20 Best Free Microsoft Word Resume CV Cover Letter Templates 2021

Your cover letter has the crucial job of making sure your application doesn’t end up in the scrap pile before you've got the chance to show them how great you are. It needs to make a great first impression.

In this article, we’re going to focus on how your cover letter looks. A good cover letter design will help you stand out and put you in the best light for the role you’re applying for. Besides free cover letter templates for Word, we'll also look at premium Microsoft Word cover letter templates from Envato Elements and GraphicRiver that'll help your cover letter and resume stand out.

Reduce Job Hunting Stress by Using Premium Templates for Cover Letters In Word

A cover letter template (Word) saves you time and energy by making the design decisions for you. Professionally designed templates help you make a good first impression as a professional who goes the extra mile and pays attention to detail.

Premium templates are better than free ones because you get great designs as well as ease of use and customization. Elements and GraphicRiver are great places to find premium cover letter templates for Word.

With Envato Elements, you get unlimited downloads of cover letter templates for Word, for one small monthly subscription. This gives you the freedom to tailor the design of each cover letter to the particular job you’re applying for.

If you only need the one-off cover letter template (Word doc) then GraphicRiver is an excellent source. You've got a wide choice of templates on a pay-per-use basis.

5 Premium Cover Letter Templates (With Unlimited Use)

Envato Elements offers thousands of templates for cover letters in Word. Each one is designed by a professional designer to stand out visually and at the same time be easy to edit. 

Your Envato Elements subscription gives you unlimited downloads in this creative marketplace. I've picked some of the best ones below:

1. Corporate Lawyer CV Resume 

This set of resume/CV and cover letter templates for Word was designed specifically for a corporate lawyer position. It also works for any other job that requires the highest levels of professionalism. Built to be easy to edit and personalize, this cover letter template (Word) comes in both A4 and US letter sizes. A Help Guide in PDF format is also included.

2. Simple Resume & Cover Letter Template

With its subtle colors and smart icons, this cover letter template for Word will help you stand out from other candidates. Choose from blue, black, or yellow color schemes, depending on which one is most suitable for the job. This A4-sized template is fully editable.

3. Corporate Resume & Cover Letter Template

With its textured background, unique layout, and use of fonts, this Microsoft Word cover letter template is suited for more casual positions. If you want to show off your creativity, this template may be the answer! It comes in both US letter and A4 sizes. It also gives you a choice of three color schemes.

4. Creative Resume Template & Cover Letter

This colorful cover letter template for Microsoft Word is sure to showcase your uniqueness and creativity. It comes with four color schemes to suit a variety of jobs. Plus, its use of shapes and icons makes the cover letter (and matching resume) eye-catching. Whether you need size A4 of US letter, you’ll find them both in this template.

5. Stylish Resume & Cover Letter Template

Go all-out and express your creativity with the Stylish Resume & Cover Letter Template for Microsoft Word. A colored border and bookmark shape on the upper-left corner catch the eye. Meanwhile, generous white spaces keep your cover letter legible. Choose from a black, off-white, or blue color scheme. This template also comes in both A4 and US letter sizes and is fully editable in Microsoft Word.

5 Premium Word Cover Letter Templates (Pay-per-Use)

Looking for a single-use cover letter template for Word? Then GraphicRiver is the source for you. Here you'll find thousands of cover letter templates that are professional looking and editable in Microsoft Word. Below are five of the best ones:

1. CV Template with Word Cover Letter

The clean and elegant design of this Word cover letter template will help you make a good first impression. The cover letter and resume templates were designed to make them easy to read and portray professionalism. This A4-sized template comes in Word, Mac Pages, Photoshop, and Illustrator file versions, and is fully editable.

2. Teacher Resume Template for MS Word | Cover Letter

This MS Word resume/CV and cover letter template was designed for a teaching position. Its contemporary design works for any job that requires refinement and class. The pay-per-use cover letter template comes with detailed instructions. The designer is also available answer any questions you may have about using and customizing the template.

