What Font And Size For Cover Letter? | Clean Font Picks

If you want a safe pick, use Arial or Calibri in 11 or 12 point. That range is easy to read on screen, easy to print, and unlikely to distract from what you’re saying. A cover letter is not the place to show off type taste. It’s the place to make your case clearly.

Most hiring teams skim first. A clean font helps them move through your letter without strain. Tiny text feels cramped. A fancy script feels awkward. The sweet spot is plain, tidy, and steady.

What Font And Size For Cover Letter? Best Defaults

The safest size range is 10.5 to 12 points. In real use, 11 point is often the neat middle ground. It gives you enough room to keep the letter on one page without making the text feel squeezed. If your font runs small, such as Garamond, 11.5 or 12 can read better. If your font runs wide, such as Verdana, 10.5 or 11 may sit better on the page.

Use the same font as your resume unless there’s a strong reason not to. That small bit of consistency makes your application feel like one package instead of two files thrown together at the last minute. It also helps your name header, section spacing, and body copy feel settled from the first line.

Start With Size Before Style

People usually obsess over the font name first. Size matters more. Set the body at 11 or 12, add normal margins, then read the page at full screen and on a phone. If your eyes glide through it, you’re close.

There’s one more rule that saves a lot of second-guessing: keep it to one font. You can use bold for your name, but the body should stay steady. Mixed fonts can make a short cover letter feel messy in seconds.

Serif And Sans Serif Both Work

You do not need a magic font. Serif fonts such as Georgia, Garamond, and Times New Roman feel a bit more traditional. Sans serif fonts such as Arial, Calibri, and Helvetica feel a bit cleaner and more modern. Both styles can work well if the page is easy to read and the spacing is under control.

When One Style Fits Better

If your resume already uses a sans serif face, keep that same feel in the letter. Law, public policy, education, and many office roles still see serif fonts all the time. Design, tech, sales, and startup roles often lean toward cleaner sans serif picks. Readability still wins.

Cover Letter Font Choices Compared

The page rules matter as much as the typeface. Purdue OWL’s cover letter format says a cover letter should stay to one page, use single spacing, and match your resume font. A California State University Long Beach career center note gives the same basic range for body text: 10 to 12 point in the same font as the resume. Boston University gives similar advice on matching font type, size, and margins in its cover letter page format tips.

Your name at the top can be a bit larger than the body text. A clean 13 to 16 point size works well for the header in many templates. Keep the body text steady below that. If your name is oversized or set in a different font, the page starts to feel like a flyer instead of a job document.

Font	Why People Use It	Watch For
Arial	Plain, clean, and easy to read in 11 or 12 point.	Can feel a bit plain if your resume spacing is loose.
Calibri	Soft, modern shape that reads well on screens.	Feels informal to some readers if the page is too casual.
Georgia	Warm serif with strong screen readability.	Needs a touch more room than Times New Roman.
Times New Roman	Traditional and familiar, easy to scan in business settings.	Can feel dated if the rest of the layout is stiff.
Garamond	Compact serif that can fit more words without looking cramped.	Runs small, so 11.5 or 12 point often reads better.
Cambria	Balanced serif that prints cleanly and feels polished.	Can look dense if line spacing is too tight.
Helvetica	Crisp sans serif with a clean, modern tone.	Not built into every system, so PDF export matters.
Verdana	Wide letters make screen reading easy.	Takes up a lot of space, so body text may need 10.5 or 11 point.

Small Page Details That Change The Read

Font choice is only part of the job. Margins, line spacing, and line length shape how the letter feels. One-inch margins are a strong default. If your letter is one or two lines too long, trimming to 0.7 or 0.75 inches can work. Don’t squeeze further just to avoid editing.

Single spacing is normal for cover letters, with a blank line between paragraphs. That keeps the page neat and businesslike. Left alignment is the safer call for nearly every applicant. Full justification can create odd gaps, and centered body text is rough to read.

Match The Resume Without Cloning It

Your cover letter and resume should feel related, not copied line for line. Use the same font family and close to the same size. Keep your header style similar. Then let the body breathe on its own.

File format matters too. Once the spacing looks right, save the letter as a PDF unless the employer asks for a Word file. That helps keep the font, margins, and line breaks from shifting on someone else’s screen.

Common Font Mistakes That Hurt A Good Letter

A cover letter can say all the right things and still feel off because of presentation. These are the mistakes that show up most often:

• Using 9 point text to cram in extra lines instead of cutting weak sentences.
• Using 13 or 14 point body text, which makes the letter feel padded.
• Picking a decorative or quirky font that pulls attention from the message.
• Using one font in the resume and another in the letter.
• Relying on a font that may not travel well unless the file is saved as PDF.
• Stacking bold, italics, and underlines on the same lines.
• Writing long paragraphs that make even a good font feel hard to read.

If your letter feels busy, strip it back. One font. One body size. Short paragraphs. Clean margins.

How To Pick The Right Font In Two Minutes

You do not need to test ten typefaces. Use this short process and move on to the writing:

1. Open your resume and note the font family and body size.
2. Use that same font in the cover letter.
3. Set the body at 11 or 12 point, based on how roomy the page feels.
4. Keep margins around one inch.
5. Read the letter once on a laptop and once on your phone.
6. Print it or use print preview. If it still reads cleanly, you’re done.

This method works because it cuts out false choices. Hiring managers are reading for fit, judgment, and clarity. The font should stay in the background and let your examples carry the page.

Situation	Body Font Size	Why It Works
Arial or Calibri	11–12 pt	Clean letters and easy screen reading.
Georgia or Cambria	11–12 pt	Traditional feel with good clarity.
Garamond	11.5–12 pt	Runs smaller, so a slight bump helps.
Verdana	10.5–11 pt	Wide letters take more horizontal space.
Tight one-page edit	10.5–11 pt	Gives room without making text tiny.

A Safe Pick For Nearly Any Job

If you want one answer and want to stop thinking about it, use Arial 11 or Calibri 11, match your resume, keep the margins neat, and send the letter as a PDF. That combo reads well, prints well, and stays out of its own way. If your resume already uses Georgia or Times New Roman and it looks clean, keep that instead. Consistency beats chasing a trend.

A cover letter is a short document, so small design choices carry more weight than people expect. Pick a readable font, give it enough room, and let your writing do the work.