ATS-friendly resume format: what applicant tracking systems can read
The resume layout, headings and file type that applicant tracking systems read cleanly — and the design choices that scramble your details. With a two-minute test you can run yourself.
Last updated 2 October 2026
An ATS-friendly resume is a single-column document with standard section headings, plain text instead of tables, text boxes or graphics, dates written one consistent way, and contact details in the body of the page rather than in a header. Save it as a text PDF — not a scan — unless the posting asks for a Word file.
1What does an applicant tracking system do with your resume?
It pulls the text out of your file and sorts it into fields — name, contact details, employers, job titles, dates, education, skills. Recruiters then search and filter on those fields. The system rarely throws a resume away on its own because of its layout; the risk is quieter than that. If your details land in the wrong fields, or do not come out at all, yours is the record a recruiter's search does not return.
2Which resume layout is safest for an ATS?
Text extraction reads a page roughly top to bottom, left to right. Anything that breaks that order is where details get scrambled.
- One column. Two-column designs can interleave the columns line by line, so a skill ends up inside a job title.
- No tables, text boxes or sidebars for content. Many parsers skip them or read them out of order.
- No skill bars, star ratings or icons in place of words. A picture of five stars has no text to extract.
- Contact details in the body of the page. Some parsers ignore the document's header and footer areas.
- Common fonts at 10–12pt, and bullets made with ordinary bullet characters.
3Which section headings should you use?
The plain ones: Summary, Experience (or Work experience), Education, Skills, Projects, Certifications. A parser recognises "Experience"; it may not recognise "Where I've been" or "My journey". Creativity belongs in what you achieved, not in what you call the section.
4Should you send a PDF or a Word document?
Modern systems read both. A PDF keeps your layout identical on every screen, which is why it is the usual choice — but it has to be a text PDF, exported from Word, Google Docs or a resume builder. A scanned page or a photo saved as PDF has no text in it, so there is nothing for the system to read. If a posting asks for .docx, send .docx.
5How do you check whether an ATS can read your resume?
Open your PDF, select all the text, copy it and paste it into a plain-text editor such as Notepad. If the paste comes out in the order you wrote it, with every heading, date and contact detail present, a parser will most likely read it too. If lines are interleaved, missing or out of order, that is what the ATS sees.
For a fuller check, the free OpenRoles score reads the PDF the way a tracking system does and marks parseable structure as its own criterion, alongside keywords and impact.
6Common questions
Are two-column resumes bad for ATS?
They are riskier. Text extraction can read across both columns line by line and mix them together. A single column avoids the problem entirely.
Can an ATS read a resume made in Canva?
Often only partly. Design templates tend to place text in separate boxes and use graphics for skills, which parsers read out of order or skip. Run the copy-and-paste test on the exported PDF before you send it.
Can an ATS read a scanned resume?
Not reliably. A scan is an image of text, so there is nothing to extract unless the system runs character recognition. Export a text PDF from the original document instead.