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How sure can you be that the font you specify will be present on the end user's machine? This is the latest snapshot of the Code Style Windows font survey and should give you greater confidence in selecting a font.

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The most common Windows fonts

The most common reported font on the Windows platform is the system interface font Tahoma, reported in practically 100% of submissions with Microsoft Sans Serif. Mathew Carter's sans serif Verdana is in third position, followed by the classic typewriter font Courier New. Sans serif font Microsoft Arial completes the top 5 most common Windows fonts, all greater than 99% frequency.

The new Web safe fonts

Several font families not commonly recognised as Web safe fonts are reported with more than 97% frequency on Windows systems: monospace Lucida Console, heavy sans serif Arial Black, sans serif Lucida Sans Unicode, serif Palatino Linotype and sans serif Franklin Gothic Medium.

Most common fonts on Windows systems to 6 March 2010
Font name Installed (%) Sample Image
Tahoma 99.71% 99.71% Sample Image
Microsoft Sans Serif 99.70% 99.70% Sample Image
Verdana 99.61% 99.61% Sample Image
Courier New 99.56% 99.56% Sample Image
Trebuchet MS 99.27% 99.27% Sample Image
Arial 99.22% 99.22% Sample Image
Lucida Console 99.12% 99.12% Sample Image
Comic Sans MS 99.07% 99.07% Sample Image
Times New Roman 99.07% 99.07% Sample Image
Impact 98.83% 98.83% Sample Image
Georgia 98.68% 98.68% Sample Image
Arial Black 98.54% 98.54% Sample Image
Lucida Sans Unicode 98.49% 98.49% Sample Image
Palatino Linotype 98.39% 98.39% Sample Image
Franklin Gothic Medium 97.91% 97.91% Sample Image
Sylfaen 95.62% 95.62% Sample Image
Arial Narrow 88.73% 88.73% Sample Image
Century Gothic 87.90% 87.90% Sample Image
Vrinda 86.81% 86.81% Sample Image
Kartika 86.61% 86.61% Sample Image
Garamond 86.15% 86.15% Sample Image
Book Antiqua 85.95% 85.95% Sample Image
Bookman Old Style 85.56% 85.56% Sample Image
Monotype Corsiva 82.15% 82.15% Sample Image
MS Reference Sans Serif 70.78% 70.78% Sample Image
Haettenschweiler 67.41% 67.41% Sample Image
Arial Unicode MS 63.07% 63.07% Sample Image
Papyrus 62.97% 62.97% Sample Image
Bradley Hand ITC 62.82% 62.82% Sample Image
Tempus Sans ITC 62.32% 62.32% Sample Image
French Script MT 62.17% 62.17% Sample Image
Copperplate Gothic Bold 60.83% 60.83% Sample Image
Copperplate Gothic Light 60.83% 60.83% Sample Image
Kristen ITC 60.83% 60.83% Sample Image
Mistral 60.83% 60.83% Sample Image
Franklin Gothic Book 60.63% 60.63% Sample Image
Perpetua 60.58% 60.58% Sample Image
Curlz MT 60.18% 60.18% Sample Image
Felix Titling 60.18% 60.18% Sample Image
Franklin Gothic Medium Cond 60.18% 60.18% Sample Image
Edwardian Script ITC 60.13% 60.13% Sample Image
Maiandra GD 60.13% 60.13% Sample Image
Franklin Gothic Demi 60.03% 60.03% Sample Image
Eras Demi ITC 59.98% 59.98% Sample Image
Engravers MT 59.88% 59.88% Sample Image
Rockwell Extra Bold 59.83% 59.83% Sample Image
Eras Light ITC 59.78% 59.78% Sample Image
Juice ITC 59.68% 59.68% Sample  
Blackadder ITC 59.33% 59.33% Sample Image
Rockwell 59.18% 59.18% Sample Image
OCR A Extended 58.88% 58.88% Sample Image
Franklin Gothic Demi Cond 58.49% 58.49% Sample Image
Franklin Gothic Heavy 58.49% 58.49% Sample Image
Vivaldi 58.04% 58.04% Sample Image
Calibri 57.22% 57.22% Sample Image
Jokerman 57.09% 57.09% Sample  
Cambria 57.02% 57.02% Sample Image
Pristina 56.94% 56.94% Sample  
Consolas 56.93% 56.93% Sample Image
Candara 56.78% 56.78% Sample Image
Corbel 56.78% 56.78% Sample Image
Constantia 56.44% 56.44% Sample Image
Freestyle Script 55.15% 55.15% Sample  
Lucida Handwriting 54.29% 54.29% Sample Image
