How to lay out a formal letter

Formal letters still decide things — complaints, appeals, notice periods, anything that may need to be produced later. Layout is what makes one look like it should be taken seriously.

Updated 20 September 2026 · 6 min read

A formal letter is a document that may be read again later, by someone who was not there — an ombudsman, a tribunal, a manager three levels up. Laying it out conventionally is how you make it easy to take seriously.

The parts, in order

1. Your address, top right (British) or top left (American)
2. The date
3. The recipient's name, title and address, on the left
4. A reference line, if there is one — an account or case number
5. The greeting
6. A subject line, in bold
7. The body
8. The sign-off, your signature, and your typed name
9. Enclosures, if any

Greeting and sign-off must match

This is the rule most often broken, and in British usage it is a fixed pair:

American usage differs: a comma after the greeting becomes a colon — Dear Ms. Adeyemi: — and the close is Sincerely, regardless of whether you know the name. Titles take full stops (Ms., Mr.) where British usage omits them.

Find a name if you possibly can. A letter addressed to a person gets handled by that person; one addressed to nobody gets handled by whoever is least busy.

The body

Three or four paragraphs, each with one job:

• Why you are writing, in the first sentence. Not background — the point.
• The facts, in order, with dates, reference numbers and amounts. This is the part that has to survive being read by a stranger later.
• What you want, stated plainly. A letter that describes a problem without naming a remedy invites a reply that does the same.
• A deadline, if appropriate — “within 14 days” — and what you will do next if it passes.

Register

Formal does not mean ornate. “I am writing to request” is fine; “I would hereby like to bring to your kind attention” is not. Keep it plain, keep it calm, and let the facts carry the weight — an angry letter is easier to dismiss than a precise one.

Contractions are generally avoided in formal letters: do not rather than don't.

Layout details

• Left aligned, ragged right. Do not justify
• Single spaced, with a blank line between paragraphs and no first-line indent
• 10–12 pt in a standard font, margins of 1 inch or 2.5 cm
• One page wherever possible. Put detail in enclosures instead
• Leave three or four blank lines for a signature if it is going out on paper
• Date written in full — 20 September 2026 — since 09/10/2026 means different days on different continents

Sending it by email

Drop both addresses, keep everything else. Put the subject line in the email's subject field, and keep your name and contact details at the bottom. If it matters, attach a signed PDF as well as putting the text in the body — some processes still want a signature.

A checklist before you send it

• Recipient's name and title spelled correctly
• Sign-off matches the greeting
• Reference or account number included
• Every date, amount and name checked against your records
• You have said what you want to happen
• Enclosures listed, and actually enclosed
• A copy kept for yourself