Email-Safe Font Checker
Will your font render in Outlook? Type a font name and see exactly which email clients support it - and get a copy-paste-ready CSS fallback stack so design degrades gracefully where webfonts don't load.
Per-client support matrix
| Client | Status | What happens |
|---|
How to read the results
- ● Renders - the client will display the requested font.
- ● Falls back - the requested font isn't supported, so the client will use the next font in your CSS stack. As long as you ship a stack ending in a web-safe font, this is fine.
- ● Broken - rare, would mean no fallback at all. If you see this, fix your CSS stack.
Why this tool exists
Email font rendering is split: half the clients support @font-face webfonts (Apple Mail, Outlook on Mac, Outlook on the web, mobile Outlook), half don't (Outlook desktop on Windows, Gmail, Yahoo, AOL). For any font that isn't pre-installed on every device, you have to design your fallback chain knowing that ~half of opens will land on the fallback. This tool tells you exactly which clients fall back so you can choose a font with a sympathetic web-safe sibling - Inter pairs with Helvetica, Merriweather pairs with Georgia, Roboto pairs with Helvetica.
FAQ
Why do fonts break in Outlook?
Outlook 2007 through 2019 (and 365 on Windows) use Microsoft Word's HTML rendering engine, which strips @font-face declarations. So if your email loads Roboto via Google Fonts, Outlook for Windows ignores the rule and falls back to whatever's next in your font-family stack. The fix is to always provide a fallback stack ending in a web-safe font (Arial, Helvetica, Georgia, etc.). Outlook for Mac uses WebKit and renders @font-face fine.
What are web-safe fonts for email?
Fonts pre-installed on essentially every operating system: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Tahoma, Trebuchet MS, Times New Roman, Times, Georgia, Palatino, Garamond, Courier New, Arial Black, Impact, and Comic Sans MS. Pick from this list as your fallback for any custom font.
Can I use Google Fonts in email?
Yes, but only some clients render them. Google Fonts work in Apple Mail (iOS + macOS), Outlook on Mac, Outlook for iOS/Android (mobile WebView), and Outlook on the web. They do NOT work in Outlook desktop on Windows, Gmail (desktop or mobile), Yahoo Mail, or AOL. So always supply a web-safe fallback like 'Roboto', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif.
How does font fallback work?
When a CSS font-family declaration lists multiple fonts (e.g. font-family: 'Roboto', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif), the rendering engine tries each one in order and uses the first one available. The final generic family (sans-serif, serif, monospace) is the absolute fallback to a system default.
Should I use system-ui or -apple-system?
These keywords resolve to the OS default UI font - San Francisco on Apple, Segoe UI on Windows, Roboto on Android. They give you a 'native' look without an @font-face download. Email-client support is good in Apple Mail and most mobile clients but inconsistent in Outlook. Use them as part of a stack, not standalone.
What about Outlook on the web vs Outlook desktop?
Outlook on the web is a modern WebView and renders @font-face. Outlook desktop on Windows uses Word and does not. Same brand, same logo, opposite font support. Always test both.
Why does Comic Sans MS render but Roboto doesn't, in Outlook?
Comic Sans MS is pre-installed on Windows. Outlook (Word engine) finds it locally and renders it. Roboto isn't pre-installed and Outlook strips @font-face, so it can't fetch it - falls back to your stack. The lesson: "web-safe" has nothing to do with the font being safe to use design-wise; it just means the font is on every machine, so no download is needed.
Is the data here from caniemail?
Yes. The @font-face support matrix is a snapshot from caniemail.com (CC BY 4.0, snapshot 2026-04). The web-safe font list is the well-known cross-platform set used by Microsoft, Apple, and Google's email-design guides.
Build the email this font goes into
MiN8T's editor lets you set a font with one click and exports clean HTML to any ESP - with the proper fallback stack baked in.
Open MiN8T Editor →