3. The CV by CodePower

Blow away the competition with this eye-catching cover letter template for Word. It features a strong typographic structure while still being easy to use and customize. With more than 80 files, including both DOC and DOCX formats, it’s no wonder this resume and cover letter template is a bestseller.

4. Clean Resume/CV

Minimalist and clean without being boring, the Clean Resume/CV template is a good choice. Its design makes the most of bold typography and a shot of color to make it eye-catching without going overboard. Detailed instructions help you edit the template. It comes in both A4 and US letter sizes, with both DOC and DOCX file formats.

5. Word Resume & Cover Letter Template

Need a standout cover letter and resume to apply for a job in a creative field? This resume and cover letter template (Word) is a good choice. Its muted colors and geometric shapes make your cover letter stand out, while keeping the focus on the content. It also comes with a matching business card template editable in Photoshop.

20 Best Free MS Word Resume Cover Letter Templates

Premium templates for cover letters in Word generally have the best designs. But sometimes you just don't have any budget. If you’re looking for a free cover letter template (Word), you've got many choices. 

Before looking for a free cover letter templates for Word docs on the web, check Envato's free offerings first. Try out various premium template files (not always resume templates) at no cost to you.

Here's the deal: 

• Every month Envato Elements offers 12 different hand-selected files, (fonts, presentations, videos, and more). Create a free account to download this month's free premium files now.


• Or try Envato Market for free. They offer seven handpicked monthly freebies. Log in with your Envato Market account to get this month's handpicked premium freebies. 

If Envato Elements and Envato Market aren't featuring free resume cover letter templates for Word this month, you can still find free cover letter templates. Here's a curated list of 20 best free cover letter template Word docs found online: 

1. Polished Cover Letter, Designed By Moo 

Here’s an eye-catching Microsoft Word cover letter template with plenty of white space for readability. 

2. Sarah Free Cover Letter Template

This free cover letter template (Word) features a header for your name, headline, and essential contact information. 

3. F/S Monogram

Make your initials stand out with the F/S Monogram cover letter template for Word. This two-column layout has a colored sidebar dedicated to your contact information.

4. Minimalist Cover Letter

This template features a clean, modern design with an eye-catching layout. 

5. Blue Spheres Cover Letter 

The Blue Spheres Microsoft Word cover letter template is suitable for creative jobs. Colors and fonts are customizable.

6. Two-Column Cover Letter Template

This is a simple, two-letter design for a cover letter that’s easy to customize for your needs.

7. Mike Free Cover Letter Template

Here’s a two-column cover letter template doc that features a clean and professional design. It’s easy to customize in MS Word.

8. Photo Cover Letter Template

This cover letter template doc features a space for your photo and a shaded left sidebar for your contact information.

9. Blue Sky Cover Letter

Blue Sky is a cover letter template that stands out with its image header and space for your photo. 

10. John Free Cover Letter Template

Go for a minimalist look with this free cover letter template for Word docs. It’s simple and clean while providing space for the most important information.

11. Inverted Modern Cover Letter

Unlike most cover letter template docs, this places your name and contact details at the bottom of the letter. Hence, the name.

12. Contemporary Cover Letter

Contemporary Cover Letter has a bold, modern design. A vivid sidebar draws attention to your About Me section and contact details.

13. Stripes Cover Letter Template

This accessible free cover letter template for Word download features striped borders for an interesting design. 

14. Alisson Free Cover Letter Template

Alisson is another modern, clean cover letter template. A band of color highlights your contact information and adds visual interest.

15. Modern Chronological Cover Letter

This is another minimalist Microsoft Word cover letter template that emphasizes readability. It's got a matching template for a chronological resume.

16. Headshot Cover Letter

As the name implies, the Headshot Cover Letter template includes a space for your photo. It also has a colorful header and sidebar.

17. Megan Free Cover Letter Template

This cover letter template doc offers a single-column design with a solid-colored header and border. It’s customizable in Word.

18. Green Cube Cover Letter

If you want to include your photograph, Green Cube cover letter template includes space for that purpose. 

19. Colorful Cover Letter Template (Word)

Here’s a colorful cover letter template that stands out with its casual, playful design.

