Best Fonts for Your Resume in 2026 (ATS-Friendly)

Why Your Font Choice Matters More Than You Think

Your resume font affects both readability and ATS compatibility. An unusual or decorative font can make your resume hard to read on screen, difficult to print, and — in some cases — impossible for an ATS to parse correctly.

The right font makes your resume look polished and professional while ensuring every word gets read by both humans and machines.

The Best Fonts for Resumes in 2026

Tier 1: Highly Recommended

Calibri — The default font in Microsoft Word since 2007. Clean, modern, and universally readable. Size: 10-12pt. Arial — A sans-serif classic that renders well on every screen and printer. Size: 10-11pt. Helvetica — The gold standard of clean typography. Popular in design-conscious industries. Size: 10-11pt. (Note: Not available on all Windows machines; use Arial as a fallback.) Garamond — An elegant serif font that looks slightly more traditional. Great for law, finance, and academia. Size: 11-12pt (it runs smaller than other fonts).

Tier 2: Strong Alternatives

Cambria — A serif font designed for screen readability. Works well for printed resumes. Size: 10-12pt. Georgia — A web-safe serif font with great readability on screens. Size: 10-11pt. Trebuchet MS — A slightly more distinctive sans-serif. Good for creative fields while remaining professional. Size: 10-11pt. Lato — A modern sans-serif from Google Fonts. Clean and friendly. Size: 10-11pt. Roboto — Google's signature font. Excellent for tech-industry resumes. Size: 10-11pt.

Tier 3: Use with Caution

Times New Roman — Once the standard, now often seen as dated. It works but does not make a strong visual impression. If you use it, consider Garamond or Cambria instead. Verdana — Highly readable but runs wide, which can eat up space on a one-page resume.

Fonts to Avoid Completely

Comic Sans — Never appropriate for a professional document

Papyrus — Same category as Comic Sans

Brush Script or any script font — ATS cannot reliably parse cursive fonts

Impact — Too heavy for body text

Courier New — Looks like a typewriter; dated and hard to read in large blocks

Decorative or custom fonts — If the font is not installed on the recruiter's machine, your resume will display incorrectly

Font Size Guidelines

Your name: 16-22pt (the largest element on the page)

Section headings: 12-14pt, bold

Body text: 10-12pt (never go below 10pt)

Contact information: 10-11pt

If you are struggling to fit everything on one page, do not shrink the font below 10pt. Instead, tighten your margins (0.5-0.75 inches) or edit your content. For more on resume length, see our resume length guide.

ATS Compatibility Considerations

Most modern ATS systems can handle any standard font. However, issues arise when:

You embed a custom font in a PDF — Some parsers cannot extract text from embedded fonts

You use a font that maps to symbols — Wingdings and similar fonts will produce gibberish

You mix many fonts — Stick to one font for body text and optionally a second for headings

The safest approach: use a single standard font (Calibri, Arial, or Garamond) throughout your entire resume. This ensures maximum compatibility with every ATS. For more ATS formatting tips, read our ATS-friendly format guide.

Formatting Tips Beyond Fonts

Use bold and italic sparingly — Bold for section headings and company/school names. Italic for job titles or dates

Maintain consistent spacing — Even spacing between sections makes your resume look organized

Use proper bullet points — Standard round bullets. Avoid custom symbols that ATS may not recognize

Left-align body text — Justified text can create awkward spacing

One Font or Two?

A common question. Using two fonts — one for headings and one for body text — can create visual hierarchy. If you do this:

Pair a sans-serif heading font with a serif body font (or vice versa)

Example: Calibri headings with Garamond body text

Do not use more than two fonts total

But using a single font is perfectly fine and often the safer choice for ATS compatibility.

Test Your Resume Format

Not sure if your font and formatting choices are ATS-friendly? Run your resume through our free ATS checker to see if it parses correctly. Our AI resume builder uses professionally selected fonts that are guaranteed to work with every major ATS system.