Web/CSS/font-family

The font-family CSS property specifies a prioritized list of one or more font family names and/or generic family names for the selected element.

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Values are separated by commas to indicate that they are alternatives. The browser will select the first font in the list that is installed or that can be downloaded using a @font-face at-rule.

It is often convenient to use the shorthand property font to set font-size and other font related properties all at once.

You should always include at least one generic family name in a font-family list, since there's no guarantee that any given font is available. This lets the browser select an acceptable fallback font when necessary.

The font-family property specifies a list of fonts, from highest priority to lowest. Font selection does not simply stop at the first font in the list that is on the user's system. Rather, font selection is done one character at a time, so that if an available font does not have a glyph for a needed character, the latter fonts are tried. (However, this doesn't work in Internet Explorer 6 or earlier.) When a font is only available in some styles, variants, or sizes, those properties may also influence which font family is chosen.

Syntax

/* A font family name and a generic family name */
font-family: Gill Sans Extrabold, sans-serif;
font-family: "Goudy Bookletter 1911", sans-serif;

/* A generic family name only */
font-family: serif;
font-family: sans-serif;
font-family: monospace;
font-family: cursive;
font-family: fantasy;
font-family: system-ui;
font-family: ui-serif; 
font-family: ui-sans-serif; 
font-family: ui-monospace; 
font-family: ui-rounded; 
font-family: emoji;
font-family: math;
font-family: fangsong;

/* Global values */
font-family: inherit;
font-family: initial;
font-family: unset;

The font-family property lists one or more font families, separated by commas. Each font family is specified as either a <family-name> or a <generic-name> value.

The example below lists two font families, the first with a <family-name> and the second with a <generic-name>:

font-family: Gill Sans Extrabold, sans-serif;

Values

<span id="<family-name>"><family-name>: The name of a font family. For example, "Times" and "Helvetica" are font families. Font family names containing whitespace should be quoted.
<span id="<generic-name>"><generic-name>: Generic font families are a fallback mechanism, a means of preserving some of the style sheet author's intent when none of the specified fonts are available. Generic family names are keywords and must not be quoted. A generic font family should be the last item in the list of font family names. The following keywords are defined:

serif Glyphs have finishing strokes, flared or tapering ends, or have actual serifed endings. E.g. Lucida Bright, Lucida Fax, Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Palladio, "URW Palladio", serif. sans-serif Glyphs have stroke endings that are plain. E.g. "Open Sans", "Fira Sans", "Lucida Sans", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Trebuchet MS", "Liberation Sans", "Nimbus Sans L", sans-serif. monospace All glyphs have the same fixed width. E.g. "Fira Mono", "DejaVu Sans Mono", Menlo, Consolas, "Liberation Mono", Monaco, "Lucida Console", monospace. cursive Glyphs in cursive fonts generally have either joining strokes or other cursive characteristics beyond those of italic typefaces. The glyphs are partially or completely connected, and the result looks more like handwritten pen or brush writing than printed letterwork. E.g. "Brush Script MT", "Brush Script Std", "Lucida Calligraphy", "Lucida Handwriting", "Apple Chancery", cursive. fantasy Fantasy fonts are primarily decorative fonts that contain playful representations of characters. E.g. Papyrus, Herculanum, Party LET, Curlz MT, Harrington, fantasy. system-ui Glyphs are taken from the default user interface font on a given platform. Because typographic traditions vary widely across the world, this generic is provided for typefaces that don't map cleanly into the other generics. This is example system-ui text. ui-serif The default user interface serif font. This is example ui-serif text. ui-sans-serif The default user interface sans-serif font. This is example ui-sans-serif text. ui-monospace The default user interface monospace font. This is example ui-monospace text. ui-rounded The default user interface font that has rounded features. This is example ui-rounded text. math This is for the particular stylistic concerns of representing mathematics: superscript and subscript, brackets that cross several lines, nesting expressions, and double struck glyphs with distinct meanings. This is some example math text: ax² + bx + c = 0. emoji Fonts that are specifically designed to render emoji. This is some example emoji text: ✝♾. fangsong A particular style of Chinese characters that are between serif-style Song and cursive-style Kai forms. This style is often used for government documents. This is some example fangsong text with the Chinese characters for "fangsong" in traditional and simple forms, respectively: 仿宋體仿宋体.

