Which font should I choose for an Arabic email signature so it looks right for everyone?
Choose Tahoma, the font the tool marks as 'good for Arabic'. It comes with a fallback chain (Geneva, then Arial, then any sans-serif) used when the recipient does not have it, so an Arabic name stays readable. The attractive fonts you see on websites are not offered, because most email programs ignore web fonts and fall back to a default anyway.
The font does not travel with the email
When you pick a font in a Word file or a design, you see it. In email, the message carries only the name of the font, and the recipient's device draws it from the fonts installed there. If it cannot find the font, it moves to the next one in the list. That is why the tool's list is limited to seven fonts present on common operating systems: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Georgia, Times New Roman, Trebuchet MS and Courier New.
And your choice does not write a single name but a whole chain. The Tahoma chain in the code is: Tahoma, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif. Meaning: try Tahoma; if it is missing, Geneva; then Arial; then any sans-serif font on the device.
Why Tahoma for Arabic
- Its Arabic letters stay clear at small sizes, and the signature uses 14 pixels for text and 16 for the name.
- Every fallback is a plain sans-serif, so even without Tahoma the look stays close and simple.
- Serif fonts such as Georgia and Times New Roman are designed mainly for Latin letters, so with Arabic text the recipient's device draws the Arabic in some other font of its own choosing, and you cannot know in advance how it will look.
- Courier New is a fixed-width font for code and does not suit an Arabic signature.
Try it on your own signature
- In the Email signature builder, choose the Arabic (RTL) layout and enter a name such as سارة العتيبي.
- From 'Font', choose 'Tahoma (good for Arabic)'. It is already the default when the tool opens.
- Look at the preview, then try Arial to compare. Both give a clean right-to-left signature.
- Send a test email to an inbox on a phone and one on a computer, because each device may draw the font its own way.
The font you choose applies to the whole signature, including the English part in the Both languages layout. That is one more reason to prefer a font that handles both scripts over one that only looks good in English.
What about my shop's own font?
If your shop has a distinctive font in its logo, keep it inside the logo image rather than in the signature text. The image shows the lettering exactly as designed, and the text stays in a safe font that reads anywhere. That way you keep your brand without the name turning into an odd font on some customers' screens.
Common questions
Can I type the name of a font that is not in the list?
No. The font is picked from a drop-down of the seven only, and the tool rejects any other value, because a font the recipient has not installed would be replaced anyway.
Can I change the font size?
Not in this tool. The name is 16 pixels and the rest 14, and phone apps may scale small text up their own way.