Monospaces

Monospaced fonts, also known as fixed-width or non-proportional fonts, are typefaces in which every character occupies the same horizontal space. This uniform width contrasts with most proportional fonts, where characters have varying widths. The concept derives from typewriters and early computer displays, where fixed character cells simplified alignment, editing, and the rendering of columns of data.

In computing, monospaced fonts are standard in code editors, integrated development environments, terminal emulators, and logs. Their fixed spacing makes indentation, braces, and operators align vertically, improving readability and reducing eye strain when scanning code or tabular data. Although used for prose on some minimalist interfaces, they are most associated with programming and system text.

Popular examples include Courier and Courier New, Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, and Source Code Pro. Some monospaced fonts also include design features such as slashed or dotted zero to distinguish zero from the letter O, and some provide spacing optimizations or ligatures for programming punctuation. The metrics of these fonts are chosen to maintain equal advance width for the majority of glyphs, aiding columnar alignment in editors and consoles.

Potential drawbacks include heavier use of horizontal space and reduced readability for long-form body text compared with proportional faces. For this reason, monospaced types are typically reserved for code blocks, terminal output, and data tables, while proportional fonts are preferred for body text in most documentation and publishing contexts.