Bisrat Shibeshi
A cover letter should fit on one page, in three to five short paragraphs. In words, that's about 250 to 400 of body text, which fills most of a page at 11-point type. If an application form sets its own word or character limit, that limit takes priority.
| Where you're applying | Length |
|---|---|
| Most jobs in the US | One page, 3 to 4 paragraphs, about 250 to 400 words |
| Most jobs in the UK and Europe | One A4 page, 3 to 5 paragraphs |
| An application form with a text box | The form's limit |
| UK civil service | A personal statement, often 500 to 1,250 words, instead of a cover letter |
| Academic faculty jobs | Up to two pages |
The sections below cover what career offices advise, what those word counts look like on a real page, and when you can go longer.
What do career offices say about cover letter length?
One page, everywhere we looked. Harvard's career office says to keep letters "no more than a single page", and MIT's says a cover letter "should be no longer than one page with a font size between 10-12 points".
The word counts line up too. A 2026 guide from Harvard's career office says to "aim for 250 to 400 words", and CareerOneStop, the US Department of Labor's career site, suggests "about 200-400 words, with just 3-4 short paragraphs".
UK advice counts paragraphs. Prospects says three to five concise paragraphs on no more than one A4 page, and the National Careers Service says "usually 3 to 5 paragraphs long".
There's a floor as well as a ceiling. Duke's career center says a letter "should not exceed a full page but should also be longer than a half page". Cambridge's careers service calls one page "both a maximum and a minimum", because a very short letter looks like you couldn't be bothered and a very long one suggests you can't prioritise.
How many words fit on one page of a cover letter?
About 470 words of body text in a standard design. We measured it in OneCV with a fictional applicant, Daniel, writing to a food distributor for a director of operations role. His letter went into Classic Left, a plain design with 11-point type, 1.2 line spacing and 20mm margins. 19 of our 70 letter templates share those settings.
To find the limit, we gave the letter far more text than fits and counted what landed on page one. The page held 494 words in total. About 25 of those were Daniel's details, the date, the recipient's details and the greeting, which leaves about 470 for the body. A4 and US Letter held the same amount, because the page broke between the same two paragraphs.
The design changes that number a lot.
| Letter design | Words on page one, US Letter | Words on page one, A4 |
|---|---|---|
| Classic Left, 11 pt, 20 mm margins | 494 | 494 |
| Minimal Column, contact details in a side column | 398 | 398 |
| Flora, 11 pt with wide line spacing, 26 mm margins and a border | 290 | 346 |
Then we wrote Daniel's letter at three lengths for the same job and rendered each in Classic Left.
The 168-word letter filled about two-thirds of the page, which still clears Duke's half-page floor. The 256-word version reached 70% of the page and the 403-word version 85%. So the 250-to-400-word range that Harvard and CareerOneStop give is the range where a letter looks full without crowding the page.
How many paragraphs should a cover letter have?
Three to five. Michigan's career center says three to four, and Prospects and the National Careers Service say three to five. Four is a safe middle.
- An opening that names the role and why you want it.
- A paragraph on your strongest evidence for this job, with a number in it.
- A second paragraph on another strength, or on why this employer in particular.
- A close that asks for a conversation and thanks the reader.
Use a fifth paragraph only when it carries something the reader needs, such as a gap to explain or a move to their city. Our guide to writing a cover letter with no experience walks through each paragraph with a full example.
Can a cover letter be two pages?
Only for academic jobs, or when an employer asks for more. For everything else, keep to one page.
Faculty applications are the main exception. UC Berkeley's career office says an academic cover letter "should not exceed a page and a half or two at the most", where the letter also covers your research, teaching and future plans.
If your letter runs onto a second page for an ordinary job, cut it. A common cause is repeating your resume, which MIT advises against.
Does a longer cover letter help?
No study we found ties word count to interviews. The closest evidence is a 2025 peer-reviewed study in the International Journal of Selection and Assessment, which followed 183 Canadian co-op students through their job searches. Students whose cover letters and resumes were written with more detail, clarity and structure won substantially more interviews per application, even after the researchers accounted for work experience and tailoring.
Detail and structure don't need extra length. A 300-word letter has room for one specific example, told in a clear order.
What if the application form has a word or character limit?
Follow the form. Many employers collect the letter in a text box, and the box's limit replaces any page rule.
- On NHS Jobs in the UK, each text box for the role's essential and desirable criteria takes up to 5,000 characters, about 800 words.
- UK civil service jobs often ask for a personal statement instead of a cover letter. Word limits of 500 to 1,250 words are common, and each job advert gives its own.
Write the letter in a document first, check the word count, then paste it in. Text pasted into a form loses its formatting, so check that your paragraph breaks survived.
How to fit your cover letter on one page in OneCV
OneCV's cover letter builder shows the page as you write, so you can see when a paragraph spills over.
- To fit more on the page, open the Design tab and lower the line height or margins in the Spacing card. The Font size card goes from 10 to 14 point, so you can't drop below the minimum MIT recommends.
- To match your resume, use Copy resume design in the Design Templates card. It brings across your resume's font, colors, header and spacing.
- To change paper size, use Page Format in Document Settings. Use A4 almost everywhere outside the US and Canada, as our A4 vs US Letter guide explains.
The Free plan includes one cover letter alongside one resume, with all 70 letter templates and unlimited PDF downloads with no watermark. If you're still working on the resume itself, our guide to resume length covers one page against two.
Frequently asked questions
How many words should a cover letter be?
About 250 to 400 words of body text. Harvard's career office gives 250 to 400 and CareerOneStop gives 200 to 400. In our tests, that range fills between 70% and 85% of a page at 11-point type.
Is a 200-word cover letter too short?
Not if it names the role, gives one or two specific examples and closes clearly. Our 168-word test letter still filled about two-thirds of a page, more than the half page Duke sets as a minimum. Much shorter than that, and you risk the letter Cambridge's careers service warns about, one that looks like you couldn't be bothered.
Is a 500-word cover letter too long?
Usually, yes. In our standard design, about 470 words of body text fit on one page, so 500 words spills onto a second page or forces smaller type. Cut it back to around 400.
What font size should a cover letter use?
Between 10 and 12 point, as MIT recommends. Match the font to your resume so the two documents look like a set.
How long should an internship cover letter be?
The same as any other letter, one page in three to five short paragraphs. Our internship cover letter example has a 189-word body and fits easily on one page.
Should a UK cover letter be a different length?
The page limit is the same, one side of A4. UK careers services count paragraphs instead of words and suggest three to five. Civil service jobs are different, because they often ask for a personal statement with its own word limit.
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