How to Create a Gmail Letterhead Template (2026 Guide)

A Gmail letterhead makes your business emails look like formal company documents with a logo at the top and consistent contact information at the bottom. Gmail Templates (formerly called Canned Responses) is the built-in feature that saves and reuses letterheads. This 2026 guide walks you through the exact setup, including how to add a logo, insert your address block, and reuse the letterhead across every new email.

Once you set up your first letterhead, every new email starts with your company branding already in place. You just fill in the message body between the header and footer.

Enable Templates in Gmail settings

Templates are disabled by default. Turning them on unlocks the letterhead workflow.

1. Open Gmail on desktop.
2. Click the gear icon in the top right, then click See all settings.
3. Click the Advanced tab in the settings row.
4. Find the Templates row and click Enable.
5. Scroll to the bottom and click Save Changes.
6. Gmail reloads with the Templates feature now available inside the compose window.

Design the letterhead in a new compose window

Create your letterhead once in a compose window, then save it as a template. Take your time with this step because it becomes the master template for every future email.

1. Click Compose to open a new message.
2. Type your header at the top: company name, tagline, and address on separate lines. Format with the compose toolbar (bold company name, italic tagline).
3. Insert your logo using the Insert image icon (the small mountain-and-sun icon in the compose toolbar). Choose Upload and pick your logo file.
4. Resize the logo by clicking it and choosing Small or Best fit (usually 200-300 px wide is right).
5. Add a horizontal line separator by pressing Enter, typing three dashes and pressing Enter again (Gmail auto-converts to a horizontal line).
6. Type your body placeholder text like “Dear [Name],” so the template shows you where to fill in when you use it.
7. Add the closing block at the bottom: signature name, title, phone, email, and website.

Save the design as a Gmail template

Once the letterhead looks right, save it so you can reuse it on every new email.

1. Click the three-dot menu in the bottom right of the compose window.
2. Hover over Templates.
3. Hover over Save draft as template.
4. Click Save as new template.
5. Give the template a memorable name like Company Letterhead.
6. Click Save. Gmail confirms with a small popup at the bottom.

Load the letterhead template on any new email

Every new email starts with the option to insert your saved template.

1. Click Compose to open a new message.
2. Click the three-dot menu at the bottom right.
3. Hover over Templates, then Insert template.
4. Click the name of your letterhead. Gmail fills the compose window with the full letterhead including logo, header, and footer.
5. Fill in the recipient in the To field, the subject in the Subject field, and replace the body placeholder with your actual message.
6. Click Send. The recipient sees your fully-branded letterhead.

Multiple letterheads for different purposes

Gmail supports up to 50 templates per account. Create separate letterheads for different use cases so you never mix them up.

• Business letterhead: full company branding, professional tone. Use for external client emails.
• Internal memo template: minimal branding, focused on efficiency. Use for team communication.
• Sales pitch template: branded header, call-to-action footer, testimonial link. Use for prospecting.
• Support response template: helpful tone, next-step guidance, support portal link. Use for customer inquiries.
• Personal letterhead: simplified version without logo, for family or friend correspondence.

Common letterhead mistakes to avoid

• Using an inline image as the logo instead of hosted image. Inline (base64) images bloat the email size and can hit Gmail’s signature 10,000 character limit. Upload the logo to your website first and reference by URL.
• Making the header too wide. Emails render across desktop (600-700px wide) and mobile (320-375px wide). Keep header images under 600px wide to avoid horizontal scroll on mobile.
• Adding too many colors or fonts. Email clients render inconsistently. Stick to 2 fonts max and 3 brand colors. Simple layouts render better than complex ones across Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail.
• Forgetting to test on mobile. Send yourself a test email to your phone before rolling out. Some layouts look great on desktop but break on mobile.
• Not updating the template when your info changes. If your phone number or address changes, edit the template once. Otherwise every future email uses stale info.

When Gmail letterheads make sense for your business

Letterheads shine for solopreneurs, freelancers, small business owners, and consultants who send a lot of one-off external emails and want consistent branding. Setting up once and reusing everywhere saves 5-10 minutes per email that would otherwise be spent copying and pasting your signature block.

For enterprise use with 20+ employees, Gmail templates work but Google Workspace admin can push a company-wide signature template centrally that automatically applies to every employee. Ask your admin about the Signature policy in Workspace admin console.

For marketing bulk email, do not use Gmail templates. Use a dedicated email service provider like Mailchimp, ConvertKit, or SendGrid, which support proper templates, tracking, unsubscribe links, and analytics that Gmail cannot provide.