Disappearing Letterhead

Question

I'm working on an updated letter template in Word for my firm. I have it set up so the first page is different from the rest, and it looks great. However, once something is copied from another document and pasted into the saved template, the first page's letterhead disappears. The rest of the pages have the correct letterhead, but the first is gone. What's going wrong and how can I fix this? We've set up templates like this before and never had this problem.

Answer 1

It sounds like you may have placed the first page header information on the main content layer of the template instead of in the Header & Footer layer.

If possible, please upload a sample file that shows the problem to a cloud service, then post a password-free share link here so we can verify the nature of the problem.

Answer 2

Pasting content is likely bringing in section breaks, header/footer settings, or “Different first page” settings from the source document that override the template’s first-page letterhead.

To fix the template and prevent it from happening again:

1. Re‑establish a clean first‑page header in the template
   1. Open the template file (.dotx) itself.
   2. Go to the first page and double‑click in the header area.
   3. On the Header & Footer tools, make sure Different First Page is turned on.
   4. Rebuild the first‑page letterhead (logo, address, etc.) in the First Page Header.
   5. Ensure the header for Other Pages is also correct.
   6. Close Header & Footer.
2. Break the link between sections if needed If the template uses sections (for example, different layout for page 1 vs. later pages):
   1. Place the cursor in the body of page 2 (or the first page of the “body” section).
   2. Double‑click in the header.
   3. Turn off Link to Previous so that the body section’s header does not overwrite the first section’s header.
   4. Confirm that the first page still shows the correct letterhead.
3. Paste in a way that does not bring in headers/sections When inserting content from another document into a new letter based on the template:
   1. Place the cursor in the body text area (not in the header or footer).
   2. Use Paste Special or paste options and choose Keep Text Only or Merge Formatting, not Keep Source Formatting. This avoids importing section breaks and header/footer definitions from the source document.
   3. If content must include its own formatting, manually remove any section breaks that come in with the pasted text (Layout > Breaks > check for Section Breaks) and re‑check the header behavior.
4. If the template recently started misbehaving If this behavior is new across documents, the default template (Normal.dotm) or a custom template may have been altered. Re‑creating or restoring the template can help:
   1. Create a new blank document.
   2. Set up the first‑page header (Different First Page) and subsequent page header as desired.
   3. Save as a Document Template (*.dotx) and use that as the firm’s letterhead template going forward.

Using a dedicated template with a correctly configured Different First Page header and careful paste options will keep the first‑page letterhead from disappearing when content is added.

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References:

• Change or delete a header or footer on a single page
• Keep cover letters with your resume in Word
• Create a template
• How to create formal letterhead template - Microsoft Q&A