iOS Fonts › Sans Serif › Verdana

Verdana on iOS

A wide, open sans serif with generous spacing, built specifically to stay legible at small sizes on screens.

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
VerdanaRegular
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Verdana-BoldBold
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Verdana-BoldItalicBold Italic
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Verdana-ItalicItalic

Verdana at a glance

CategorySans Serif
DesignerMatthew Carter (Microsoft, 1996)
Styles on iOS4 (Regular, Bold, Bold Italic, Italic)
First on iPhoneiOS 3.0
First on iPadiOS 4.3
Family nameVerdana
Default PostScript nameVerdana

PostScript names for every Verdana style

iOS looks fonts up by their PostScript name, not the friendly family name. Use the names below exactly as written — they are case-sensitive.

StylePostScript nameiPhoneiPad
RegularVerdana3.04.3
BoldVerdana-Bold3.04.3
Bold ItalicVerdana-BoldItalic3.04.3
ItalicVerdana-Italic3.04.3

How to use Verdana in code

SwiftUI

Swift
Text("Hello, world")
    .font(.custom("Verdana", size: 17, relativeTo: .body))

UIKit

Swift
let base = UIFont(name: "Verdana", size: 17)!
label.font = UIFontMetrics(forTextStyle: .body).scaledFont(for: base)
label.adjustsFontForContentSizeCategory = true

Objective-C

Obj-C
label.font = [UIFont fontWithName:@"Verdana" size:17];

CSS for Safari on iPhone and iPad

CSS
.headline {
  font-family: "Verdana", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif;
  font-weight: 700;
}

Wrapping the font in UIFontMetrics, or passing relativeTo: in SwiftUI, lets Verdana grow and shrink with the user’s Dynamic Type setting. Read the custom fonts guide for the full checklist, or the San Francisco guide if you want Apple’s system font instead.

Frequently asked questions

What is the PostScript name of Verdana on iOS?

Use “Verdana” with UIFont(name:size:) or SwiftUI’s Font.custom(_:size:). The bold style is “Verdana-Bold”. The family has 4 styles: Regular, Bold, Bold Italic, Italic.

Which iOS version added Verdana?

According to the iOS Fonts availability data, Verdana first shipped on iPhone in iOS 3.0 and on iPad in iOS 4.3.

Can I use Verdana on a website?

Safari on iPhone and iPad can render installed system fonts, so a CSS stack such as font-family: "Verdana", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; will use Verdana on Apple devices and fall back elsewhere. Embedding the font files on a server requires a separate web licence from the foundry.