A career gap is only a problem when it looks unexplained. Recruiters are not scanning for perfection; they are scanning for uncertainty.
Use years, not months, when the gap is short. 2023 – 2025 reads cleaner than March 2023 – August 2025 and removes the visual hole entirely.
Name the gap when it is long. A single line entry — 'Career break — caregiving, 2024–2025' — answers the question before it is asked and costs you nothing.
Fill it with anything verifiable: freelance projects, certifications, open-source contributions, volunteering, a course you finished. One real line beats an empty stretch.
Do not apologise in the resume. Explanation belongs in one sentence in the cover letter, framed forward: what you did, what you learned, why you are ready now.
Then make the rest of the resume so specific that the gap is the least interesting thing on the page.