20. Contemporary Photo Cover Letter

This contemporary cover letter template for Word download features bold shapes and colors. Its fonts and colors are customizable.

How to Customize Your Cover Letter Resume Template

In this tutorial, we'll use the premium template, Slive Professional CV Resume Set.

Here's the Premium Template Slive Professional CV Resume Set without edits

Let's get started:

1. How to Change an Object’s Color

To change an object’s color in your cover letter template doc, select the object that you want to change the color of. When the object is selected click the Format tab at the top of your screen. 

 

Select Format Object from the menu. This causes a sidebar to open.In the sidebar, click on the Color button. Clicking on this button causes a drop-down menu to appear. Select the color that you want to use for the object. 

2. How to Add an Image 

To add a head shot to your Microsoft word cover letter template or your resume template, click on the Insert tab above the toolbar. Next, click on the Pictures button.

Clicking on the Pictures button causes a menu to drop down. From the drop-down menu select the location of where your picture located. Insert the picture

3.  How to Change the Font

To change the font, go to the Font Menu in the toolbar on the Home tab. Changing the font on your CV cover letter template in Word is an easy way to customize your cover letter or resume without going over the top.

4. How to Change the Font Color

To change the color of the font, begin by highlighting the text that you want to change the color of. Click on the Home tab. In the toolbar, select the Font Color button.

Selecting the Font Color button causes a color menu to drop down. Select the color that you want the text to be.

5. How to Add a New Text Box

Adding a new text box is an easy way to add more text to your Microsoft word cover letter template.

To add a new text box, click on the Insert tab above the toolbar and click the Text Box button in the toolbar. Next, select Draw a Text Box from the menu that drops down. Finally, drag the cursor in a diagonal line where you want your text box to be.

5 Quick Design Ideas to Make Great Resume Cover Letters

Even when you’re working with a cover letter template for Word, you've got a lot of flexibility. That’s because professionally designed templates are created to be easy to edit and personalize. 

As you choose your template and customize it, keep these design ideas in mind. You'll end up with an impressive resume cover letter. Here are five design ideas to get you started:

1. Keep It Simple

Keep the cover letter design clean and simple, so it doesn’t distract from the content. You still want your information to take center stage. Avoid cover letter designs that are too busy. Those will take the attention away from the most important element: you!

Not sure how to write a cover letter? Read these articles:

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  How to Write a Cover Letter - The Ultimate Guide
  
  
  Charley Mendoza


• 
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  20 Cover Letter Examples
  
  
  Charley Mendoza

2. Make It Resonate

Choose a cover letter template that's aligned with the position you’re applying for. If you’re applying for a formal corporate job, then the Microsoft Word cover letter template you use should have a corporate look too.

But if you’re going for a job in the creative field, where torn jeans are acceptable work wear, then your cover letter design should be casual and creative, too.

3. Design for Clarity

Never sacrifice clarity for a clever design. Colored backgrounds, clever fonts, and other interesting design elements may be eye-catching. But, if they make your cover letter hard to read, then they’re doing you a disservice. Instead, different design elements should make your cover letter easier to read and understand.

4. Add an Optimized Header 

Many cover letter templates for Word include an optimized header. This means it includes your name, contact information, and a headline. The headline is your personal tagline that describes you and why you’re suitable for the position. Keep it to a short phrase, not a sentence.

5. Aim for Visual Consistency

Ensure that the look of your cover letter is consistent with your resume. Premium cover letter templates come in a complete package that includes resume templates as well. These are designed to complement each other and have visual coherence. With most of the design decisions made for you, resume and cover letter templates allow you to focus your energies on the content.

