{"id":251,"date":"2026-08-07T12:50:04","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T12:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/?p=251"},"modified":"2026-08-07T12:50:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T12:50:04","slug":"cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\/","title":{"rendered":"ATS-Friendly Cover Letter: Does It Need Different Formatting?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Most applicant tracking systems can technically read a cover letter, but they don&#8217;t screen it as strictly as a resume. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A short, plainly formatted cover letter\u00a0 saved as a standard PDF or DOCX, with no tables, columns, or graphics\u00a0 is safe for any ATS. You don&#8217;t need a separate &#8220;ATS strategy&#8221; for your cover letter the way you do for your resume.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you&#8217;ve spent time getting your resume ATS-ready, it&#8217;s natural to wonder whether your cover letter needs the same treatment. The short version: a little, but far less than you&#8217;d think. Let&#8217;s walk through where the real risk is, and where it isn&#8217;t.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Key Takeaways<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ATS platforms can parse cover letters, but they weren&#8217;t built around them the way they were built around resumes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Resumes contain structured data (job titles, dates, skills). Cover letters are free-form narrative text, which is harder for any parser to score consistently.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The formatting risks that break a resume\u00a0 tables, columns, images, headers\/footers\u00a0 are the same ones to avoid in a cover letter, just less consequential if they slip through.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some applications mark the cover letter as optional. When that&#8217;s the case, a strong resume alone is a complete application -you&#8217;re not penalized for skipping it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The bigger opportunity in a cover letter isn&#8217;t ATS formatting &#8211; it&#8217;s using the job posting&#8217;s own language naturally, which helps both software and the human reading it afterward.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How ATS Handles Cover Letters vs. Resumes<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-254\" src=\"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/How-ATS-Handles-Cover-Letters-vs.-Resumes.webp\" alt=\"how ats handles cover letters vs. resumes\" width=\"820\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/How-ATS-Handles-Cover-Letters-vs.-Resumes.webp 820w, https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/How-ATS-Handles-Cover-Letters-vs.-Resumes-300x168.webp 300w, https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/How-ATS-Handles-Cover-Letters-vs.-Resumes-768x431.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Applicant tracking systems were built to solve one problem first: pulling structured information out of a resume. That includes job titles, dates, employers, and skills. This lets recruiters search and rank candidates quickly. Cover letters came later. Most platforms still treat them as a secondary document.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That distinction matters more than any specific formatting rule. A resume&#8217;s structure\u00a0 headers like &#8220;Experience&#8221; and &#8220;Education,&#8221; bullet points, consistent date formats\u00a0 is exactly what a parser is designed to extract. A cover letter is closer to an essay: three or four paragraphs of ordinary sentences. Even a well-built parser has less to grab onto.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two independent sources reach the same conclusion on this exact question. One explains that cover letters are commonly searchable by keyword inside an ATS, even when they aren&#8217;t formally parsed into structured fields the way resumes are. Another describes cover letters as &#8220;unstructured data.&#8221; That makes consistent, detailed extraction harder across different ATS platforms. It&#8217;s a genuinely honest, useful distinction\u00a0 one worth taking at face value rather than treating as a hidden risk.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Where a lot of general career advice stops short is here. It correctly says ATS reads cover letters less rigorously. Then it just tells you to format simply anyway, without saying what that actually changes for you as an applicant. It doesn&#8217;t, for example, tell you when a cover letter is even part of the process you&#8217;re being scored against. That&#8217;s the gap this article closes, and it&#8217;s covered directly below.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cover Letter vs. Resume: ATS Handling at a Glance<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-253\" src=\"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Cover-Letter-vs.-Resume_-ATS-Handling-at-a-Glance.webp\" alt=\"ats handling at a glance\" width=\"820\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Cover-Letter-vs.-Resume_-ATS-Handling-at-a-Glance.webp 820w, https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Cover-Letter-vs.-Resume_-ATS-Handling-at-a-Glance-300x168.webp 300w, https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Cover-Letter-vs.-Resume_-ATS-Handling-at-a-Glance-768x431.