Letterhead Examples
Twenty-six real letterhead designs, drawn from thirteen industries, with a note on why each one is laid out the way it is. Every example is a free download for Microsoft Word and Google Docs.
26 letterhead examples, by industry
Each links through to its category, where the full set is free to download in both Microsoft Word and Google Docs.
What every example above has in common
Strip the ornament from any of the twenty-six and the same three parts are left: something that names the sender, something that says how to reply, and a horizontal break that stops the heading bleeding into the letter. The break might be a rule, a band of colour, or nothing but white space — but it is always there, because without it the reader has to work out where the letter starts.
The differences between them are mostly about which facts earn a place in the heading. A solo practitioner needs a direct line. A clinic needs an after-hours number. A property manager needs an emergency line and a portal address, which is why the multifamily example carries a four-column footer instead of a single address line. When a design looks over-built it is usually carrying facts the sender does not actually need on every letter.
One practical constraint shapes all of them. A heading that runs deeper than about two and a half inches pushes the date, the inside address and the salutation far enough down the page that a short letter looks stranded in the lower half. Every example above keeps the head under that depth.
Letterhead format, size and how to make one
What is a letterhead?
A letterhead is the heading at the top of a sheet of correspondence that identifies who the letter is from — typically a name or company name, an address, and a way to reply. It is printed or set on every page of stationery so the reader knows the source of the letter before reading a word of it. In a word processor, a letterhead template is a document that carries that heading already positioned, leaving the body free for the letter itself.
What size is a letterhead?
In the United States a letterhead is US Letter — 8.5 × 11 inches, portrait. Most of Europe, Australia and Asia use A4, which is 210 × 297 mm, slightly narrower and slightly taller. Every template on this page is US Letter. The heading itself normally occupies the top 1.5 to 2.5 inches of the sheet, leaving room for a date, an inside address and the opening of the letter above the fold.
What should a letterhead include?
At minimum: the name of the person or organisation sending the letter, and at least one way to reply — a postal address, a telephone number, an email address or a website. Beyond that, include only what the letters you actually send require. A law firm may need named attorneys; a contractor may need a licence number; a clinic may need a confidentiality notice. Anything that does not earn its place makes the heading harder to read.
How do you make a letterhead in Microsoft Word?
The quickest route is to start from a template rather than a blank page. Download any design here as a .dotx file and open it — Word creates a fresh document from the template and leaves the original intact, so the next letter starts clean. Replace the bracketed placeholders with your own details. To build one from scratch instead, use Insert → Header, place your name and contact details there, then File → Save As and choose Word Template (.dotx) so it can be reused.
How do you make a letterhead in Google Docs?
Open any design here with the Google Docs link and choose Make a copy — the copy lands in your own Drive with the layout intact. Edit the placeholders and it is ready. Building one from scratch is similar to Word: Insert → Headers and footers → Header, then add your details. One thing to know: Google Docs only shows headers and footers when print layout is on, under View → Show print layout, so a footer that looks missing is usually just hidden.
Is a letterhead the same as a letterhead template?
Not quite. The letterhead is the printed heading itself. A letterhead template is the reusable file that produces it — in Word, a .dotx that spawns a new document each time it is opened, so the master is never overwritten. The distinction matters in practice: editing and saving a plain .docx gradually destroys the original, which is why every Word download here is a template rather than a document.
Updated through September 2026.