Typography in Windows

Article
11/05/2024

Several words rendered in Segoe UI Variable

As the visual representation of language, typography's main task is to communicate information. The Windows type system helps you create structure and hierarchy in your content in order to maximize legibility and readability in your UI.

Segoe UI Variable is the new system font for Windows. It is a refreshed take on the classic Segoe and uses variable font technology to dynamically provide great legibility at very small sizes, and improved outlines at display sizes.

Tip

This article describes how the Fluent Design language is applied to Windows apps. For more information, see Fluent Design - Typography.

Using Segoe Fluent Variable

Segoe UI Variable supports two axes for finer control of text: weight and optical size.

The weight axis (wght) is incremental with weights from Thin (100) to Bold (700).
The optical size axis (opsz) is automatic and on by default. It controls the shape and size of the counters in the font, to prioritize legibility at the small sizes and personality at the large sizes (for optical scaling from 8pt to 36pt).

When using XAML common controls, the Segoe UI Variable font will be selected by default for supported languages. When this font or another variable font with an optical axis is used, the optical size will automatically match the requested font-size. When using HTML, optical scaling is also automatic, but you will need to specify the Segoe UI Variable font in CSS.

The word 'Segoe' rendered in Segoe UI Variable with several aspects of the typeface highlighted

Weights

Weight name	Weight axis value	Visual
Light	300
Semilight	350
Regular	400
Semibold	600
Bold	700

Optical axis

A lower case letter a rendered in Segoe UI Variable with outlines of the different shapes it can have based on the context in which it is being rendered

Typography best practices in Windows 11

Windows 11 uses Segoe UI Variable with the following attributes based on the context in which the text is being displayed.

Attribute	Value	Notes
Weight	Regular, Semibold	Use regular weight for most text, use Semibold for titles
Alignment	Left, Center	Align left by default, Align center only in rare cases such as text below icons
Minimum values	14px Semibold, 12px Regular	Text smaller than these sizes and weights are illegible in some languages
Casing	Sentence case	Use sentence casing for all UI text, including titles
Truncation	Ellipses and clipping	Use ellipses in most cases; clipping is only used in rare cases

Examples

Open the WinUI 3 Gallery app and see Typography principles in action.

The WinUI 3 Gallery app includes interactive examples of most WinUI 3 controls, features, and functionality. Get the app from the Microsoft Store or get the source code on GitHub

Typography in Windows Apps

As the visual representation of language, typography's main task is to communicate information. Its style should never get in the way of that goal. In this article, we'll discuss how to style typography in your Windows app to help users understand content easily and efficiently.

Font

You should use one font throughout your app's UI, and we recommend sticking with the default font for Windows apps, Segoe UI Variable. It's designed to maintain optimal legibility across sizes and pixel densities and offers a clean, light, and open aesthetic that complements the content of the system.

Sample text of Segoe UI Variable font.

To display non-English languages or to select a different font for your app, please see Languages and Fonts for our recommended fonts for Windows apps.

Size and scaling

Font sizes in XAML apps automatically scale on all devices. The scaling algorithm ensures that a 24 px font on a large screen 10 feet away is just as legible as a 24 px font on a small screen that's a few inches away.

viewing distances for different devices.

Because of how the scaling system works, you're designing in effective pixels, not actual physical pixels, and you shouldn't have to alter font sizes for different screens sizes or resolutions.

Hierarchy

Users rely on visual hierarchy when scanning a page: headers summarize content, and body text provides more detail. To create a clear visual hierarchy in your app, follow the Windows type ramp.

Screenshot of three lines of text where the font size gets smaller from one line to the next.

Type ramp

The Windows type ramp establishes crucial relationships between the type styles on a page, helping users read content easily. All sizes are in effective pixels and are optimized for Windows apps running on all screen sizes.

Windows 11 uses the following values for various types of text in the UI.

Example	Weight	Size/line height
	Small	12/16 epx
	Text	14/20 epx
	Text semibold	14/20 epx
	Text	18/24 epx
	Display semibold	20/28 epx
	Display semibold	28/36 epx
	Display semibold	40/52 epx
	Display semibold	68/92 epx

Check out the guidance on using the XAML type ramp for more details.

Alignment

The default TextAlignment is Left, and in most instances, flush-left and ragged right provides consistent anchoring of the content and a uniform layout. For RTL languages, see Adjusting layout and fonts to support globalization.

Shows flush-left text.

<TextBlock TextAlignment="Left">

Character count

Fourth screenshot of a green bar that has a green check mark and the word Do in it. Keep to 50–60 letters per line for ease of reading.

don't Don't use fewer than 20 characters or more than 60 characters per line as this is difficult to read.

