Choosing the right font for your resume may seem like a small detail, but it quietly influences how both applicant-tracking systems (ATS) and human recruiters perceive your application.

Career-development offices, ATS-testing platforms, and resume-screening studies consistently agree on three priorities: legibility, neutrality, and platform compatibility.¹ ² In 2026, resumes are almost always reviewed in two stages:

1. Parsed by ATS software

2. Scanned quickly by recruiters on a screen

Your font must work perfectly in both contexts.

What makes a “best” resume font?

A strong resume font reliably meets the following criteria, supported by ATS and career-advisory research.

1. High legibility at small sizes

Most resumes use 10–12 pt body text, especially in one-page formats. Fonts must remain clear and readable at these sizes on both screens and printed pages.¹

2. Neutral and professional appearance

Resume fonts should never draw attention to themselves. Decorative, script, or novelty fonts reduce perceived professionalism and distract from content.²

3. ATS-friendly rendering

An ATS-safe font renders cleanly when parsed, converts accurately to plain text, and avoids missing or corrupted characters.³ ⁴

According to MIT’s Career Advising & Professional Development office, using common, widely installed fonts such as Arial, Calibri, Cambria, Georgia, Helvetica, and Times New Roman significantly reduces the risk of ATS misreads.⁵
Indeed’s ATS resume guide similarly recommends Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman in 10–12 pt for maximum compatibility.⁶

Top 20 Professional Resume Fonts (With Platform Availability)

Below are 20 widely recommended resume fonts, grouped by style and typical use cases, based on ATS-focused guides, resume-formatting studies, and typography resources.⁷–¹⁴

Modern Sans-Serif Fonts

(Best for tech, business, marketing, startups, and corporate roles)

1. Calibri
Microsoft’s long-time default. Clean, modern, and extremely ATS-friendly. One of the safest all-purpose resume fonts.⁷ ⁹ ¹⁰
Available on: Microsoft Office (Windows & macOS), Google Docs (web)

2. Arial
Simple, neutral, and universally supported. Regularly cited as an “ATS-approved” font.¹¹ ¹² ¹³
Available on: Microsoft Office, Google Docs, macOS, Linux, web browsers

3. Helvetica
Clean and corporate. Frequently recommended for consulting, tech, and business-focused resumes.⁸ ¹¹ ¹²
Available on: macOS system fonts, Adobe Creative Cloud (license required on Windows)

4. Tahoma
Compact yet highly readable. Useful for dense, data-heavy or engineering resumes.⁸ ¹⁰ ¹¹
Available on: Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office

5. Verdana
Wide letterforms improve screen readability. Often recommended for digital-first resumes.⁸ ¹¹ ¹²
Available on: Microsoft Office, Windows systems, web browsers

6. Roboto
Modern and geometric. Popular in tech, UX, and product-oriented roles.⁷ ⁹ ¹³
Available on: Google Fonts, Android systems, desktop install

7. Avenir / Avenir Next
Stylish yet restrained. Frequently cited as ATS-safe in professional font roundups.⁸ ¹¹ ¹⁴
Available on: macOS, Adobe Creative Cloud

8. Montserrat
Distinctive but still professional. Best used in clean, ATS-safe layouts.⁹ ¹² ¹³
Available on: Google Fonts, desktop install

9. Open Sans
Neutral and friendly, with excellent readability. Common in modern digital resumes.¹¹ ¹³ ¹⁴
Available on: Google Fonts, web browsers

10. Nunito Sans
Soft, rounded sans-serif. Included in several 2026 resume-font recommendations.¹³ ¹⁴
Available on: Google Fonts, desktop install

Classic Serif Fonts

(Best for law, healthcare, academia, government, and traditional fields)

11. Times New Roman
Formal and conservative. Explicitly recommended by MIT and Indeed for ATS safety.⁵ ⁶ ⁹
Available on: Microsoft Office, Google Docs, most systems

12. Cambria
Designed for screen readability. A modern serif with strong ATS compatibility.⁷–⁹
Available on: Microsoft Office (Windows & macOS)

13. Georgia
Elegant serif with excellent on-screen clarity. Commonly cited as ATS-friendly.⁸ ¹¹ ¹²
Available on: Microsoft Office, web browsers

14. Garamond
Timeless and refined. Allows more text per page due to compact letterforms.⁹ ¹¹ ¹⁴
Available on: Microsoft Office, macOS, Adobe apps

15. EB Garamond
A digital-optimized Garamond variant, often recommended for CV-style documents.⁹ ¹⁴
Available on: Google Fonts

16. Palatino / Palatino Linotype
Warm and classic. Frequently suggested for education and healthcare roles.⁹ ¹⁰ ¹⁴
Available on: Microsoft Office, macOS, Adobe apps

17. Times News Roman
A slightly updated take on Times New Roman. Included in several ATS-safe lists.⁹ ¹⁰
Available on: Microsoft Office

18. Bodoni MT
High-contrast and stylish. Best used sparingly for headings only.¹⁰ ¹⁴
Available on: Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Cloud

Distinctive but Still Professional

19. Courier Prime
Monospaced and technical. Suitable for programming or research-heavy resumes.⁹ ¹⁴
Available on: Google Fonts, desktop install

20. Source Code Pro
Clean monospaced font favored in developer and data-science resumes.⁹ ¹⁴
Available on: Google Fonts, desktop install

Honorable Mentions

These fonts are less common on resumes but can work well in the right context.¹²–¹⁴

• Lora – Elegant serif; pairs well with clean sans-serif body fonts

• Josefin Sans – Best reserved for headings

• Raleway – Modern and thin; avoid small sizes

• Aptos – Microsoft’s newer default, positioned as a modern Calibri alternative

What the evidence actually shows

Multiple ATS-testing platforms emphasize that font choice alone rarely causes rejection, but poor font selection can reduce parsing accuracy and readability.¹²–¹⁴

Enhancv’s multi-ATS testing found that modern fonts such as Montserrat, Lato, Rubik, and Arimo parse just as reliably as classic fonts when the resume structure is simple and text-based.¹²

MIT’s guidance stresses avoiding uncommon or heavily stylized fonts, as they may cause character substitution or dropped sections during ATS conversion.⁵

Resume font best practices for 2026

• Body text: 10–12 pt

• Headings: 14–16 pt

• One main font family

• Optional second font for headings only

• Avoid script, handwriting, or decorative fonts entirely

Final takeaway

The best resume font in 2026 is the one that:

• Reads effortlessly at a glance

• Parses cleanly through ATS software

• Looks professional on any device

For most candidates, Calibri or Arial remains the safest and most reliable choice.

Fonts don’t get you hired — but the wrong font can quietly work against you.

Sources & Evidence Table