Email closings: Tips for Creating Professional or Casual Email Closings

– Email Closings –

Email closings: Email closings are the last thing your audience reads after finishing your message and can be the motivating factor in how quickly they respond—or whether they respond at all. This article explains how to create a professional and casual email ending.

Email closings

Tips for creating a Professional Email Closings

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you compose your email closings:

  • Use your full name. Always include your first and last name in your closing—especially in the first few correspondences. This way, your recipient is clear on your identity and is less likely to confuse you with other contacts who have the same first name.
  • Be professional. Use context clues to determine the appropriate tone to use in your closing. If you are emailing someone you’ve never met, keep a professional tone by avoiding casual sign-offs like “Chat soon!” If you have exchanged several emails and feel that a more laid-back closing would be more appropriate, feel free to mirror your audience’s tone. If you’re unsure, it’s always a good idea to err on the side of a professional.
  • Decide whether a closing is appropriate. If you’ve exchanged several emails with someone, it can be tempting to skip the closing. In this case, it is good to be thoughtful about including closing in your email. While your conversations might have become more casual, an email closing still exhibits attention to detail and professionalism. Additionally, the recipient may forward your email to others within the organization who may not have communicated with you previously. A thoughtful closing will leave a favorable impression on them and makes the communications clear and easy to follow.

What to Include in your Email Closings

There are a few elements you should consider when writing your email closing. Here’s what you’ll need to include:

1. A closing line

The last line of your email should not only share gratitude with the recipient for reading your message but also include a call-to-action or statement that will either motivate the recipient to respond or shows you anticipate a response. For example, a closing line might look like this:

Thank you for taking the time to review my resume and professional references. I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Sincerely,
Beth McKnight

2. Your full name

Use first and last names in your email sign-off to avoid confusion and help ensure they remember you. By using your full name in your email signature, resume, cover letter and any other documents you share, your chances of getting a response should be increased.

3. Your professional title

You don’t necessarily need to use your current job title (i.e., Account Manager at ABC Company), but it can be helpful to include a title that illustrates what you do. For example,

Joe Jefferson
Sales Manager

4. Contact information

Even though the person receiving your message already has your email address, it’s important to include additional methods of communication, such as your direct phone number.

Phrases to use and avoid in Professional Email Closings

While some more casual closing phrases might be fine once you’re already working at a company and exchanging communications with colleagues, you’ll want to make sure the phrases you use during the hiring process are more professional.

Classic Email Sign-Offs

  1. [Your name or initials] (ideally followed by a digital signature and contact information)
  2. Sincerely
  3. Thanks
  4. Thanks again
  5. Best
  6. Love
  7. Cheers
  8. Warmly
  9. Looking forward to your reply
  10. Regards
  11. Take Care

Formal Email Closings

  • Fond regards
  • Sincerely yours
  • Cordially
  • Kind regards
  • Respectfully yours
  • Yours sincerely
  • Yours respectfully
  • Cordially yours
  • With sincere gratitude and appreciation
  • Very respectfully
  • Best regards

How to End a Business Email Professionally

Email closings

  1. Best regards
  2. Thanks for your consideration
  3. Kindest regards
  4. I await your reply with interest
  5. With anticipation
  6. Many thanks
  7. Cheers
  8. Respectfully
  9. Keep in touch
  10. I’ll circle back
  11. Good luck
  12. Hope to hear from you soon
  13. Stay tuned
  14. Emphatically
  15. Keep me posted
  16. Looking forward to it
  17. Good work
  18. Solid work
  19. Great working with you
  20. Keep up the good work
  21. Feel free to give me a call
  22. Hoping you can work me in
  23. Hope this helps
  24. Let me know if you have any questions
  25. Let me know what you think
  26. Let me know soon
  27. I’ll let you know soon
  28. Xx [Your name] (e.g. Xx Sam Mendoran)

Informal Ways to End an Email to a Colleague

  1. Wish you were here
  2. See you soon
  3. Be well
  4. Ciao
  5. Can’t wait to hear from you
  6. Hope all is well
  7. Talk soon
  8. Very truly yours
  9. Yours
  10. Your friend
  11. Your pal
  12. Your [relation to recipient]
  13. All the best
  14. Best wishes
  15. Take care
  16. Fond regards
  17. Hugs
  18. Aloha
  19. Hasta La Vista
  20. See you around
  21. Peace and love
  22. Take it easy
  23. Peace be with you
  24. Blessings
  25. Our thoughts are with you
  26. Hoping for your continued blessings
  27. Until next time
  28. Safe travels
  29. Rock on
  30. Talk to you later (ttyl)
  31. Tata for now (ttfn)
  32. You’re the best
  33. Later

