The handwritten letter format has six parts, top to bottom: your address, the date, a greeting, the body, a closing and your signature. Write on one side of the page, keep to the left margin, and leave a blank line between parts. Then fold the page in three and put it in the envelope.
This guide shows the layout, how the friendly, formal and business versions differ, how to fold, and how a 6x4 card changes things.
What is the layout of a handwritten letter?
Put your address at the top, the date on the last line of it, then the greeting, the body, the closing and your name. Purdue's writing lab says to leave "four lines between the closing and the sender's name for a signature" (Purdue OWL). A friendly letter has the same five parts, and its greeting ends in a comma (Appalachian State University).
12 Rose Lane
Leeds LS6 1AB
22 October 2026
Dear Aunt Meera,
Thank you for the scarf. It arrived on the
coldest morning of the week and I wore it
straight away.
I will call on Sunday.
With love,
Priya
How do friendly, formal and business letters differ?
A friendly letter can skip the recipient's address and open with "Dear Aunt Meera,". A formal or business letter adds the recipient's name and address under your date, opens with a title and surname ("Dear Dr Rao:"), and closes with "Sincerely" or "Yours faithfully". Purdue's block format keeps everything flush left, with a blank line between paragraphs.
For a note of thanks, how to sign off a thank-you card lists closings by relationship.
How do you fold a handwritten letter?
Fold it in three, like a business letter. Fold the bottom third up, then the top third down over it, so the page makes three equal bands. The result fits a standard #10 business envelope. One writer suggests folding the bottom a little under a third, so the top flap is slightly short and easy to pull out (Math and Science Notes).
Put the folded page in with the open edge up, so the reader unfolds it facing the writing. Do not fold a letter that has dried ink in a tight crease. Wait a few minutes first.
Where do the address and stamp go?
Write the recipient's address in the middle of the front, and your return address in the upper left corner of the same side. The United States Postal Service asks for a clear space on the address side for the address and postage (USPS Domestic Mail Manual 102). Stamps go in the upper right. Our short answer on how to address an envelope covers the lines, and the postcard addressing guide covers cards.
A letter in the post office's "letter" class must be between 3-1/2 and 6-1/8 inches high and between 5 and 11-1/2 inches long (USPS Domestic Mail Manual 201). A folded sheet in a business envelope is well inside that.
What changes when it is a handwritten card, not a letter?
Drop the address block and shorten everything. A 6x4 card has room for about five or six lines, so use a greeting, two or three sentences, a closing and your name. No date is needed. Our service writes your words with a real pen in black ink on a flat 6x4 card, posted from Bangalore in an envelope addressed to the recipient. See postcard sizes for how that compares with other formats.
If you want a letter-style note without the pen work, pick a hand on the handwriting styles page. We explain why a real pen differs from a font in handwritten notes vs handwriting fonts. For a business sending notes to customers, see For business.
Sources
- Purdue OWL, Basic Business Letters: owl.purdue.edu
- Appalachian State University, Friendly Letters: Parts of the Letter: lesn.appstate.edu
- USPS, Domestic Mail Manual 102, Elements on the Face of a Mailpiece: pe.usps.com
- USPS, Domestic Mail Manual 201, Physical Standards for Letters: pe.usps.com
- Math and Science Notes, Letter folding for envelopes, 2015: mathscinotes.com
