How to End An Email: Best Sign-Offs and Email Closings

Nowadays, email is the way we communicate with one another. As expected, there are certain protocols and expectations to follow when you’re crafting an email. It’s important to compose each part of your message with thought and intention, leaving your recipient with a positive impression and a willingness to answer your message.

But after writing a clear and concise email to your recipient, you need to ensure you’re ending on the best note possible. It sounds simple, but it can be trickier than you think. A poorly worded email closing can destroy the hard work you’ve put into your email. With a clear, concise closing, you can ensure you’re achieving your intended goal with the recipient you’re emailing.

Below we discuss a few best practices on how to appropriately close your email to ensure you’re making the right impression with your recipient.

Tips for How to End an Email

Ending an email doesn’t have to be complicated or include many steps. The process is actually quite simple and easy once you get the hang of it. Be sure to keep the following in mind when you’re composing your email closing.

• Sign off with your full name and contact information. Always include both your first and last name when you’re signing off on an email, especially if it’s someone you don’t know well or haven’t communicated with via email before.

  Many professionals receive hundreds if not thousands of emails in their inboxes every single day. Make it easy for them to distinguish who is emailing them and how to respond or contact you if need be.

• Be professional. Depending on the person you are contacting and the tone of your email, you should be able to discern how professional you should be in your closing. If you are conversing with someone for the first time, keep it professional and avoid casual closings.

  However, if you are familiar with this person and their method of working and you feel as though being more laid back is appropriate, you can use a more casual tone in your closing. It’s essential to match your audience’s style, or your email can come off as not genuine.

• Don’t overlook the close. It might be tempting, especially with short emails, to skip a close. However, adding a closing to your email helps to show your professionalism, even with casual contacts. It’s a good practice to continue even in a more casual environment. It shows you are thoughtful and show attention to detail.

  Additionally, consider if the thread is forwarded to any other colleagues. You’ll want to be sure you’re maintaining your professionalism in the event that the thread is shown to anyone outside of the one contact you are emailing.

Professional Email Closing Examples

In a more professional setting, you’ll want to be sure you’re maintaining a more formal closing in your emails. There are a few ways to ensure you do this.

• Cheers. This closing is a tried and true closure that works in just about every scenario in a more casual environment. However, this is typically a closure used in British or Australian language, so be aware of how it might come off as an American.

• Best. This closure is cheerful and concise. This is one of the most commonly used email sign-offs out there. It exudes familiarity with your contact and doesn’t come off as too formal or too casual.

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• Thank you. Thank you is another one of those common yet casual sign-offs. It’s thanking the reader for their attention and time to the matter at hand and is a safe way to sign off from the conversation or email thread.

How Not to End an Email

Now that we understand some ways to close your email successfully, we need to also understand things we should avoid, no matter how casual the email to a colleague. Beware of these sign-offs and avoid using them in common email exchanges at work.

• Love. This is an inappropriate closing to include in a work email. It’s not appropriate, no matter how close you are to your colleagues. Save this one for your personal emails to friends, family, or your significant other

• Thnx. Avoid using any abbreviations in your closures. This exudes laziness and shows the recipient that you don’t respect their time by not even having enough effort to type out the word in full. This is only appropriate for text message conversations with friends or family.

• Take care. This might seem innocent at first, but the meaning is actually a warning in disguise. Take care means that you’re warning your recipient of potential dangers, which isn’t what you’re aiming to do in an email closing.

• Yours truly. This is similar to a “love” signoff. You are implying that you belong to the recipient, and it’s a strange closure to include in an email. In work settings, this comes off as insincere and awkward.

• Respectfully. This is a closing that is entirely too formal for any interaction unless you’re drafting an email to someone like the Queen of England or the Pope. In a regular work setting, it’s too stiff and too formal.

• Nothing. Don’t miss your chance to offer a closing in your email. Even if you are responding to something from your smartphone, excluding a signature is a mistake. Missing a closure shows that you aren’t paying attention to the details, and you might not care about the people in the thread at all.

• Have a blessed day. Anything religious should be kept out of work emails. Although the intention behind the closure is admirable, it’s just not appropriate for a work environment. However, if you’re emailing with your church volunteer group, this type of closure is appropriate.

• Sent from my iPhone. This is one of the worst ones to sign off with. The iPhone’s template greeting is a sure sign of not being detailed oriented or caring about how you appear to other professionals in your field. Be sure to change this in your settings, especially if you send emails from your phone frequently.

How to Format an Email Closing

For any email closing, regardless of the profession or industry you’re in, you should include a few key things:

• A closing line. Choose an example above or make one of your own. Your last line should include a call to action or statement that allows the recipient to know what to do with the email. Sometimes you’ll send an informative email that doesn’t require a response, or there will be times when a response is required. Tailor your closing accordingly.

• Your full name. Use your first and last name rather than an initial or just your first name. This helps to avoid confusion and ensure they know exactly who you are and can find you at a later date.

• Your professional title. Again, depending on the recipient and circumstances, your full title might not be necessary. However, it’s important to indicate what your job entails to give your recipient a little more information about you.

• Contact information. Even though the person might have your email address from the email you’re sending them, it’s good practice to include additional methods of contacting you. This can include LinkedIn profile links or your phone number.

Sample Email Message Closings

There are a wide variety of email closings that are appropriate to choose from when signing off on an email. Below are just a few places to start:

• Best regards

• Wishing you the best

• All the best

• Best

• Warmly

• Warm regards

• Warmest regards

• Cordially

• Thank you

• Thanks

• Many thanks

• Thank you for your consideration

• In appreciation

• With gratitude

• Thank you for your help

• Have a great week

• Hope this is helpful

• Have a great weekend

• Enjoy your weekend

• Cheers

• Be well

• Ciao

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.