Arial Rounded MT Bold 53.32% 53.32% Sample Image
Lucida Sans 52.93% 52.93% Sample Image
Calisto MT 52.71% 52.71% Sample Image
Script MT Bold 52.66% 52.66% Sample  
Century Schoolbook 52.20% 52.20% Sample Image
Imprint MT Shadow 52.17% 52.17% Sample  
Gill Sans Ultra Bold 51.97% 51.97% Sample  
Gill Sans MT 51.82% 51.82% Sample  
Goudy Old Style 51.80% 51.80% Sample Image
Palace Script MT 51.72% 51.72% Sample  
Goudy Stout 51.57% 51.57% Sample  
Gill Sans MT Condensed 51.42% 51.42% Sample  
Castellar 51.27% 51.27% Sample  
Rage Italic 51.02% 51.02% Sample  
Agency FB 50.97% 50.97% Sample  
Forte 50.92% 50.92% Sample  
Perpetua Titling MT 50.87% 50.87% Sample  
Eras Medium ITC 50.82% 50.82% Sample  
Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold 50.82% 50.82% Sample  
Eras Bold ITC 50.67% 50.67% Sample  
Gigi 50.67% 50.67% Sample  
Rockwell Condensed 50.67% 50.67% Sample  
Gill Sans Ultra Bold Condensed 50.62% 50.62% Sample  
Lucida Calligraphy 50.62% 50.62% Sample  
Viner Hand ITC 50.62% 50.62% Sample  
Tw Cen MT Condensed 50.32% 50.32% Sample  
Cooper Black 50.27% 50.27% Sample  
Tw Cen MT 50.27% 50.27% Sample  
Wide Latin 50.27% 50.27% Sample Image
Gloucester MT Extra Condensed 50.17% 50.17% Sample  
Tw Cen MT Condensed Extra Bold 50.07% 50.07% Sample  
Broadway 50.02% 50.02% Sample  
Britannic Bold 49.98% 49.98% Sample Image
Snap ITC 49.88% 49.88% Sample  
Playbill 49.83% 49.83% Sample Image
Algerian 49.78% 49.78% Sample Image
Brush Script MT 49.78% 49.78% Sample Image
Harrington 49.78% 49.78% Sample  
Onyx 49.78% 49.78% Sample  
Bauhaus 93 49.58% 49.58% Sample  
Matura MT Script Capitals 49.58% 49.58% Sample Image
Baskerville Old Face 49.53% 49.53% Sample  
Old English Text MT 49.53% 49.53% Sample  
Chiller 49.48% 49.48% Sample  
Bernard MT Condensed 49.38% 49.38% Sample  
Vladimir Script 49.28% 49.28% Sample  
Harlow Solid Italic 49.23% 49.23% Sample  
Informal Roman 49.13% 49.13% Sample  
Footlight MT Light 49.03% 49.03% Sample Image
Kunstler Script 49.03% 49.03% Sample  
Stencil 49.03% 49.03% Sample  
Bell MT 48.73% 48.73% Sample  
Colonna MT 48.43% 48.43% Sample Image
Centaur 48.18% 48.18% Sample  
Bodoni MT Condensed 48.03% 48.03% Sample  
Californian FB 48.03% 48.03% Sample  
High Tower Text 48.03% 48.03% Sample  
Showcard Gothic 48.03% 48.03% Sample  
Bodoni MT 47.98% 47.98% Sample  
Bodoni MT Black 47.98% 47.98% Sample  
Ravie 47.88% 47.88% Sample  
Berlin Sans FB 47.83% 47.83% Sample  
Niagara Engraved 47.69% 47.69% Sample  
Segoe UI 47.66% 47.66% Sample Image
Niagara Solid 47.64% 47.64% Sample  
Berlin Sans FB Demi 46.94% 46.94% Sample  
Magneto 46.79% 46.79% Sample  
Lucida Fax 46.44% 46.44% Sample  
Bodoni MT Poster Compressed 45.64% 45.64% Sample  
Lucida Bright 36.24% 36.24% Sample  
Lucida Sans Typewriter 36.10% 36.10% Sample Image
Bitstream Vera Sans Mono 26.13% 26.13% Sample  
Eurostile 21.40% 21.40% Sample  
Bitstream Vera Sans 21.06% 21.06% Sample  
Bitstream Vera Serif 20.81% 20.81% Sample  
Matisse ITC 20.76% 20.76% Sample  
Staccato222 BT 13.26% 13.26% Sample  
Baby Kruffy 10.40% 10.40% Sample  
Broadway BT 9.83% 9.83% Sample  
Alba Super 9.41% 9.41% Sample  
Alba 9.36% 9.36% Sample  
Calligraph421 BT 9.12% 9.12% Sample  
Alba Matter 9.11% 9.11% Sample  
Square721 BT 8.97% 8.97% Sample  
ParkAvenue BT 8.87% 8.87% Sample  
Frosty 8.71% 8.71% Sample  
MisterEarl BT 8.71% 8.71% Sample  
Cataneo BT 8.57% 8.57% Sample  
Chick 8.56% 8.56% Sample  
Weltron Urban 8.46% 8.46% Sample  
Blackletter686 BT 8.27% 8.27% Sample  
Croobie 8.16% 8.16% Sample  
Freshbot 8.11% 8.11% Sample  
Jenkins v2.0 8.06% 8.06% Sample  
Pussycat 8.01% 8.01% Sample  
GlooGun 7.96% 7.96% Sample  
Fat 7.91% 7.91% Sample  
Jokewood 7.81% 7.81% Sample  
Poornut 7.62% 7.62% Sample  
John Handy LET 7.61% 7.61% Sample  