Clipping and ellipses

When the amount of text extends beyond the space available, we recommend clipping the text and inserting ellipses [...], which is the default behavior of most UWP text controls.

Shows a device frame with some text clipping.

<TextBlock TextWrapping="WrapWholeWords" TextTrimming="Clip"/>

Fifth screenshot of a green bar that has a green check mark and the word Do in it. Clip text, and wrap if multiple lines are enabled.

don't Don't use ellipses to avoid visual clutter.

Note

If containers are not well-defined (for example, no differentiating background color), or when there is a link to see more text, then use ellipses.

Languages

Segoe UI Variable is our font for English, European languages, Greek, and Russian. For other languages, see the following recommendations.

Globalizing/localizing fonts

Use the LanguageFont font-mapping APIs for programmatic access to the recommended font family, size, weight, and style for a particular language. The LanguageFont object provides access to the correct font info for various categories of content including UI headers, notifications, body text, and user-editable document body fonts. For more info, see Adjusting layout and fonts to support globalization.

Fonts for non-Latin languages

Font-family	Styles	Notes
Ebrima	Regular, Bold	User-interface font for African scripts (ADLaM, Ethiopic, N'Ko, Osmanya, Tifinagh, Vai).
Gadugi	Regular, Bold	User-interface font for North American scripts (Canadian Syllabics, Cherokee, Osage).
Leelawadee UI	Regular, Semilight, Bold	User-interface font for Southeast Asian scripts (Buginese, Khmer, Lao, Thai).
Malgun Gothic	Regular	User-interface font for Korean.
Microsoft JhengHei UI	Regular, Bold, Light	User-interface font for Traditional Chinese.
Microsoft YaHei UI	Regular, Bold, Light	User-interface font for Simplified Chinese.
Myanmar Text	Regular	Fallback font for Myanmar script.
Nirmala UI	Regular, Semilight, Bold	User-interface font for South Asian scripts (Bangla, Chakma, Devanagari, Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Kannada, Malayalam, Meetei Mayek, Odia, Ol Chiki, Sinhala, Sora Sompeng, Tamil, Telugu).
Segoe UI	Regular, Italic, Light Italic, Black Italic, Bold, Bold Italic, Light, Semilight, Semibold, Black	User-interface font for Arabic, Armenian, Georgian, and Hebrew.
SimSun	Regular	A legacy Chinese UI font.
Yu Gothic UI	Light, Semilight, Regular, Semibold, Bold	User-interface font for Japanese.

Fonts

Sans-serif fonts

Sans-serif fonts are a great choice for headings and UI elements.

Font-family	Styles	Notes
Arial	Regular, Italic, Bold, Bold Italic, Black	Supports European and Middle Eastern scripts (Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic, Armenian, and Hebrew). Black weight supports European scripts only.
Calibri	Regular, Italic, Bold, Bold Italic, Light, Light Italic	Supports European and Middle Eastern scripts (Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic and Hebrew). Arabic available in the uprights only.
Consolas	Regular, Italic, Bold, Bold Italic	Fixed width font that supports European scripts (Latin, Greek and Cyrillic).
Segoe UI	Regular, Italic, Light Italic, Black Italic, Bold, Bold Italic, Light, Semilight, Semibold, Black	User-interface font for European and Middle East scripts (Arabic, Armenian, Cyrillic, Georgian, Greek, Hebrew, Latin), and also Lisu script.
Selawik	Regular, Semilight, Light, Bold, Semibold	An open-source font that's metrically compatible with Segoe UI, intended for apps on other platforms that don't want to bundle Segoe UI. Get Selawik on GitHub.

Serif fonts

Serif fonts are good for presenting large amounts of text.

Font-family	Styles	Notes
Cambria	Regular	Serif font that supports European scripts (Latin, Greek, Cyrillic).
Courier New	Regular, Italic, Bold, Bold Italic	Serif fixed width font that supports European and Middle Eastern scripts (Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic, Armenian, and Hebrew).
Georgia	Regular, Italic, Bold, Bold Italic	Supports European scripts (Latin, Greek and Cyrillic).
Times New Roman	Regular, Italic, Bold, Bold Italic	Legacy font that supports European scripts (Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew).

Variable fonts

Variable fonts are good for precisely controlling the appearance of text.

Font-family	Axes	Notes
Bahnschrift	Weight, Width	Variable font that supports Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic.
Segoe UI Variable	Weight, Optical Size	Variable font that supports Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic.

Symbols and icons

Font-family	Styles	Notes
Segoe MDL2 Assets	Regular	User-interface font for app icons. For more info, see the Segoe Fluent Icons font article.
Segoe UI Emoji	Regular	User-interface font for Emoji.
Segoe UI Symbol	Regular	Fallback font for symbols.

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Typography in Windows