Updated July 2026. Reviewed by Maya Robinson, CPRW.
Use Calibri, Aptos, Arial, Garamond or Cambria at 10 to 12 point for the body of a resume. These are system fonts, so applicant tracking systems render them without substituting a fallback that can garble your name. Set line spacing between 1.0 and 1.15 and use 14 to 16 point for section headers.
Choosing a resume font is a parsing decision, not a style decision. Below are the 8 safe fonts ranked, the exact sizes, and the ones that break ATS software.
Why Font Choice Is an ATS Problem, Not a Style Problem
Before a human sees your resume, an applicant tracking system converts the file into plain text it can search, and that conversion depends on the font. Standard fonts like Arial and Calibri have clean, well-defined shapes installed on virtually every system, so the parser reads them correctly. Decorative, condensed, or custom-embedded fonts can be misread, so your name, email, or a skill keyword gets stored as garbled text. The ATS does not flag the error. It files you with bad data, which lowers your match score and can drop you out of recruiter searches.
The 8 Best ATS-Safe Resume Fonts for 2026, Ranked
Any of these will parse cleanly and read well. Choose one and use it for the whole document.
| # | Font | Type | Body size | Best for | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calibri | Sans-serif | 11 pt | Default choice for most resumes | Safest all-round pick |
| 2 | Aptos | Sans-serif | 11 pt | Modern Word documents (Office default since 2024) | Safe, reads current |
| 3 | Garamond | Serif | 11.5 pt | Legal, academic, executive | Safe, fits more words per line |
| 4 | Arial | Sans-serif | 10.5 pt | Maximum reliability across old and new parsers | Safe, never misread |
| 5 | Georgia | Serif | 11 pt | Formal tone that still reads well on screen | Safe, slightly wide |
| 6 | Cambria | Serif | 11 pt | Microsoft serif alternative to Georgia | Safe, compact |
| 7 | Helvetica | Sans-serif | 10.5 pt | Mac users who want a refined sans-serif | Safe, substitutes to Arial on Windows |
| 8 | Verdana | Sans-serif | 10 pt | Dense one-page resumes at small sizes | Safe, but eats horizontal space |
These are all standard system fonts, so Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, iCIMS and Taleo all render them with their built-in font map instead of substituting a fallback. Times New Roman also parses cleanly in every one of them, it is simply left off the ranked list because it reads dated to a human reviewer. Serif (Garamond, Georgia, Cambria) reads formal; sans-serif (Calibri, Aptos, Arial) reads modern. Both parse cleanly, so pick on style.
Which Font for Your Situation
| Situation | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Writing in current Word, want zero decisions | Aptos | Already the default, ATS-safe |
| Corporate, finance, or law | Garamond or Cambria | Formal serif tone |
| Tech, startups, modern roles | Calibri or Helvetica | Clean sans-serif |
| Dense one-page resume, small text | Verdana | Highest legibility at 10pt |
| Told to use "classic" formatting | Georgia | Serif without the dated Times feel |
The Exact Font Sizes and Spacing to Use
Here are the precise numbers most guides leave vague:
| Element | Size | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Body text | 10 to 12 pt (11 default) | Drop to 10 only to fit one page |
| Your name | 14 to 18 pt | Largest text on the page |
| Section headings | 12 to 14 pt, bold | Scannable, but smaller than your name |
| Bullets | 10 to 11 pt | Same family as body text |
| Line spacing | 1.0 to 1.15 | Tighter crowds text, looser wastes space |
| Margins | 0.5 to 1 inch | Never below 0.5 inch, parsers clip past that |
Going below 10 point body text to cram in more content backfires twice: it strains the recruiter who reads it and it raises the chance of a parser misreading cramped characters. If your resume will not fit, cut content rather than shrinking the font.
The Fonts That Break ATS Parsers
These are the fonts to keep off a resume entirely, and the reason for each:
- Script and handwriting fonts such as Brush Script or Lucida Handwriting. Their connected, irregular shapes are frequently parsed as wrong characters.
- Decorative and display fonts such as Papyrus, Impact, or anything novelty. They read as unprofessional to recruiters and unpredictably to parsers.
- Comic Sans. Universally read as unserious for a job application. Never use it.
- Condensed and ultra-thin fonts. Narrow letterforms blur together and are a common source of misread text.
- Custom or downloaded fonts not installed on the reader's system. When the font is missing, the file substitutes a different one, which can shift your layout or corrupt characters.
The single safest rule: if a font is not pre-installed on a standard work computer, do not use it on a resume.
QuickResumeAI builds your resume on ATS-safe fonts with the correct sizing and spacing already applied. Try for free, no signup needed.
For more on formatting and parsing, see our guides on the best resume format for ATS, how to handle the address on a resume, and how to make your resume ATS friendly. If your layout shifts after upload, see why your resume looks different when uploaded.