Scruff LET 7.56% 7.56% Sample  
Westwood LET 7.56% 7.56% Sample  
La Bamba LET 7.51% 7.51% Sample  
Rage Italic LET 7.51% 7.51% Sample  
Ruach LET 7.51% 7.51% Sample  
Milano LET 7.31% 7.31% Sample  
Helvetica 7.07% 7.07% Sample  
One Stroke Script LET 7.06% 7.06% Sample  
Mekanik LET 7.01% 7.01% Sample  
OldDreadfulNo7 BT 7.01% 7.01% Sample  
Highlight LET 6.96% 6.96% Sample  
Tiranti Solid LET 6.96% 6.96% Sample  
Pump Demi Bold LET 6.91% 6.91% Sample  
Jokerman LET 6.85% 6.85% Sample  
Smudger LET 6.85% 6.85% Sample  
Orange LET 6.80% 6.80% Sample  
University Roman LET 6.80% 6.80% Sample  
Quixley LET 6.75% 6.75% Sample  
Victorian LET 6.70% 6.70% Sample  
Academy Engraved LET 6.65% 6.65% Sample  
Odessa LET 6.60% 6.60% Sample  
Univers 6.07% 6.07% Sample  
Verdana Ref 5.85% 5.85% Sample  
Kabel Ult BT 5.80% 5.80% Sample  
Abadi MT Condensed Light 5.76% 5.76% Sample Image
Helvetica Narrow 4.78% 4.78% Sample  
Times 4.58% 4.58% Sample  
Beesknees ITC 4.49% 4.49% Sample  
Braggadocio 4.44% 4.44% Sample Image
Palatino 4.28% 4.28% Sample  
Kino MT 4.13% 4.13% Sample Image
Andale Mono IPA 4.03% 4.03% Sample  
New Century Schoolbook 4.03% 4.03% Sample  
Abadi MT Condensed Extra Bold 3.93% 3.93% Sample  
Georgia Ref 3.93% 3.93% Sample  
News Gothic MT 3.93% 3.93% Sample Image
MS Reference Serif 3.88% 3.88% Sample  
Andale Mono 3.63% 3.63% Sample Image
Pepita MT 3.38% 3.38% Sample  
Andy 3.33% 3.33% Sample  
Placard Condensed 3.33% 3.33% Sample  
OCRB 3.28% 3.28% Sample  
Abadi MT Condensed 3.18% 3.18% Sample  
GENUINE 3.07% 3.07% Sample  
Desdemona 3.02% 3.02% Sample Image
Optima 2.94% 2.94% Sample  
Monaco 2.74% 2.74% Sample  
Bickley Script 2.67% 2.67% Sample  
Runic MT Condensed 2.62% 2.62% Sample  
DomBold BT 2.52% 2.52% Sample  
Gill Sans 2.44% 2.44% Sample  
Fine Hand 2.42% 2.42% Sample  
Chicago 2.14% 2.14% Sample  
Base 02 2.12% 2.12% Sample  
Geneva 2.04% 2.04% Sample  
CAMPBELL 1.81% 1.81% Sample  
Mercurius Script MT Bold 1.81% 1.81% Sample  
A Charming Font 1.71% 1.71% Sample  
MARKETPRO 1.66% 1.66% Sample  
Apple Chancery 1.59% 1.59% Sample  
New York 1.59% 1.59% Sample  
Helvetica Neue 1.44% 1.44% Sample  
BudHand 1.36% 1.36% Sample  
Futura 1.34% 1.34% Sample  
Hoefler Text 1.10% 1.10% Sample  
Monotype.com 1.05% 1.05% Sample Image
Mead Bold 1.01% 1.01% Sample  
Terminal 0.98% 0.98% Sample Image
FIRSTHOME 0.91% 0.91% Sample  
Champignon 0.60% 0.60% Sample  
04b_21 0.50% 0.50% Sample  
Minion Web 0.45% 0.45% Sample  
Gadget 0.15% 0.15% Sample  
Textile 0.05% 0.05% Sample  

Font survey statistics

These figures are the cumulative total of font survey submissions since January 2007. Older submissions are archived to maintain a 3 year rolling sample. The table shows the average submission rate and totals for each operating system, and the the date the applet-based survey was introduced.

Survey Windows Mac Linux
Submissions per week 11 2 2
Submission sample 2050 348 320
Survey applet from 21 April 2007 12 May 2007 21 February 2009
Fonts surveyed 281 117 102

Font stacks for print style sheets

Our main interest is to build reliable font stacks for screen rendering, but CSS allows us to specify a different font stack to print Web pages. The most reliable way to apply print media style sheets is to use the media attribute on the style sheet link element. The selectors you choose and font-family declarations you add to this style sheet will only apply when the page is printed. 

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
      href="/styles/print.css" media="print" />

What font combinations would you choose for print? Use the font stack builder to create a print font stack and submit your ideas.

CSS font family resources

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