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px\" \/><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td><b>Resume<\/b><\/td>\n<td><b>Cover Letter<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Primary ATS function<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Extract structured data (titles, dates, skills)<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Often searchable by keyword; rarely fully &#8220;scored&#8221;<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Format sensitivity<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">High &#8211; tables\/columns can scramble parsing<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lower &#8211; plain paragraphs are naturally parser-friendly<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Typical file handling<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Always required, always parsed<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes optional; parsing depth varies by platform<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What actually helps<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Standard section headers, reverse-chronological order<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Job-posting language woven into real sentences<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Formatting risk to avoid<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Images, text boxes, multi-column layouts, headers\/footers<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Same list &#8211; lower stakes, but still worth avoiding<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What Still Matters<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even though the risk is lower, a handful of formatting basics keep your cover letter readable by both software and the person who eventually opens it. None of these require a redesign &#8211; they&#8217;re mostly about not doing a few specific things.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Cover letter ATS-format checklist:<\/b><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Save it as a standard file type. PDF or DOCX, unless the application specifically asks for something else.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use a single-column layout. No side-by-side text boxes or design columns , they can scramble reading order in some parsers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Skip images, icons, and logos. They add nothing a parser or recruiter needs, and some systems can&#8217;t read past them.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Avoid headers and footers for key content. Some parsers skip these sections entirely, so don&#8217;t put your contact details or a key sentence there.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use standard fonts and structure. Ordinary paragraphs, no unusual symbols or decorative dividers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mirror the job posting&#8217;s real language &#8211; naturally. If the role asks for &#8220;stakeholder management&#8221; and that&#8217;s genuinely part of your experience, use those words instead of a rough synonym.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keep it focused. A cover letter that stays on-topic and reasonably concise reads clearly to a parser and a human alike -there&#8217;s no fixed word count that guarantees anything, so let the content, not a formula, set the length.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That&#8217;s the complete list. There&#8217;s no separate &#8220;ATS cover letter format&#8221; to memorize beyond what you&#8217;d already do to write a clear, professional letter. For the resume side of this same discipline, see our <a href=\"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/cover-letter-cover-letter-format\/\">cover letter format basics<\/a> guide and how <a href=\"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/ats-resume-tips-for-freshers-with-no-experience\/\">ATS resume screening actually works<\/a>\u00a0 the same handful of rules apply to both documents.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When a Cover Letter Is Even Required<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-255\" src=\"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/When-a-Cover-Letter-Is-Even-Required.webp\" alt=\"when a cover letter is even required\" width=\"820\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/When-a-Cover-Letter-Is-Even-Required.webp 820w, https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/When-a-Cover-Letter-Is-Even-Required-300x168.webp 300w, https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/When-a-Cover-Letter-Is-Even-Required-768x431.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is the question most cover-letter-and-ATS content skips entirely, and it&#8217;s the most practically useful thing to know.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Required upload field: Some application flows mark the cover letter as mandatory before you can submit. In that case, include one\u00a0 a short, genuine letter is always better than a placeholder.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Optional upload field: Many platforms label it &#8220;optional.&#8221; When that&#8217;s true, a complete, well-built resume is a full application on its own. Skipping an optional cover letter isn&#8217;t a mark against you.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No field at all: Some applications don&#8217;t ask for one. There&#8217;s nothing to format for ATS purposes in that case\u00a0 the question doesn&#8217;t apply.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you&#8217;re ever unsure whether a specific field is truly optional or just soft-worded, err toward including a brief, relevant letter. Not because the ATS demands it, but because a recruiter reading it later might. That&#8217;s a judgment call about the reader, not a formatting requirement from the software.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One more thing worth naming plainly: if you&#8217;re applying after a career break, a lateral move, or a stretch of freelance work, the cover letter- optional or not &#8211; is often where that context lands best. A resume lists what you did; a letter can explain why it counts. That counts, and it&#8217;s worth the extra few minutes when the field is there.