Live preview: Georgia font
Preview shown in Gelasio, a free open-source font similar to Georgia (SIL Open Font License). Georgia itself is not included here.
Gelasio: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789
The Georgia font is a warm, readable serif that was made to look good on computer screens. You find it on blogs, news sites, emails and long reports. If Times New Roman feels too small and tight to you, Georgia is often the answer.
Is Georgia a font you already have? Yes: Georgia comes with Windows and macOS. The preview above shows Gelasio, a free font with the same letter widths, and labels it clearly. Read on to learn how Georgia was made, where it works best and how to use it or its free twin.
Georgia Font Pairing: Fonts That Go Well with Georgia
Georgia works well for body text with a clean sans serif for headings, menus and buttons. These are safe pairing picks.
- Verdana๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ป๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ช
- Arial๐ธ๐ฃ๐๐๐
- Helvetica๐ท๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
- Open Sansแดผแตแตโฟ หขแตโฟหข
- Lato๐๐๐ญ๐จ
- Roboto๐ฑ๐๐ป๐๐๐
- Montserrat๐ ผ๐ พ๐ ฝ๐๐๐ ด๐๐๐ ฐ๐
- Interโ๐๐โฏ๐
How the Georgia Font Was Made
Georgia was designed by Matthew Carter for Microsoft in 1993. At that time, screens were low resolution, and most serif fonts looked blurry or broken at small sizes. Carter drew Georgia to fit the screen pixel grid first, then made sure it still looked good in print. He also designed Verdana, its sans serif sister, for the same purpose.
Microsoft later released Georgia as part of its core fonts for the web. Because so many computers had it, web designers could rely on it, and it became one of the classic web-safe fonts.
What Makes Georgia Easy to Read
- Large x-height: lowercase letters are tall, so text reads well even at small sizes.
- Sturdy serifs: the small feet at the ends of strokes are solid, not hair-thin, so they stay visible on screens.
- Open, wide shapes: letters have room to breathe, which helps on phones.
- Old-style numerals: numbers rise and fall like lowercase letters (for example, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9 dip below the line). This looks elegant in paragraphs but less neat in tables.
If you need numbers that line up in a table, use a sans serif like Arial for that part.
Georgia Font Style: Regular, Bold and Italic
The Georgia font style family has four basic styles: regular, italic, bold and bold italic. The Georgia bold font is strong and dark, which makes it good for headings and pull quotes. The Georgia italic font is a true italic with flowing, slightly calligraphic letters, not just slanted regular letters, so it looks lovely for quotes and book titles.
A Georgia font example to try in the preview above: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog 1234567890. Look at the numbers and you will see the old-style figures described above.
Microsoft also offers Georgia Pro, an expanded commercial version of the family with extra weights and widths. The Georgia Pro font is a separate product, so the Georgia on your computer may not include those extra styles.
Georgia Font vs Times New Roman
| Point | Georgia | Times New Roman |
|---|---|---|
| Made for | Screens first | Newspaper print |
| Size at same point | Looks bigger | Looks smaller and tighter |
| Numbers | Old-style, rise and dip | Lining, all the same height |
| Feel | Warm, friendly, modern | Formal, traditional |
For blogs, emails and reading on phones, Georgia is usually more comfortable. For exams, applications or offices that ask for Times New Roman by name, stick to that. See our Times New Roman font page for details.
Arial, Georgia, Verdana: Which Font for the Web?
The Arial Georgia Verdana font trio: three classic web-safe fonts found on most computers. Each has a job:
| Font | Type | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Arial | Sans serif | Buttons, menus, forms, tables |
| Georgia | Serif | Articles, blogs, long reading |
| Verdana | Wide sans serif | Very small text, captions |
A common pair is Georgia for body text and Arial or Verdana for headings and navigation. In CSS, write font-family: Georgia, Gelasio, serif; so a font georgia fallback still looks right on phones that lack it.
Georgia Font Download and Licence
Georgia is bundled with Windows and macOS, so on most computers you will already see Georgia in font menus of Word, PowerPoint, Pages and browsers. On Windows, you can also look for Georgia in Fonts settings. It is licensed by Microsoft, which means you can use it freely in your own documents, but you should not upload the font files to share with others or sell them.
There is no official Georgia font free download page, and you do not need one from random sites. If you need a free font you can share, embed in an app or use on Linux, choose Gelasio:
- Gelasio is free under the SIL Open Font License, so commercial use is allowed.
- It is metric-compatible with Georgia, meaning letters take the same width, so documents keep the same line breaks and page count.
- Get it from Google Fonts.
Best Uses for the Georgia Font
Blogs and articles: the Georgia font for website body text is a safe, proven pick because it shines in long reading. Set body text around 17 to 19 pixels on the web with comfortable line spacing.
Emails: most email apps can show it, so it is a safe choice for newsletters with a classic feel.
Reports and CVs: it looks professional but less stiff than Times New Roman. Pair it with a sans serif for headings.
For websites, use font-family: Georgia, Gelasio, "Times New Roman", serif;. Most visitors see Georgia, and Gelasio covers devices without it. For more serif ideas, see our Garamond font and Playfair Display font guides, or the full popular fonts list.
Common questions
Is the Georgia font free?
Georgia comes free with Windows and macOS, so you can use it in your own work. It is licensed by Microsoft, so you cannot share or sell the font files. Gelasio is a free open-source match.
Is Georgia a font, and is Georgia a serif font?
Yes. Georgia is a real font made by Microsoft, and it is a serif font with small strokes at the ends of letters. It was designed to keep those serifs clear on screens.
Who designed the Georgia font?
Matthew Carter designed Georgia for Microsoft in 1993. He is also the designer of Verdana.
Is Georgia good for a website?
Yes. It is a classic web-safe font that most computers already have, and it reads well in long articles. Add Gelasio and a generic serif to your CSS stack as backups.
Why do Georgia numbers look uneven?
Georgia uses old-style numerals, which rise above or dip below the line like lowercase letters. It is a design choice that blends numbers into text.
Can I use Georgia on Instagram?
Instagram cannot use installed fonts. For a serif look in a bio, try the serif Unicode styles in our font generator, or design your post in an app and upload it as an image.