How to Close a Thank You Email

  1. Thank you
  2. Thanks for your help
  3. Thanks very much
  4. Thanks for your time
  5. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction
  6. Thanks in advance
  7. Thanks for your consideration
  8. Can’t thank you enough
  9. It was a pleasure doing business with you
  10. Thanks a million
  11. I appreciate your time
  12. With appreciation
  13. Much appreciated
  14. Happy to help
  15. Let me know if you need anything
  16. Let me know what else I can do
  17. Let me know what looks good
  18. Let me know what looks interesting
  19. Stay Awesome
  20. You rock
  21. Rock and roll
  22. At your service
  23. You’re the best
  24. Good job
  25. With gratitude
  26. Undying gratitude
  27. Everlasting gratitude

Casual and Funny Email Sign-Offs

Only use these if you and the person you’re emailing have a close and friendly relationship. These should not be used for formal emails to clients.

  1. May the Force be with you
  2. Live long and prosper
  3. Only you can prevent forest fires
  4. These aren’t the droids you’re looking for
  5. Constant vigilance!
  6. Do, or do not
  7. Just my two cents
  8. Don’t let the bedbugs bite
  9. From the mind of a genius
  10. Peace out
  11. I’ll be back
  12. See ya later
  13. Later alligator
  14. Winter is coming
  15. Watch your back
  16. Remember the Alamo
  17. Stay hydrated
  18. To infinity and beyond
  19. Hakuna matata
  20. Keep on keepin’ on
  21. Stay strong
  22. Signing off for now
  23. That’s all for now
  24. Cheerio
  25. Eat your veggies
  26. Carpe Diem
  27. Onward and upward
  28. Take Care, Comb your hair
  29. May I always live to serve you and your crown
  30. Power to the people
  31. Stopping, Dropping, and Rolling
  32. “No trees were killed to send this message, but a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.” (h/t Neil deGrasse Tyson)

Email Closings for Business Events or Professional Occasions

  1. Happy holidays
  2. Hope you can make it
  3. Happy New Year
  4. Merry Christmas
  5. Joy and happiness
  6. Laughing all the way
  7. Enjoy your holiday
  8. Enjoy your vacation
  9. Enjoy your weekend
  10. Enjoy your [day of the week]
  11. Have a good one
  12. Have a good time
  13. Have a good day
  14. Have a great day
  15. Stay safe
  16. Hope you feel better soon
  17. Get well soon
  18. Sending you good vibes
  19. Glad you had a good time
  20. Please give them my best
  21. Say “Hi” to them for me
  22. Congratulations again

Read Also: How to Write & Format a Professional Business Letter.

Nine Email Sign-offs to Avoid

Nine Email Sign-offs to Avoid

Love

I have a friend who once accidentally signed an office email to his entire department with love. He never lived it down. Save this one for family, close friends, and your significant other. The same applies to hugs or XOXO.

Thx or Rgrds

You’re not thirteen, and this isn’t a conversation happening in a messaging app. Use your words.

Take care

On the surface, taking care sounds pleasant, but on closer examination, it seems to imply that the recipient should be wary of potential dangers. Use this only if bears lurk by the Dumpster outside the recipient’s office. (We’re only half kidding!)

Looking forward to hearing from you

This one also sounds nice at first, but it’s ultimately passive-aggressive. Your recipient is likely to hear an implied “You’d better write back.”

Yours truly

Do you really, truly belong to the recipient? Nope. This sounds insincere and hokey . . . unless you’re writing a letter home to your parents from summer camp.

Respectfully / Respectfully yours

This one’s okay if you’re sending a formal missive to the POTUS, but it’s too formal for anything else. In fact, according to Business Insiderrespectfully yours is the standard close for addressing government officials and clergy.

[Nothing at all]

We live in a world where people frequently email from mobile devices, so excluding a signature certainly isn’t a no-no as an email chain progresses, particularly if your recipient also drops the more formal sign-off.

But not signing an initial email or using only the formal signature you’ve created to append to your outgoing emails appears impersonal.

(Bloomberg disagrees, stating that email has become more like instant messaging than true correspondence these days, but we’re sticking to our convictions.)

-[Name] or -[Initial]

While this sort of sign-off may work for very brief, informal emails, it’s too cold and detached for most, particularly when you’re connecting with the recipient for the first time.

Have a blessed day

It’s best to keep anything with religious overtones out of your professional correspondence, although this one’s fine if you’re emailing an acquaintance about what you’re bringing to the church potluck.

We hope this article has been helpful to you. Please share it with anyone you think will appreciate the information and kindly drop your comment below.

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