 at 8:49
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    This can't have happened suddenly. Either you changed how you compile your document (now using pdflatex instead of xelatex for example) or you added fontspec explicitly or a package that loads fontspec implicitly.
    – cgnieder
    Oct 4, 2012 at 11:07
  • As the error message said, LuaLaTeX or XeLaTeX should be used. Probably it wasn't the case. Since no further information was given, the question will now be closed as too localized.
    – Stefan Kottwitz ♦
    Oct 18, 2012 at 12:20
  • @Stefan I tried compile a document with XeLaTeX and got this warning.
    – Tyson Williams
    Aug 8, 2013 at 20:26
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    I got this same error and there's no answer. Wonder why this question is closed.
    – Yan King Yin
    Dec 22, 2018 at 13:31

1 Answer 1

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Yes, the fontspec package package requires a compatible compiler or engine, like Xe(La)TeX or Lua(La)TeX. These compilers are better-equipped to handle fonts.

How do you use Xe(La)TeX or Lua(La)TeX?

Depending on your compilation protocol (via prompt or command-line, a GUI-like interface or even online), you may have to specify it in the command-line:

xetex <your-tex-file>
xelatex <your-tex-file>
luatex <your-tex-file>
lualatex <your-tex-file>

If you're using some interface like a (La)TeX IDE, then the compiler selection would most likely be somewhere in the interface options. It may even be specified as command-line choice. For example, in TeXnicCenter under Windows, compiler choices can be specified by changing the "Path to the (La)TeX compiler":

enter image description here

Online compilers, like Overleaf, provide similar functionality. You can change the compiler to use a different engine in the project settings. See Changing compiler, where you should select Xe(La)TeX or Lua(La)TeX...

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