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Email-safe and web-safe font selections in emails

Article: 000005877
Updated: February 6, 2024

Ensure your email displays consistently for your audience by choosing an email or web-safe font

When your readers view your email on their computer or mobile device, their web browser and email client are reading code that tells them which font to display. If the font used in your email isn't available, the browser or email client, and sometimes even the computer or mobile device, substitute it for a font that is available, which can make your email design look different than you intended it to.

 
Megaphone iconBe a better marketer: For best results and to avoid spam filters, don't use more than two different fonts in your email. It's okay if you use more than one size of the same font. Learn even more about choosing the right fonts for your email.
 

Email-safe fonts, web-safe fonts, and web fonts

Email-safe fonts have the highest likelihood of being installed on the broadest array of computers and devices, and of being recognized by browsers and email clients. Using them in your emails means that your email font is less likely to be altered. The following fonts are found at the top of the font drop-down menu in the TEXT toolbar and are both email-safe and web-safe:

  • Arial
  • Courier New
  • Georgia
  • Lucida Sans Unicode
  • Tahoma
  • Times New Roman
  • Trebuchet MS
  • Verdana
 

Web-safe fonts are also commonly recognized by most web browsers and email clients, but there's a slightly greater chance that your font can be altered because it isn't supported or installed on a computer or mobile device. The following fonts are found in the "OTHER" section of the font drop-down menu in the TEXT toolbar and are web-safe:

  • Arial Black
  • Arial MT Condensed Light
  • Arial Narrow
  • Book Antiqua
  • Calibri
  • Cambria
  • Candara
  • Century Gothic
  • Comic Sans MS
  • Consolas
  • Constantia
  • Corbel
  • Franklin Gothic Medium
  • French Script MT
  • Garamond
  • Haettenschweiler
  • Helvetica
  • Impact
  • Lucida Console
  • Lucida Grande
  • Palatino Linotype
  • Papyrus
  • Segoe Print
  • Segoe UI
  • Sylfaen
  • Terminal
 

Unlike email-safe and web-safe fonts, web fonts aren't installed on a computer or device, and are instead embedded into the web browser. The following web fonts are found in the "WEB" section of the font drop-down menu in the TEXT toolbar and are web-safe:

  • Amatic SC
  • Bitter
  • Dancing Script
  • Lato
  • Libre Baskerville
  • Lobster Two
  • Merriweather
  • Open Sans
  • Raleway
  • Roboto
  • Thasadith
 
Light Bulb IconDesign tip: If there's an email-safe font that is similar to another font you want to use, it's best to go with the email-safe version. For example, Georgia or Times New Roman can be used in place of Palatino Linotype, Arial can replace Calibri, and Tahoma is a good substitute for Helvetica.
 


Email clients that recognize email and web-safe fonts

The best way to ensure your selected font will be used is to test, test, test! Create different email accounts with the most popular email clients so you can send test emails, and then compare how they display in each. Don't forget to view your email on both desktop and mobile, too.

The following email clients offer full support for the above email and web-safe fonts and are among the top 10 most popular email clients used:

  • Apple Mail
  • iOS Mail
  • Google Android
  • Samsung Mail
  • Outlook for Mac
  • Outlook App
 

Recognizing email and web-safe fonts while editing your email

Our email editor makes it easy to tell which font options are email and web-safe. When you click the Font drop-down menu or use the global font options on the Design tab, the first section of fonts are email-safe. The fonts in the "WEB" and "OTHER" sections are considered web-safe fonts.

Email editor with Design tab and font options, and Text toolbar with Font Style drop-down menu expanded
 

 
Light Bulb IconDesign tip: If you're savvy with HTML code and are looking for more control over the fonts in your email, try using our Custom Code editor.
 

Any links we provide from non-Constant Contact sites or information about non-Constant Contact products or services are provided as a courtesy and should not be construed as an endorsement by Constant Contact.


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