Discover More Great MS Word Templates for 2020/2021

You can find many more Word templates for all the documents you need to create at work. Check out these roundups of more great templates for MS Word:

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  Resumes
  
  
  39+ Professional MS Word Resume Templates (Simple CV Design Formats 2020)
  
  
  
  Marc Schenker


• 
  Microsoft Word
  
  
  20 Best Free Microsoft Word Corporate Letterhead Templates (Download 2020)
  
  
  Alexis (Lexi) Rodrigo


• 
  Microsoft Word
  
  
  20 Best Free Microsoft Word Certificate Templates (Downloads for 2021)
  
  
  Brenda Barron

5 Benefits of Using the Best Cover Letter Templates for Word With Pro Designs

Are you still on the fence about using a Microsoft Word cover letter template to jump ahead in the hiring process? You might wonder about the value of outsourcing the design work. 

Here are five reasons that you should use a great cover letter template for your next job application in 2021:

1. 
   You save time. Instead of designing your cover letter from scratch, you'll start with a professionally designed cover letter for Microsoft Word. There's no need to spend hours designing an eye-catching cover letter yourself. 
   


2. 
   The finished cover letter stands out. Catch a recruiter's eye with how professional your cover letter looks. Many candidates won't bother to create a professional-looking cover letter, but will opt for a plain, unformatted letter instead.


3. 
   Coordinate your cover letter with your resume or CV. Many premium cover letter templates docs come bundled with a matching resume or CV template. Sometimes there's even a matching portfolio or business card template.


4. 
   You don't give up customization. Just because you start with a good CV cover letter template for Microsoft Word doesn't mean that you can't totally customize it. Even the best templates can still be modified and adjusted to include your personalized details.


5. 
   Easy to use. Best of all, professionally designed cover letter templates are easy to use. Many work with popular software such as Microsoft Word.

Benefits of Envato Elements (The Power of Unlimited Use)

Envato Elements is a unique service. It's a flat-rate subscription that includes thousands of great resume cover letter templates for a single flat-rate price.

Sign up for Envato Elements. You'll get access to thousands of unlimited use graphics and templates. Choose from web themes to cover letter templates, and more—all for one low price. 

Find the Best Premium Microsoft Word Resume Templates on Envato Elements (2021)

If you’re looking for a Microsoft word cover letter template that's good quality and stylish, then you should consider premium templates. There are two options for premium cover letter templates for Word: Envato Elements and Graphic River

For great professional Microsoft Word Resume templates, Envato Elements is a resource for templates. It's a subscription service where you pay a low monthly fee. A membership to Envato Elements will allow you access to unlimited downloads of premium digital content.

The downloads that you can use are stock music, images, videos, fonts, CV cover letter templates for Word and so much more. Often free cover letter template for Word aren’t as high quality as the premium templates you’ll find on Envato Elements. If you want a resume template that'll stand out in a stack of other resumes, consider a premium template from Envato Elements. 

Learn More about Your Word Cover Letter Template

Do you still have questions? Do you still want to know more? We've got a lot tutorials and articles to help you understand your Microsoft Word cover letter template:

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  Resumes
  
  
  How to Make Your Resume Fit on One Single Page (15 Quick Tips)
  
  
  Charley Mendoza


• 
  Resumes
  
  
  How to Write, Design, & Make a Simple Pro Resume Quickly with Templates
  
  
  Sarah Joy


• 
  Resumes
  
  
  How to Write a Functional or Skills-Based Resume (With Examples + Templates)
  
  
  Charley Mendoza

Use a Cover Letter Template (Word) to Get that Job Interview

A great cover letter will help your application stand out, so the recruiter reads your resume and calls you for an interview and eventually, the job.

Use a cover letter template (Word) to save time so you can focus on the content of the letter. Premium cover letter templates come bundled with resume templates, giving your application a coherent look. They’re also designed to be easy to personalize with your own information.

Elements and GraphicRiver are excellent sources of premium templates for cover letters in Word. With a subscription to Envato Elements, you get unlimited downloads of all the Word templates you need — along with fonts, photos, icons, and other creative ingredients you want to use on your cover letter and resume.

But, for the one-off premium cover letter template, look at GraphicRiver, which offers many creative tools on a pay-per-use basis.

Either way, a well-designed cover letter template for Word will make your job hunt less stressful. It'll also give you the edge that just might land you your next job.

Editorial Note: Our staff updates this post regularly—adding new Word resume cover letter templates with the best new designs.