How to End an Email: Closing Lines and Sign-Offs That Work

To end an email well, finish with a closing line that states the next step or offers help, add a sign-off that matches your relationship with the reader, then your name and, if relevant, a short signature. "Best regards" or "Kind regards" works for most professional emails, "Sincerely" for formal ones, and "Thanks" when you're asking for something. The closing line matters more than the sign-off, because it tells the reader what to do.

The three parts of an email ending

1. Closing line: one or two sentences that wrap up the message, usually with a next step, a deadline or an offer.
2. Sign-off: the short phrase before your name, like "Best regards."
3. Signature: your name and, for work, your title, organization and contact details.

Most people focus on the sign-off, but the closing line does the real work.

Write a closing line that moves things forward

A good closing line answers the reader's silent question: what happens now?

Weak: "Let me know what you think."

Better: "Could you confirm by Thursday whether the March 12 date works for your team?"

Weak: "Hope this helps."

Better: "If the second option suits you, I can send the revised contract this afternoon."

Closing lines by purpose:

One clear request beats three soft ones. If your email contains several asks, put them in a short numbered list in the body and use the closing line to point to the most important one.

Choose a sign-off that fits the situation

Formal

Use for first contact with officials, senior academics, legal matters, complaints, applications and anything that might be printed or forwarded upward.

• Sincerely: the standard formal close.
• Respectfully: for officials, judges or very senior recipients.
• Yours faithfully / Yours sincerely: common in British English; "faithfully" when you don't know the recipient's name, "sincerely" when you do.

Professional (most work email)

• Best regards: neutral and safe almost everywhere.
• Kind regards: slightly warmer.
• Regards: brief; can read as cool in some contexts, so use it with people you already know.
• Thank you: when you're thanking them or asking for something meaningful.

Friendly professional

For colleagues and contacts you already know.

• Best
• Thanks or Thanks again
• Talk soon
• Have a good weekend (on a Friday)

Casual

For friends and close teammates.

• Cheers: common in British and Australian English; may sound forced elsewhere.
• Take care
• See you then

Sign-offs to avoid in professional email

• Love or XOXO: too personal for work.
• Sent from my phone as the only sign-off: fine as an automatic line, but don't rely on it to excuse a rushed message.
• Thanks in advance for big requests: it assumes the reader will say yes.
• No sign-off at all in a first email to someone new: it can feel abrupt.

Examples for common situations

Thank you for considering my request. I would be grateful to hear whether the deadline extension is possible by October 20, as I need to confirm my transcript order.

Sincerely,

Jordan Ellery
Applicant ID 448210

Could you send me the updated Q3 numbers by Wednesday morning? I'd like to include them in Thursday's client deck.

Thanks,

Priya

I've attached the revised proposal with the changes we discussed. If the timeline looks right, I'll set up a short call next week to agree on the next steps.

Best regards,

Marco Lindqvist
Account Manager, Fernhill Studio
(555) 014-7781

I've attached my draft outline. If you have five minutes during office hours on Tuesday, I'd appreciate your thoughts on whether my thesis is too broad.

Thank you,

Aisha Raman
HIST 210, Section 3

That's everything from my side. Enjoy the long weekend, and I'll see you at the planning meeting on the 21st.

Best,

Sam

All names and details are fictional. Replace them with your own.

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Build a clean email signature

For work email, a signature saves the reader from hunting for your details. Keep it short:

• Full name
• Job title and organization
• One phone number (optional)
• Pronouns (optional, if that's common in your workplace)

Skip long quotes, multiple logos, several phone numbers and legal disclaimers unless your employer requires them. A signature should take a couple of lines, not half the screen.

For student emails, include your full name, course and section, and student ID if the office deals with many students.

Match the reader's style in replies

If a colleague signs off "Thanks, J," you don't need "Sincerely, Jordan A. Ellery" in reply. Mirroring the other person's level of formality usually reads as friendly and natural. When you're unsure, err slightly more formal, especially with someone more senior, a new client or anyone outside your organization.

Common mistakes

1. Ending with a vague line. "Let me know" without a question or deadline often produces no reply.
2. Stacking closings. "Thanks! Best regards, Cheers, Sam" reads as indecisive. Pick one.
3. Mismatched tone. A warm, casual body with a stiff "Respectfully" close, or a formal complaint ending in "Cheers."
4. Typos in your own name or title. Check your signature once and save it as a template.
5. Burying the request. If the most important ask is in paragraph three, repeat it briefly in the closing line.

Key takeaways

• The closing line should state the next step, a deadline or an offer.
• "Best regards" is the safe default; "Sincerely" for formal; "Thanks" when you're asking.
• Keep signatures short and useful.
• Match the reader's formality, leaning formal when in doubt.

Starting from the other end? Our guide on how to start an email covers greetings and first lines, and types of tone helps you set the right register.