How to End Emails Professionally: What You Need to Know

Composing a good email requires more than just conveying your message clearly and effectively, you also need to end it on the right note. Knowing how to end an email professionally is essential for writing emails that leave your recipient with a positive impression. In this article, we’ll walk you through how to end emails professionally, from closing lines, the best and worst sign-offs, to your email signature.

How to End Emails Professionally

If you’ve spent time crafting a good email, you should try to end it well. Otherwise, all of that hard work of communicating your message and getting your grammar right can be undone in an instant. You also need to tailor it to the person you are writing to, context is key! It’s very different emailing a friend compared to emailing a professional acquaintance, for example. Let’s take a look at some of the steps you can take to end your emails effectively.

Use the Right Email Closing Phrases

The closing phrase is the sentence you use to officially sign off an email. The closing phrase should summarize the purpose of your email and end with a call to action if necessary. From this line the recipient should clearly understand your message or request, whether it’s confirming a time to meet, asking for something, or making an agreement.

Professional Email Closing Phrases Examples:

• Thank you for reaching out. I look forward to speaking with you at [date and time].
• It was great connecting with you. Let’s plan to touch base again in a few weeks.
• Thank you for considering my proposal. I am available to discuss this further if you have any questions.
• I appreciate your prompt response. Looking forward to working with you.
• Thank you for your time and consideration. I’ll follow up with you next week to check-in.
• Please let me know if there is anything else you need from me. I am happy to help.
• I enjoyed our conversation and am excited to see how we can work together. Let’s keep in touch.
• Thank you for your feedback. I’ll make the necessary adjustments and send over the revised document.
• I am grateful for the opportunity to meet with you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything else.
• I am looking forward to your response. If I don’t hear back by [date], I’ll follow up with a quick reminder.
• Thank you for your trust and support. I’ll keep you updated on our progress.
• Thank you again for giving me more information about the opportunity! I’ve attached my CV and will await your response.
• Thank you for the information. Can you let me know a good time when we can discuss further?

Note that many of these examples express thanks and gratitude before making a follow-up statement. In a professional email, it’s important to let the recipient know that their time and consideration is valuable.

Establish Your Tone

The tone in which you end your email can depend upon the person you are communicating with. To decide whether to go friendly or formal, it’s worth considering the following questions:

• Do you know the person?
• Are they a friend, an acquaintance, or a work colleague?
• Are they in a more senior position than you?
• Is the topic of the email informal or serious?
• Are you making a request or sending a confirmation?

The questions can help guide the language you use. If you’re still unsure, a safe option can be to strike a balance between being polite and professional without coming across as too formal or impersonal. After all, there are different ways to end emails professionally.

Generally, if you know the person and are on friendly terms, you can afford to take a more informal tone even if the content of your email is professional. However, how you end an email to friends is always going to be different from advice on how to end emails to professors or more senior work colleagues, for example. In this case, a formal tone will be much more suitable.

With this in mind, you should also carefully consider how you sign off your email.

Sign Off Your Email

After writing the main part of the email and the closing phrase, it’s time to pick an email sign-off. These are the last words that go before your name at the end of the email. While some people have strong opinions about which one they prefer, you can’t go too far wrong as long as you choose something professional that suits the context of your email.

Some professional email sign-off examples include:

• Regards
• Kind regards
• Best regards
• Best wishes
• Best
• All the best
• Sincerely
• Thank you
• Thanks
• Thank you in advance

Depending upon your relationship with the person, and if the tone is less formal, you may also consider ending with something like “Cheers”. A study of email sign-offs by Boomerang even showed that this elicited more responses than some other, more conventional sign-offs. However, you wouldn’t want to go much less formal than this, as you’d start to drift into the realm of email sign-offs to avoid.

Email sign-offs you should avoid

Beware, not all email sign-offs are created equally. There are some sign-offs that you should avoid if you want to be taken seriously and professionally.

• Love
• Thx
• Yours
• Yours truly
• XO
• Peace out

And whatever you do, unless you’re already in an email conversation with the person don’t leave the end of your email blank with no sign-off. This can come across as rude and impersonal. A great way to make sure you don’t forget to sign off your email is by setting up your own email signature. Once you’ve set this up it is automatically included at the end of each email. The great thing is it saves you time, makes you look more professional, and can help establish your personal brand.

Set up a Professional Email Signature

After you’ve signed off an email, you should always include your name. However, it can also be useful to include other details and this is where an email signature comes in.

An email signature is a block of text and images that is automatically added to the end of an email message. It typically contains your contact information, such as your name, job title, company name, phone number, email address, and website. It can also include other elements, such as logos, social media links, promotional messages, or quotes. This provides the recipients with all the necessary contact information for you and can give a more professional or personalized look to your email, adding credibility or branding to the message.

For instance, if you’re emailing a prospective employer, you may want to share additional contact information and a link to your website or LinkedIn profile. What you decide to include is down to you and can depend upon your profession or personal image. As a general rule, it should include:

• Your full name
• Your current title or position
• Your contact information
• Your business name or the name of the company you work for
• A link to your website or online portfolio (if you have one)
• A link to your LinkedIn or other professional social media accounts (if relevant)
• Your professional qualifications (optional)

For a more detailed look at this, you can check out how to create a teacher email signature. And, if you’re not a teacher, it can be equally applied to other professions.

Conduct a Final Review of Your Email

If you truly want to end your email professionally, the last thing you need to do before sending it is to check it over. This will not only allow you to make sure you have used the appropriate words and tone, it will also help you to ensure accuracy and correctness in your message.

Catching any typos, grammatical errors, or factual inaccuracies that might undermine your credibility can make a huge difference. If you’re short on time, running it through a grammar checker can be particularly helpful here.

This final review guarantees accuracy, clarity, and professionalism, leading to effective and successful email communication.

How to End Emails Professionally: The Last Word

Ending your emails professionally is an important aspect of effective online communication. The way you sign off can leave a lasting impression and even impact the success of your message. By incorporating the tips we’ve discussed, such as using appropriate phrases, considering the tone of the email, and including a professional email signature, you can help ensure that you leave a positive impression and encourage further communication.