Valid family names

Font family names must either be given quoted as strings, or unquoted as a sequence of one or more identifiers. This means that punctuation characters and digits at the start of each token must be escaped in unquoted font family names.

For example, the following declarations are valid:

font-family: Gill Sans Extrabold, sans-serif;
font-family: "Goudy Bookletter 1911", sans-serif;

The following declarations are invalid:

font-family: Goudy Bookletter 1911, sans-serif;
font-family: Red/Black, sans-serif;
font-family: "Lucida" Grande, sans-serif;
font-family: Ahem!, sans-serif;
font-family: test@foo, sans-serif;
font-family: #POUND, sans-serif;
font-family: Hawaii 5-0, sans-serif;

Formal definition

Initial value	depends on user agent
Applies to	all elements. It also applies to `::first-letter` and `::first-line`.
Inherited	yes
Computed value	as specified
Animation type	discrete

Formal syntax

[ <family-name> | <generic-family> ]#where <family-name> = <string> | <custom-ident>+<generic-family> = serif | sans-serif | cursive | fantasy | monospace

Examples

Some common font families

.serif {
  font-family: Times, Times New Roman, Georgia, serif;
}

.sansserif {
  font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
}

.monospace {
  font-family: Lucida Console, Courier, monospace;
}

.cursive {
  font-family: cursive;
}

.fantasy {
  font-family: fantasy;
}

.emoji {
  font-family: emoji;
}

.math {
  font-family: math;
}

.fangsong {
  font-family: fangsong;
}

<div class="serif">
  This is an example of a serif font.
</div>

<div class="sansserif">
  This is an example of a sans-serif font.
</div>

<div class="monospace">
  This is an example of a monospace font.
</div>

<div class="cursive">
  This is an example of a cursive font.
</div>

<div class="fantasy">
  This is an example of a fantasy font.
</div>

<div class="math">
  This is an example of a math font.
</div>

<div class="emoji">
  This is an example of an emoji font.
</div>

<div class="fangsong">
  This is an example of a fangsong font.
</div>

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
CSS Fonts Module Level 4The definition of 'generic font families' in that specification.	Working Draft	Adds new generic font families, specifically: `system-ui`, `ui-serif`, `ui-sans-serif`, `ui-monospace`, `ui-rounded`, `emoji`, `math`, and `fangsong`.
CSS Fonts Module Level 3The definition of 'font-family' in that specification.	Candidate Recommendation	No significant change
CSS Level 2 (Revision 1)The definition of 'font-family' in that specification.	Recommendation	No significant change
CSS Level 1The definition of 'font-family' in that specification.	Recommendation	Initial definition

Browser compatibility

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
`font-family`	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1 Notes' Full support 1 Notes' Notes' Not supported on `option` elements. See bug 1536148.	IE Full support 3	Opera Full support 3.5	Safari Full support 1	WebView Android Full support 1	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support 10.1	Safari iOS Full support 1	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
`system-ui`	Chrome Full support 56	Edge Full support 79	Firefox No support No No support No Full support 43 Notes' Alternate Name' Notes' Supported on macOS only. Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: `-apple-system`	IE No support No	Opera Full support 43	Safari Full support 9 Notes' Alternate Name' Full support 9 Notes' Alternate Name' Notes' Supported since macOS 10.11. Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: `-apple-system`	WebView Android Full support 56	Chrome Android Full support 56	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android Full support 43	Safari iOS Full support 9 Alternate Name' Full support 9 Alternate Name' Alternate Name' Uses the non-standard name: `-apple-system`	Samsung Internet Android Full support 6.0

Legend

Full support: Full support
No support: No support
See implementation notes.': See implementation notes.
Uses a non-standard name.': Uses a non-standard name.

font-family by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.