Professional email sign-offs: Best closing lines
You’ve just written a great business email with a clear message. But now it’s time to bring it to a close and leave your recipient with a positive impression. Did you know that professional email etiquette calls for an appropriate ending to your message?
Keep reading to learn the best closings for a professional email.
How do you add a professional ending to an email??
Professional email closings should always contain three elements:
For example, a good email ending that includes these three elements could look like this:
I look forward to seeing you at our meeting next Thursday!
Kind regards,
Sarah
Junior Marketing Manager
Apex Designs
(123) 456-7890
Now, let’s look at some different email sign-off examples you can use in your professional correspondence.
Ending lines for professional emails
A professional ending line or closing line is the sentence or sentences you use just before signing off. The purpose is to restate the intent of your email and motivate the recipient to respond – rather like a call to action. It is also good professional etiquette to express appreciation or gratitude in your email closing.?
Common phrases for starting an email closing include “Thank you for…”, “I appreciate…”, and “I look forward to…”.
Professional email closing phrases examples:
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Professional email closers
Now that you’ve nailed your professional closing line, it’s time for your sign-off. Also known as a “closer,” “closing salutation,” or “valediction,” an email sign-off is a formal way of closing your message, just like ending a letter with “Sincerely yours”. So, what is best way to end an email??
In a professional email, you are safest choosing a sign-off like “Best regards” or “Kind regards”. “Kind regards” is a bit more formal than “Best regards” and for a more informal version – e.g., for someone in the same company as you – you can shorten it to “Regards” or “Best”.?
These different “regards” closers are considered semi-formal, but they are appropriate for professional emails because an email is seen as less formal than a traditional letter. However, if you are writing a very formal email, you can choose “Sincerely,” “Sincerely yours,” or “Yours sincerely” as your sign-off instead of finishing your email with some form of “regards.”
Pro tip: If you are looking for the right email greeting to go with your professional email closing, check out our explainer: Email greetings: The best formal and informal email openings
Professional email sign-off examples
Here are eight professional sign-offs to close your business email, ranked from most formal to least formal:
Sign-offs for informal business emails
Not all professional emails are formal – sometimes you are emailing coworkers you know well or longtime clients with whom you have a friendly relationship, for instance. If you are conducting less formal business, a less formal sign-off is also appropriate. Here are some casual email endings that are still safe for work:
Sign-offs for personal emails
There are some common email sign-offs that are perfectly acceptable in a non-professional setting but are considered too casual or personal for a business setting. Save the following ten sign-offs for emails to your friends and family and avoid them in a professional setting:
Good to know: Can you send an email without a sign off?
If you are writing an email to someone for the first time, you should definitely use a greeting and a closing. Even if you know your recipient, whenever you are starting a new email thread it’s considered good form to start with a greeting and end with a proper sign-off. Otherwise you might come across as abrupt or impolite. An exception to this rule would be if you are writing a very short, very informal email – e.g. “The team is going out to lunch – want to join?” And if you have an email thread that is going back and forth several times in the same day, you don’t need to have a greeting and closing on every follow-up message.
Conclude your professional email with a signature
After your closing salutation, you should type your name. If you have addressed you recipient by first name, write your first name as well; if you addressed them with Ms./Mr. + last name, sign off with your first and last name.??
When writing a professional email, you should include your contact information under your name, e.g., the company address, your direct phone number, etc. Most companies will have an automatic signature in the footer that includes this information, so you don’t have to type it in yourself. ?If you are self-employed or running your own small business, you should create a professional email signature to conclude your emails.
Bonus explainer: If you’d like to some pointers for setting up a professional email signature, check out our blog post: Create an email signature: Examples and templates.
We hope this article helps you give your professional email the perfect happy ending. And if you don’t have a mail.com email address yet, why not sign-up for an account with us today?