A template is simply a document that refuses to be overwritten. When you open one, Word hands you a fresh untitled copy and keeps the original pristine. That means the layout work you do today is work you never repeat.
Build the letter once
Open Word and choose Blank document.
Starting blank means nothing to undo — Word's built-in letter templates come with styling you did not choose.
Type your name on the first line, then your address and phone number on the lines beneath. Select those lines and click Align Right on the Home tab.
Right-aligned sender details at the top is the convention readers expect on a formal letter.
Press Enter twice, then type the placeholder text [Recipient name] and [Recipient address] on their own left-aligned lines.
Square brackets are a note to yourself. They are obvious enough that you will never accidentally post a letter with them left in.
Press Enter twice and type Dear [Name], then twice more and type [Your letter goes here].
You are building a shape to fill in, not the words themselves.
At the bottom, add Yours sincerely, four blank lines, then your name.
The blank lines leave room to sign by hand once it is printed.
Select everything with Ctrl+A, set the font size to 12, and on the Home tab set line spacing to 1.15.
Twelve point with slightly open spacing is comfortable to read for almost everyone, including the person receiving it.
Add today's date automatically
Click on the blank line under your address details.
The date belongs above the recipient on a formal letter.
On the Insert tab, click Date & Time, pick the format you like, tick Update automatically, and click OK.
Now every new letter from this template dates itself. One less thing to get wrong.
Save it as a template
Press F12 (or File then Save As).
Save As is where the file type can be changed — plain Save would just make an ordinary document.
In the file-type dropdown, choose Word Template (.dotx).
That extension is what makes Word protect the original and hand you copies instead.
Name it My letter template and accept the Custom Office Templates folder Word suggests.
Saving there makes it appear under File then New then Personal, so you never hunt for the file.
Use it, and rename each copy
Choose File then New then Personal, and click your template.
Look at the title bar: it says Document1, not your template's name. That is proof the original is safe.
Replace each bracketed placeholder, then press Ctrl+S and give this copy a real name, such as Letter to surgery – May.
Naming copies by who and when means finding one again in two years takes seconds.
Check yourself
If you can say yes to each of these, you have finished.
- My details and layout are set up once.
- The date fills itself in.
- The file is saved as a .dotx template.
- Opening it gives me a new untitled copy, not the original.