Fax cover sheet: what to include, with a free template

Updated October 25, 2026 · PlusFax team

What goes on a fax cover sheet, when you need one, a copy-and-paste template, and the confidentiality notice to add for medical or legal documents.

What a cover sheet is for

A fax arrives on a shared machine, in a tray, as loose pages. The cover sheet is the envelope: it tells whoever picks it up who it is for, who sent it, how many pages should be there, and what to do if they were not the intended reader. Nobody will reject your fax for not having one, but offices that handle many faxes a day expect one, and for medical, legal or financial documents it is where the confidentiality notice belongs.

What to include

• To: the recipient's name and department, plus their fax number.
• From: your name, company if any, and a phone number or email the recipient can use if a page is missing.
• Date of sending.
• Number of pages, including the cover sheet. Write "3 pages including cover" so there is no ambiguity.
• Subject or reference: a claim number, patient reference, case number or invoice number, so the fax can be filed without reading it.
• A short message, if the document needs any explanation. One or two lines is plenty.
• Confidentiality notice, if the contents are sensitive. Wording below.
• Urgency, if it matters: "Please reply by Friday" or "For review, no action needed".

Leave out anything decorative. Logos, grey backgrounds and large fonts turn into black blocks and slow the transmission down.

Template to copy

Paste this into any document, fill it in, export it as a PDF and upload it as the first file. It then becomes page one of the fax.

FAX

To:        ______________________________
Fax:       ______________________________
From:      ______________________________
Phone:     ______________________________
Date:      ______________________________
Pages:     ____ (including this cover sheet)
Re:        ______________________________

[ ] Urgent   [ ] For review   [ ] Please reply   [ ] For your records

Message:
________________________________________________
________________________________________________

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This fax contains information intended only for
the person or organisation named above. If you have received it in
error, please notify the sender by phone and destroy all pages. Any
other use or distribution is prohibited.

The confidentiality notice for medical and legal faxes

In healthcare the notice is often called a HIPAA cover sheet. It does not make a fax compliant on its own, but it is the standard safeguard against a misdialled number and it is what reviewers look for. A fuller version:

CONFIDENTIAL: This transmission may contain protected health information
(PHI) that is legally privileged and confidential. It is intended solely
for the recipient named above. If you are not the intended recipient,
you are hereby notified that any review, disclosure, copying or use of
this information is strictly prohibited. Please notify the sender
immediately by telephone and destroy the transmitted pages.

Law firms use the same structure, replacing "protected health information" with "attorney-client privileged information". If you fax patient records regularly, read how online fax handles HIPAA as well.

When to skip the cover sheet

A one-page form to a dedicated line that only one person reads does not need one; the extra page costs money and time. A form that already carries your name, the recipient and a reference number, as most official forms do, is its own cover sheet. Keep it for faxes to shared office machines, for multi-page documents, and for anything sensitive.

Sending it

On the Send a fax page, upload the cover sheet first and the document second; they are sent as one fax in that order. Cover sheets count as a page: $1.99 covers the first 5 pages, so a cover plus a three-page form is still within the base price. If you fax abroad, check the number format in the international guide; a wrong digit is exactly the situation the notice exists for.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

• How to send a fax online · The four steps from a PDF on your screen to a confirmed delivery, and what to check before you press send.
• Is online fax secure? HIPAA, encryption and what to look for · How online fax compares with a machine, what HIPAA requires, and the questions to ask a provider.
• How to send a fax from Gmail or any email account · How email-to-fax addressing works, which attachments are accepted, and how incoming faxes land in your inbox.
• How to send a fax to another country · Number format, the trunk-zero rule, a country code table and typical delivery times abroad.