What fonts can I use in my email signature

When sending emails from one email client to another, such as from Microsoft Outlook to Gmail, there are numerous variables that can affect how your email will appear to the recipient. One of the most significant factors is the font.

What fonts can I use in my email signature

With over a decade of experience designing HTML email signatures for brands like Universal Music, Keller Williams, and Seattle University, we understand the challenges of ensuring consistent, professional email rendering across platforms. One of the most significant factors in maintaining a uniform appearance is font choice. If an email client doesn’t support a chosen font, it can cause text to display incorrectly, disrupting branding and readability.

Why Email-Safe Fonts Matter

Email-safe fonts are pre-installed on most devices and operating systems, ensuring consistency across email clients. These include:

  • Arial
  • Tahoma
  • Verdana
  • Trebuchet
  • Courier
  • Lucida
  • Times New Roman
  • Georgia
  • Palatino
  • Impact (Windows 10)
  • Arial Black (Windows 10)

Using these fonts prevents rendering issues that arise when email clients lack support for web fonts. Designmodo’s "Email Signature Design Guide" reinforces this by recommending the use of "safe fonts" that are supported across most email clients to ensure consistent rendering.

Outlook and Gmail: The Biggest Limitations

Outlook and Gmail mobile apps are particularly restrictive when it comes to web fonts:

  • Outlook: Uses Microsoft Word’s rendering engine, which does not support web fonts and has limited CSS capabilities.
  • Gmail Mobile Apps: Do not support web fonts, defaulting to system fonts, which can affect layout and branding.
Top 3 Email Client Market Share - Updated: November 2024

With Outlook's market share sitting at around 4%, and Apple Mail (~54%) and Gmail (~30%) taking the lion's share, the decision of whether to cater to Outlook’s limitations is yours. However, given the wide reach of Gmail (across both desktop and mobile) and the consistent behavior of email-safe fonts, it's often safer and more practical to stick with system fonts to ensure compatibility and avoid rendering issues.

Email-safe font email signature examples without fallback fonts

Not all is lost, check out these awesomely designed professional HTML email signature examples, made by Email Signature Rescue that include only email-safe fonts. Not bad hey! And you don't have to worry about them changing appearance on the receiver's end.

email safe font email signature example 1

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The Limitations of Web Fonts in Email Signatures

Web fonts, such as Google Fonts, are designed for websites, not emails. They require external hosting, which many email clients block for security reasons. Here’s why relying on web fonts in email signatures is problematic:

  1. Limited Email Client Support: Major clients like Outlook (all versions), Gmail (mobile apps), Yahoo Mail, and older platforms do not support web fonts. Unsupported fonts default to system fonts, potentially altering the signature’s layout and appearance. Forbes, in "How To Change An Email Signature In Outlook," highlights that using standard fonts like Arial, Verdana, and Times New Roman ensures a professional appearance across all email clients.
  2. Fallback Font Issues: Even if a web font is specified, unsupported clients will substitute a default font, often disrupting formatting due to differences in letter spacing, line height, and font size.
  3. Blocked External Content: Many email clients block externally hosted fonts, preventing them from rendering.
  4. Rendering Inconsistencies: Even when supported, web fonts may appear differently across devices, browsers, and email clients, leading to unpredictable results.
  5. Increased Load Times: Web fonts add file size to emails, which can slow load times, especially on mobile devices.
  6. Security and Privacy Concerns: Some email clients restrict web fonts to protect against security threats, such as phishing attempts using external content.

Alternatives to Web Fonts

To maintain a professional, brand-consistent email signature, we recommend:

  • Email-Safe Fonts: Stick to universally supported fonts to ensure predictable rendering. Designmodo also advises against using multiple fonts within a signature block, recommending instead that designers vary weight, style, and size within a single font family to create hierarchy and emphasis.
  • Images for Branding Elements: Company logos or specific typography can be included as optimized images, but text-based elements should remain selectable for accessibility and readability.
  • Consistent Layout Testing: Use tools like Litmus or Email on Acid to preview how email signatures render across different clients and devices.
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Handling Client Requests for Custom Fonts

If a client insists on using a specific font, explain the risks and suggest:

  • Using the font sparingly in an image (e.g., for a company name) while keeping the rest of the signature in email-safe fonts.
  • Providing a fallback option to minimize disruption in unsupported clients.

Web fonts may be ideal for websites, but they introduce significant challenges in email signatures. For maximum reliability and consistency across all devices and email clients, we recommend sticking with email-safe fonts. Smashing Magazine’s "The Art And Science Of The Email Signature" further supports this, emphasizing the importance of simplicity, black standard-sized fonts, and inline HTML formatting to ensure universal acceptance. Our expertise in email signature design ensures that your brand’s digital communications remain polished and professional, no matter where they are received.

Amy Lockwood is the Co-Founder of Email Signature Rescue with over a decade of experience in HTML email signatures for 60+ email clients, apps and CRM software including Outlook, Gmail, Apple Mail. She is the Head Designer of the Email Signature Rescue apps and website.

📩 Need help with your HTML email signatures? Contact Amy at emailsignaturerescue.com.

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