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CSS fonts should be based on a generic font family to ensure an appropriate style font is rendered in any circumstances. Preferred font names should be declared in order of preference in a comma separated font family list tailored for specific platforms. The font sampler helps you pick the right font

Sans serif fonts have a very regular, often geometrical shape without any serifs on the end of the letter strokes. Sans serif font faces are generally considered to have a simple, clean, modern font style that is reliable for the Web. Use the CSS font family name sans-serif.

The most common sans serif fonts

Key sans serif fonts common to all systems include Microsoft Arial, Arial Black, Trebuchet MS and Verdana, although their frequency on Unix family systems is quite low.

Helvetica is very common on Mac and Unix systems but not on Windows, where Arial is the closest equivalent. Avant Garde for Mac and Avantgarde for Unix are variants of the same font, not usually present on Windows. In this case, the closest match would be Century Gothic.

Lucida Grande for Mac, Lucida Sans Unicode for Windows and Lucida for Unix family systems are quite similar, though not particularly common.

Most common sans serif fonts on Windows systems to 29 June 2008
Font name Installed (%) Sample Image
Microsoft Sans Serif 99.55% 99.55% Text Image
Arial Black 97.88% 97.88% Text Image
Verdana 97.33% 97.33% Text Image
Franklin Gothic Medium 97.22% 97.22% Text Image
Arial 96.82% 96.82% Text Image
Tahoma 96.35% 96.35% Text Image
Trebuchet MS 95.61% 95.61% Text Image
Lucida Sans Unicode 93.80% 93.80% Text Image
Arial Narrow 87.49% 87.49% Text Image
Century Gothic 85.76% 85.76% Text Image
Kartika 82.18% 82.18% Text
Vrinda 82.18% 82.18% Text
Lucida Sans 79.93% 79.93% Text Image
MS Reference Sans Serif 67.82% 67.82% Text
Franklin Gothic Book 57.91% 57.91% Text Image
Franklin Gothic Medium Cond 57.57% 57.57% Text Image
Franklin Gothic Demi 57.35% 57.35% Text Image
Eras Demi ITC 57.24% 57.24% Text Image
Eras Light ITC 57.24% 57.24% Text Image
Franklin Gothic Demi Cond 55.01% 55.01% Text Image
Franklin Gothic Heavy 54.90% 54.90% Text Image
Arial Unicode MS 50.37% 50.37% Text Image
Gill Sans Ultra Bold 48.78% 48.78% Text
Gill Sans MT 48.44% 48.44% Text
Gill Sans MT Condensed 48.00% 48.00% Text
Eras Bold ITC 47.77% 47.77% Text
Eras Medium ITC 47.66% 47.66% Text
Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold 47.44% 47.44% Text
Gill Sans Ultra Bold Condensed 47.10% 47.10% Text
Tw Cen MT 47.10% 47.10% Text
Tw Cen MT Condensed 47.10% 47.10% Text
Tw Cen MT Condensed Extra Bold 46.88% 46.88% Text
Arial Rounded MT Bold 46.80% 46.80% Text Image
Berlin Sans FB 43.76% 43.76% Text
Berlin Sans FB Demi 43.10% 43.10% Text
Calibri 40.08% 40.08% Text Image
Candara 39.18% 39.18% Text Image
Corbel 39.08% 39.08% Text Image
Segoe UI 32.87% 32.87% Text Image
Bitstream Vera Sans 26.39% 26.39% Text
Eurostile 21.49% 21.49% Text
Abadi MT Condensed Light 13.97% 13.97% Text Image
Helvetica 7.02% 7.02% Text
Verdana Ref 6.19% 6.19% Text
Univers 6.12% 6.12% Text
Kabel Ult BT 5.73% 5.73% Text
Abadi MT Condensed Extra Bold 4.58% 4.58% Text
Helvetica Narrow 4.57% 4.57% Text
News Gothic MT 3.90% 3.90% Text Image
Abadi MT Condensed 3.78% 3.78% Text
Optima 2.90% 2.90% Text
Gill Sans 2.12% 2.12% Text
Chicago 1.89% 1.89% Text
Geneva 1.56% 1.56% Text
Helvetica Neue 1.34% 1.34% Text
Futura 1.22% 1.22% Text
FIRSTHOME 0.80% 0.80% Text
04b_21 0.69% 0.69% Text
Gadget 0.22% 0.22% Text
Most common sans serif fonts on Mac systems to 29 June 2008
Font name Installed (%) Sample Image
Arial 96.43% 96.43% Text Image
Arial Black 96.28% 96.28% Text Image
Helvetica 96.12% 96.12% Text Image
Verdana 94.26% 94.26% Text Image
Trebuchet MS 92.87% 92.87% Text Image
Helvetica Neue 92.65% 92.65% Text Image
Gill Sans 91.91% 91.91% Text Image
Geneva 91.78% 91.78% Text Image
Arial Narrow 91.16% 91.16% Text Image
Lucida Sans 90.63% 90.63% Text
Skia 90.39% 90.39% Text Image
Futura 89.61% 89.61% Text Image
Lucida Grande 88.99% 88.99% Text Image
Arial Rounded MT Bold 88.22% 88.22% Text Image
Optima 87.91% 87.91% Text Image
Tahoma 72.40% 72.40% Text
Charcoal 60.00% 60.00% Text Image
Chicago 59.53% 59.53% Text Image
Gadget 56.74% 56.74% Text Image
Century Gothic 39.58% 39.58% Text
Bitstream Vera Sans 22.92% 22.92% Text
Techno 18.75% 18.75% Text Image
Univers 13.33% 13.33% Text
News Gothic MT 9.38% 9.38% Text
Abadi MT Condensed Light 7.29% 7.29% Text
Calibri 7.29% 7.29% Text
Candara 7.29% 7.29% Text
Corbel 7.29% 7.29% Text
Avant Garde 3.13% 3.13% Text
Most common sans serif fonts on Unix systems to 29 June 2008
Font name Installed (%) Sample Image
URW Gothic L 86.43% 86.43% Text Image
Bitstream Vera Sans 78.64% 78.64% Text Image
Nimbus Sans L 72.41% 72.41% Text
DejaVu Sans Condensed 68.42% 68.42% Text
Arial 62.24% 62.24% Text Image
DejaVu Sans 62.07% 62.07% Text
Helvetica 57.52% 57.52% Text Image
Verdana 53.98% 53.98% Text
Arial Black 53.39% 53.39% Text
MgOpen Cosmetica 52.63% 52.63% Text
MgOpen Modata 52.63% 52.63% Text
MgOpen Moderna 52.63% 52.63% Text
Trebuchet MS 49.85% 49.85% Text
Liberation Sans 42.11% 42.11% Text
Nimbus Sans L Condensed 36.84% 36.84% Text
Lucida 36.58% 36.58% Text Image
Luxi Sans 35.59% 35.59% Text Image
DejaVu Sans Extra Light 21.05% 21.05% Text
Vera Sans 10.53% 10.53% Text
Lucida Sans 5.26% 5.26% Text

Web font classification

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