AbstractThis paper presents the practical closed‐form solutions for elastic settlement under the linear full‐contact pressures on rectangular areas resting upon an elastic mass. The linear pressure distribution is mostly assumed in practice for the rectangular footing having biaxial bending. The equations presented here are determined by evaluating the integration of Steinbrenner's strain approximation based on the stress solutions from the Boussinesq equations. The presented formulae are validated to be used for the elastic settlement under any point of linear full‐contact loading, triangular and embankment types of pressure cases. In this respect, it represents a significant step forward in the understanding of elastic settlement and rotation under the practical loading cases. The presented solutions are concise and easy to use. The numerical examples are demonstrated and the resulting influence factors in graphical forms are presented for their practical use especially in the elastic settlement calculations of rectangular footing subjected to the biaxial bending. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.