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7 min read

Applicants don't get rejected because they picked Calibri over Arial. They get skipped when the letter looks like a flyer at 9 point or when the PDF attachment and the paste box tell two different stories.

And if you've been shrinking type every time a draft runs long, you're solving the wrong problem. The portal doesn't reward design tricks. It rewards text a tired recruiter can read on a laptop between meetings.

Check your resume for free on the file you'll pair with the letter. When the resume parses cleanly, you can focus on point size and column layout on the letter without guessing whether the ATS even stored your attachment.

Tonight you'll pick 11 or 12 point, align the resume, export once, and run a copy test. That's the whole job for this formatting question.

This won't fix a role you're underqualified for. It stops a solid letter from looking evasive before anyone reads your second paragraph.

Ten vs eleven vs twelve point on a cover letter

Twelve point body type is the default most US readers expect on a business letter. It matches what career handouts usually show for one-page correspondence and it survives a PDF open on a phone without zoom.

Eleven point is the compromise when you're one line over. Use it only with one-inch margins and standard line spacing. Don't pair 11 point body with a 10 point resume unless both files were built that way on purpose.

Ten point body text is a fail for most corporate uploads. It reads like you hid weak content behind formatting. Some resume templates still use 10 point in the experience section; if that's your resume, you may match it on the letter. Everyone else should treat 10 point as off limits for paragraphs.

Before: You treat font size as a design knob and shrink type when the draft hits page two.
After: You treat font size as a fixed rule and cut copy until the story fits at 11 or 12 point.

Before: You upload a two-column Canva letterhead because it looks modern.
After: You keep one column so Workday, Greenhouse, and email previews read top to bottom.

Parsers do not award points for 12 point over 11 point. They need extractable text in the body layer. For how portals store attachments versus paste fields, see how ATS handles cover letters .

Name lines can sit at 12 to 14 point bold. Date, contact block, employer address, and paragraphs stay at body size. Two levels are enough.

Set size, then export DOCX or PDF

Work in Word or Google Docs on a single column. Five minutes here beats guessing why the paste preview looks crushed.

Word or Google Docs

1. Highlight body paragraphs and set 11 or 12 point in the same family as your resume.
2. Move phone, email, and city into the first body lines, not the header region.
3. Set margins to one inch and line spacing to about 1.0 to 1.15.
4. Save DOCX, then export PDF and run the verification paste below.

Copy-paste verification (read the first lines after paste):

Open exported PDF (not the editor)
Select all text → copy → paste into Notepad
Your name and email should appear before the salutation
Body paragraphs should copy in order with no blank gaps
If text is missing, rebuild as plain paragraphs in the body
            

I've screened cover letters in Greenhouse where the attachment looked fine at 12 point but the paste field held 9 point text the candidate typed directly into the box. Pick one body size in your draft file, then trim the paste version without changing point size in the source.

When a posting wants both PDF and paste, draft the full letter at 11 or 12 point, attach the PDF, and paste a shorter opener plus two proof paragraphs. For page length rules, see should a cover letter be one page .

For US block order and spacing between sections, use US cover letter format that does not get ignored after size is locked.

Layout habits that fight readability

• Shrinking body text below 11 point to avoid deleting a weak sentence.
• Leaving the only copy of your email in a Word header or footer band.
• Using two-column letterheads or text boxes for the employer address.
• Attaching a 12 point PDF while pasting 10 point text into the same form.
• Switching to a decorative script font for the opening paragraph.

Before: You narrow margins to 0.5 inches and drop to 10 point so five paragraphs fit.
After: You delete one proof paragraph and keep one-inch margins at 11 or 12 point.

Before: You trust Print Preview on a styled template.
After: You trust a Notepad paste from the PDF you'll upload.

Contact lines trapped in headers fail the same way on letters as on resumes. If your resume still hides email in the margin, fix that first with contact info in header breaks ATS parsing .

Confirm the packet before upload

Run the resume through the checker on the export you'll attach. Fix parsing on the resume before you polish letter margins.

Check your resume for free and read extracted text at the top. Then draft the letter in the cover letter generator if you want a plain single-column starting file at standard size. Customize the opening line, match the resume font, and export PDF.

When you're rebuilding both documents, build your resume in the same plain layout so body size stays consistent across the packet.

What to lock in tonight

What font size should a cover letter be? Eleven or twelve point body text, single column, plain DOCX or PDF, matched to the resume. That's the answer recruiters expect when they open your file on a Monday morning.

Set the size once, cut copy instead of shrinking type, export, paste-test, then tailor the story. That's enough for this issue tonight.

Job searching is draining enough without squinting at your own letter. You're making the file easy to read, not winning a typography contest.