The best font for a resume is a readable, professional typeface that stays clear at normal resume sizes and exports cleanly. For most candidates, Arial, Calibri, Aptos, Helvetica or Times New Roman are dependable starting points. The font matters less than keeping the document readable, consistent and text-based.
Format the whole resume, not only the font
Choose a readable typeface, then keep the title, skills, experience and ATS alignment consistent with the target role.
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What makes a font good for a resume?
A resume font has to work under practical constraints. Recruiters may read the document on a laptop, a high-resolution monitor, a phone preview or a printed copy. The file may also pass through recruiting software before a human opens it. That means the useful question is not “Which font looks most creative?” but “Which font keeps the information clear across the complete application workflow?”
Clear at normal sizes
Letters should remain distinct at roughly 10.5–12 pt without forcing the reader to zoom in.
Predictable when exported
Use a font available in your editor or export carefully so the final PDF preserves the intended appearance.
Supports hierarchy
The font should make headings, dates, job titles and body text easy to distinguish without decorative effects.
15 ATS-safe resume fonts to consider
The list below prioritises professional readability and practical document compatibility. Use the sample as a visual comparison, but judge the font inside your actual resume because the same point size can look larger or smaller across typefaces.
1. Arial
Simple, neutral and highly familiar. A strong default when you want minimal visual risk.
2. Calibri
Compact, readable and familiar from Microsoft Office. Useful when you need a modern resume without a stylised look.
3. Aptos
A contemporary sans-serif available in current Office applications. Microsoft describes Aptos as suitable for both body text and headings.
4. Helvetica
Clean and restrained. Excellent when it is available in your editing environment; use Arial as a practical fallback.
5. Times New Roman
Formal and compact. It can work well for conservative fields, but avoid shrinking it simply because it fits more text.
6. Georgia
A sturdy serif with generous letterforms. Useful when you want a traditional feel without very narrow body text.
7. Verdana
Wide and very readable on screens. Because it occupies more horizontal space, it may increase page length.
8. Tahoma
Clear and slightly compact. Good for straightforward corporate documents without decorative typography.
9. Trebuchet MS
More personality than Arial while remaining readable. Use it when the overall resume is otherwise restrained.
10. Cambria
A formal serif designed for on-screen and printed documents. Useful for conservative resumes with clear section spacing.
11. Garamond
Elegant and space-efficient, but visually smaller than many sans-serif fonts. Avoid using it at an aggressively small size.
12. Century Gothic
Geometric and modern, but wide. It works better for short resumes than documents already struggling to stay within two pages.
13. Book Antiqua / Palatino
A classic serif option with more openness than Times New Roman. Check availability before relying on it across editors.
14. Roboto
A clear modern sans-serif commonly available through Google’s font ecosystem. Export the final file and verify the result before sending.
15. Noto Sans
A clean sans-serif with broad language support. Useful when a document may include names or terms outside basic Latin characters.
Sans-serif or serif: which is better for a resume?
Cleaner and more contemporary
Arial, Calibri, Aptos, Helvetica, Verdana and similar fonts have no decorative strokes at the ends of letters. They are often a comfortable choice for technology, business, operations and modern corporate resumes.
More traditional and editorial
Times New Roman, Georgia, Cambria and Garamond have small finishing strokes. They can work well for legal, academic, finance, policy and other conservative contexts.
Neither category is automatically more ATS-friendly. Choose based on readability, role context and document consistency rather than trying to guess a secret ATS preference.
Best resume font sizes
Point size is not identical across typefaces. A 10.5 pt Verdana line can look larger than 10.5 pt Garamond. Use the ranges below as starting points and judge the final exported page at 100% zoom.
Your name
Large enough to identify the document without becoming a decorative banner.
Section headings
Experience, Education, Skills and Projects should be easy to scan.
Body text
A practical range for most resumes. Start near 11 pt and adjust only after testing readability.
