What makes a font "ATS-safe"?

For software, a font is "safe" when the text written in it can be extracted as the correct letters. Applicant tracking systems do not judge how a font looks; they read the characters stored in your file. Problems arise when a font stores letters in unusual ways, so that copied text comes out as boxes, symbols or missing letters.

Fonts that tend to be safe:

• Widely installed fonts such as Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Cambria, Georgia, Garamond or Times New Roman, and similar well-made fonts from major font libraries.
• Fonts that are embedded in the PDF when you export it.

Fonts that tend to cause trouble:

• Decorative, script or novelty fonts.
• Icon and symbol fonts used for bullets or contact icons.
• Fonts with heavy ligatures or special alternate letters.

You do not need to guess. Export your resume to PDF, copy all the text and paste it into a plain text editor. If every word, accent and symbol comes out correctly, your font is safe for practical purposes. Then choose based on readability for the human reader.