Web-safe Fonts vs Web fonts

Modified on Thu, 30 May at 12:10 PM

Web-safe fonts

Web safe fonts are typefaces that come pre-installed as default fonts on most computers and devices. Using web-safe fonts gives you the best chance of having your text appear as intended in your emails. 


Popular web-safe fonts:

  • Courier New (monospace)
  • Georgia (serif)
  • Impact (sans serif)
  • Trebuchet MS (sans serif)

Accessible web-safe fonts

  • Arial (sans serif)
  • Arial Black (sans serif)
  • Tahoma (sans serif)
  • Times New Roman (serif)
  • Verdana (sans serif)


Web fonts

Web fonts are not technically web-safe fonts because they do not come installed on most devices by default. For example: Ubuntu Condensed; as this font is only present on Ubuntu Linux. 


Web fonts only work in some email clients. Using Web fonts can cause a higher risk of emails not rendering exactly as planned. So it’s important to understand whether the font you want to use is email-supported. Check out the table below: 


Each email client also has a preferred or default font which recipients would see instead of your chosen web font. The three most popular desktop email clients have the following defaults:

  • Apple Mail = Helvetica
  • Gmail = Arial
  • Microsoft Outlook = Calibri


Still need help?

Contact us at support@audiencerepublic.com 


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