How to Sign a Cover Letter

Signing your cover letter shows professionalism and attention to detail. Even though employers don’t require your signature, this extra step will help you make a positive first impression on employers.

Here’s how to add your signature to a cover letter in Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and email.

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How to add an electronic signature to your cover letter

You can use the following methods to sign a cover letter you’re attaching to an email or uploading to a job portal:

1. Type your name
2. Attach a scan of your signed cover letter
3. Electronically sign your cover letter using software like Adobe Sign, DocuSign, or OneSpan Sign

How to sign a cover letter in Word

If you’re attaching your cover letter as a Word document and want to add a personal touch to your cover letter, you can easily add a handwritten signature digitally:

First, you’ll need to create the image of your signature you want to insert at the end of your cover letter.

To do this, sign a blank piece of paper and scan the page onto your computer. Save it under a common file format like .JPG or .PNG.

Next, on the Insert tab in your Word document, click Pictures > Picture from File.

Select the picture of the signature you want to insert and click Insert.

Then, you can adjust the image to your desired size in the document:

How to sign a cover letter in Google Docs

You can sign your cover letter in Google Docs by adding a drawing.

Select Insert, then click Drawing > New.

Choose Scribble from the dropdown menu and draw your signature.

Click Save and close to insert your image. Then resize the signature to fit your document.

Signing a cover letter sent by email

When signing an email cover letter, you don’t need to provide a handwritten signature. Simply write your full name at the end of the email, using the same font you use for the rest of your cover letter.

The proper format of an email cover letter signature looks like this:

Regards,
[First Name] [Last Name]
[Email Address]
[Phone Number]

Although you should have already included your contact details in your resume and cover letter header, you can add them to your email signature to make them easy to find.

Here are some examples of how to sign off on an email cover letter:

Best regards,
Hector Lopez
hectorlopez@email.com
(812) 876-6721

Sincerely,
Maria Smith
763 Main Street,
North Oxford, MA 01540
mariasmith@email.com
(812) 745-6721

Regards,
Samuel Liao
samuelliao@email.com
(147) 369-1701
www.linkedin.com/sliao
www.samuelliao.com

How to sign a paper cover letter

Though less common, sometimes you need to mail your cover letter. You should always sign a cover letter sent by mail because it’s more professional and requires little effort.

Here’s how to sign a printed-out cover letter:

1. Leave two to three lines of blank space between your cover letter sign-off and your full name
2. Print your cover letter, and sign your name using black ink in that blank space

You don’t need to include your contact information underneath your signature on a printed-out cover letter because most cover letter templates already have space at the top for this information.

Here’s how handwritten signatures should look at the end of a cover letter: