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font-kerning

The font-kerning CSS property sets the use of the kerning information stored in a font.

Try it

Kerning defines how letters are spaced. In well-kerned fonts, this feature makes character spacing more uniform and pleasant to read than it would otherwise be.

In the image below, for instance, the examples on the left do not use kerning, while the ones on the right do:

Example of font-kerning

Syntax

font-kerning: auto;
font-kerning: normal;
font-kerning: none;

/* Global values */
font-kerning: inherit;
font-kerning: initial;
font-kerning: revert;
font-kerning: revert-layer;
font-kerning: unset;

Values

auto: The browser determines whether font kerning should be used or not. For example, some browsers will disable kerning on small fonts, since applying it could harm the readability of text.
normal: Font kerning information stored in the font must be applied.
none: Font kerning information stored in the font is disabled.

Formal definition

Initial value	`auto`
Applies to	all elements. It also applies to `::first-letter` and `::first-line`.
Inherited	yes
Computed value	as specified
Animation type	discrete

Formal syntax

font-kerning = 
  auto    |
  normal  |
  none

Examples

Enabling and disabling kerning

HTML

<div id="kern"></div>
<div id="nokern"></div>
<textarea id="input">AV T. ij</textarea>

CSS

div {
  font-size: 2rem;
  font-family: serif;
}

#nokern {
  font-kerning: none;
}

#kern {
  font-kerning: normal;
}

JavaScript

const input  = document.getElementById('input');
const kern   = document.getElementById('kern');
const nokern = document.getElementById('nokern');

input.addEventListener('keyup', () => {
  kern.textContent = input.value; /* Update content */
  nokern.textContent = input.value;
});

kern.textContent = input.value; /* Initialize content */
nokern.textContent = input.value;

Specifications

Specification
CSS Fonts Module Level 4 # font-kerning-prop

Browser compatibility

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	WebView Android	Chrome Android	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	Safari on IOS	Samsung Internet
`font-kerning`	33 29-33	79	32	No	20 16-20	9 6	4.4.3 4.4-4.4.3	33 29-33	32	20 16-20	9 6	2.0 1.0-2.0