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FAQs<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3>Does ATS scan cover letters?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many applicant tracking systems can read cover letters, but they generally parse them less rigorously than resumes. Cover letters are unstructured narrative text, so most systems extract less consistent detail from them than they do from a resume&#8217;s structured sections.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Do I need a plain-text cover letter for ATS?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You don&#8217;t need plain text specifically, but you should avoid tables, columns, images, and headers\/footers. A standard PDF or DOCX with ordinary paragraphs is safe for virtually any ATS.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Is a cover letter required if the application marks it optional?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No. If a field is labeled optional, a strong, complete resume is a full application on its own. Including a short, relevant letter can still help once a recruiter reads it, but it isn&#8217;t required by the system.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Will keyword stuffing help my cover letter pass ATS?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No. Overusing keywords can hurt readability and may be flagged by some systems as low-quality writing. Using the job posting&#8217;s real language naturally, where it&#8217;s genuinely true of your experience, is more effective.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Should my resume and cover letter be formatted the same way?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It&#8217;s a reasonable default &#8211; simple, single-column layouts with no images or text boxes work safely for both. Your resume still needs more structural precision, since it&#8217;s the document ATS platforms are built to parse most closely. JustCV&#8217;s own templates follow this single-column, text-layer-preserving approach by default for exactly this reason.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Does the cover letter matter if my resume is already ATS-optimized?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yes, but for a different reason than parsing. A well-formatted resume gets you through the software; a genuine, well-written cover letter is what a recruiter reads afterward to decide whether to reach out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Formatting a cover letter for ATS doesn&#8217;t need to be its own project. Keep it simple, keep it honest about your experience, and save the real thinking for what you actually want to say. If you&#8217;re building both documents at once, <a href=\"https:\/\/justcv.io\/templates\">JustCV&#8217;s ATS-tested templates<\/a> keep the resume side straightforward too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/justcv.io\/templates\"><b>Explore Templates \u2192<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most applicant tracking systems can technically read a cover letter, but they don&#8217;t screen it as strictly as a resume. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[63,56,62,52],"class_list":["post-251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-advice","tag-applicant-tracking-system","tag-cover-letter-format","tag-hiring-process","tag-professional-cover-letter"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>ATS-Friendly Cover Letter: Does Formatting Matter?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&quot;Does your cover letter need to be &#039;ATS-friendly&#039; the same way your resume does? Here&#039;s what actually matters- and what doesn&#039;t.&quot;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ATS-Friendly Cover Letter: Does Formatting Matter?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&quot;Does your cover letter need to be &#039;ATS-friendly&#039; the same way your resume does? Here&#039;s what actually matters- and what doesn&#039;t.&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Just CV Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/people\/Just-CV\/61590945682269\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T12:50:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ATS-Friendly-Cover-Letter_-Does-It-Need-Different-Formatting_.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ajay shah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@justcvio\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@justcvio\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ajay shah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ajay shah\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/85b0ae41fc5e5cd10c15a4235170f7d4\"},\"headline\":\"ATS-Friendly Cover Letter: Does It Need Different Formatting?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-07T12:50:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1460,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/ATS-Friendly-Cover-Letter_-Does-It-Need-Different-Formatting_.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Applicant Tracking System\",\"Cover Letter Format\",\"Hiring Process\",\"Professional Cover Letter\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Career Advice\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\\\/\",\"name\":\"ATS-Friendly Cover Letter: Does Formatting Matter?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/ATS-Friendly-Cover-Letter_-Does-It-Need-Different-Formatting_.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-07T12:50:04+00:00\",\"description\":\"\\\"Does your cover letter need to be 'ATS-friendly' the same way your resume does? Here's what actually matters- and what doesn't.\\\"\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/ATS-Friendly-Cover-Letter_-Does-It-Need-Different-Formatting_.