Best Resume Fonts and Formatting for 2026
Font and formatting choices on a resume matter less for "looking professional" than for parsing cleanly through an ATS — and the safe zone is wider than most advice online suggests.
Safe fonts
Calibri, Arial, Georgia, Helvetica, Garamond, and — as used across most modern resume templates — clean sans-serifs generally parse and read fine. Avoid script or decorative fonts, and never embed text as an image.
Font size
10.5-12pt for body text, 14-16pt for your name/header. Smaller to fit more in risks readability; larger wastes space that could hold real content.
Single column beats multi-column
A single-column layout is read in the correct order by every ATS. Multi-column and sidebar layouts risk the parser merging unrelated sections into a scrambled block of text.
Margins and white space
0.5-1 inch margins keep the page from feeling cramped while maximizing usable space — don't shrink margins below 0.5 inch just to force more content onto one page; cut content instead.
Consistent bullet style and spacing
Pick one bullet character and one spacing pattern and apply it everywhere. Inconsistency here is a small thing that compounds into an impression of carelessness.
Color: use it sparingly, and never rely on it to convey meaning
A single accent color for your name or section dividers is fine and can help a resume stand out slightly without risk. Avoid using color alone to convey meaning (e.g., green text for 'completed' items) — some ATS parsers strip color entirely, and it doesn't translate when printed in black and white either.
Frequently asked questions
Does resume font choice affect ATS parsing?
Standard fonts (Calibri, Arial, Georgia, Helvetica) parse fine. What actually breaks parsing is decorative/script fonts or text embedded as an image, not font choice within the safe range.
Is a two-column resume bad for ATS?
It's risky — some ATS parsers read multi-column layouts out of order or merge unrelated sections, so single-column is the safer default.
Is it safe to use color on a resume?
A single accent color used sparingly (name, section dividers) is fine. Don't rely on color alone to convey meaning, since some ATS parsers strip it entirely and it won't show up if the resume is printed in black and white.