Secondary details
Use sparingly for dates or small metadata. Do not push important evidence into tiny text.
Does font choice affect ATS?
Font choice can affect readability and document portability, but it should not be treated as a magic ATS ranking factor. Recruiting systems generally need to extract text and identify resume information; the larger risks are often text placed inside images, complex reading order, unsupported file handling, unusual symbols used in place of words, or layouts that separate labels from their content.
Keep important text selectable
Your name, contact information, headings, job titles and experience should remain normal document text rather than being converted into an image.
Export and reopen the file
After creating the PDF or DOCX, reopen it and verify that the font, spacing, bullets and line breaks still look correct.
Content still carries the match
A perfectly formatted resume with irrelevant skills or an unclear target role is still a weak application. Use the ATS improvement guide to check the complete document.
Best resume fonts in Microsoft Word and Google Docs
Availability matters because a font that is missing from your editor may be substituted or behave differently. Microsoft documents Aptos as an Office font family and describes it as suitable for both body text and headings. Google Docs allows users to choose from available system/web fonts and add supported fonts through its font list.
Easy starting choices
Arial, Calibri, Aptos, Times New Roman, Cambria and Georgia are practical options when available. Microsoft also lets you set a preferred default font in Word.
Use fonts available in Docs
Arial, Times New Roman and many web fonts are available through the Docs font menu. If you choose a web font such as Roboto or Noto Sans, verify the exported file before applying.
Should you use two fonts on a resume?
Usually, one font family is enough. A single family with regular, semibold and bold weights creates hierarchy without introducing compatibility or visual-consistency problems.
One family, multiple weights
Aptos Semibold for headings + Aptos Regular for body text.
Arial Bold for headings + Arial Regular for body text.
Two unrelated families
Decorative heading font + unrelated body font + different font inside tables or icons. This adds complexity without improving the evidence in the resume.
If you do pair fonts, keep it conservative: one typeface for headings and one for body text, with a clear reason for the contrast. Do not use three or four font families.
Font choice for one-page and two-page resumes
Prioritise before shrinking
If the resume is slightly over one page, first remove weak bullets, duplicate skills and unnecessary personal information. A compact font can help modestly, but readability should not be traded away simply to hit one page.
Use the extra space intelligently
Experienced candidates can keep comfortable body text and consistent spacing. A two-page resume is often better than a compressed one-page document that forces important evidence into tiny type.
If you are deciding whether two pages are appropriate, use the Job Title in Resume guide to clarify the target role first, then keep only experience that helps the reader evaluate that target.
10 resume font mistakes to avoid
Choose your resume font in 60 seconds
Pick the role context
Modern corporate/tech: start with Arial, Calibri or Aptos. Conservative/legal/academic: consider Times New Roman, Cambria or Georgia.
Open your real resume
Do not judge fonts from a blank page. Apply the font to your actual headings, bullets, dates and contact details.
Set body text near 11 pt
Adjust within the recommended range only after you test readability and page length.
Export and inspect
Open the final file at 100% zoom and check line breaks, bullets, spacing, symbols and page count before sending.
Final font and formatting checklist
Check the finished resume, not only the font
A good font improves presentation. The stronger test is whether the complete resume is readable, truthful and aligned with the job description.
Related GradVix guides
Frequently asked questions
What is the best font for a resume?
What font size should a resume use?
Is Arial good for an ATS resume?
Is Calibri good for a resume?
Is Aptos good for a resume?
Is Times New Roman outdated for resumes?
Should a resume use a serif or sans-serif font?
Can I use 10 pt font on my resume?
Is 12 pt too big for a resume?
Can I use two fonts on a resume?
Should I use bold text on a resume?
Are decorative fonts bad for ATS?
Does changing the font improve ATS score?
Which font is best for a fresher resume?
Which font is best for a software engineer resume?
Which font is best for a finance or accounting resume?
Should I use the same font on LinkedIn and my resume?
How do I know whether my resume font exported correctly?