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/ATS-Friendly-Cover-Letter_-Does-It-Need-Different-Formatting_.webp\",\"width\":500,\"height\":280,\"caption\":\"ats-friendly cover letter\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"ATS-Friendly Cover Letter: Does It Need Different Formatting?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/\",\"name\":\"Just CV\",\"description\":\"JustCV \u2013 Free AI Resume Builder &amp; ATS-Friendly CV Maker\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"Just CV\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Just CV\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/header_logo-1.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/header_logo-1.webp\",\"width\":597,\"height\":180,\"caption\":\"Just CV\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/people\\\/Just-CV\\\/61590945682269\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/justcvio\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/justcvio\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/justcv\\\/about\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/85b0ae41fc5e5cd10c15a4235170f7d4\",\"name\":\"Ajay shah\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dec8d4f081d7796135e273e6ce0bd1bb27cec4031a5a6043aa0a53c020661d74?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dec8d4f081d7796135e273e6ce0bd1bb27cec4031a5a6043aa0a53c020661d74?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dec8d4f081d7796135e273e6ce0bd1bb27cec4031a5a6043aa0a53c020661d74?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ajay shah\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justcv.io\\\/blogs\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"ATS-Friendly Cover Letter: Does Formatting Matter?","description":"\"Does your cover letter need to be 'ATS-friendly' the same way your resume does? Here's what actually matters- and what doesn't.\"","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"ATS-Friendly Cover Letter: Does Formatting Matter?","og_description":"\"Does your cover letter need to be 'ATS-friendly' the same way your resume does? Here's what actually matters- and what doesn't.\"","og_url":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\/","og_site_name":"Just CV Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/people\/Just-CV\/61590945682269\/","article_published_time":"2026-08-07T12:50:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":280,"url":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ATS-Friendly-Cover-Letter_-Does-It-Need-Different-Formatting_.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Ajay shah","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@justcvio","twitter_site":"@justcvio","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ajay shah","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\/"},"author":{"name":"Ajay shah","@id":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/#\/schema\/person\/85b0ae41fc5e5cd10c15a4235170f7d4"},"headline":"ATS-Friendly Cover Letter: Does It Need Different Formatting?","datePublished":"2026-08-07T12:50:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\/"},"wordCount":1460,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ATS-Friendly-Cover-Letter_-Does-It-Need-Different-Formatting_.webp","keywords":["Applicant Tracking System","Cover Letter Format","Hiring Process","Professional Cover Letter"],"articleSection":["Career Advice"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\/","url":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\/","name":"ATS-Friendly Cover Letter: Does Formatting Matter?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ATS-Friendly-Cover-Letter_-Does-It-Need-Different-Formatting_.webp","datePublished":"2026-08-07T12:50:04+00:00","description":"\"Does your cover letter need to be 'ATS-friendly' the same way your resume does? Here's what actually matters- and what doesn't.\"","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ATS-Friendly-Cover-Letter_-Does-It-Need-Different-Formatting_.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ATS-Friendly-Cover-Letter_-Does-It-Need-Different-Formatting_.webp","width":500,"height":280,"caption":"ats-friendly cover letter"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/cover-letter-ats-friendly-cover-letter\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"ATS-Friendly Cover Letter: Does It Need Different Formatting?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/#website","url":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/","name":"Just CV","description":"JustCV \u2013 Free AI Resume Builder &amp; ATS-Friendly CV Maker","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/#organization"},"alternateName":"Just CV","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/#organization","name":"Just CV","url":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/header_logo-1.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/header_logo-1.webp","width":597,"height":180,"caption":"Just CV"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/people\/Just-CV\/61590945682269\/","https:\/\/x.com\/justcvio","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/justcvio\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/justcv\/about\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/#\/schema\/person\/85b0ae41fc5e5cd10c15a4235170f7d4","name":"Ajay shah","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dec8d4f081d7796135e273e6ce0bd1bb27cec4031a5a6043aa0a53c020661d74?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dec8d4f081d7796135e273e6ce0bd1bb27cec4031a5a6043aa0a53c020661d74?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dec8d4f081d7796135e273e6ce0bd1bb27cec4031a5a6043aa0a53c020661d74?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ajay shah"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs"],"url":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":256,"href":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251\/revisions\/256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justcv.io\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}