How to Close a Letter or Email
Closing an email or letter with an appropriate sign-off line can help you to make the right impression with your correspondence. Emails tend to be less formal than written letters, so you might choose a friendly and informal sign-off for an email to a friend, and a friendly but more formal sign-off in an email to your boss. The most important factor when closing a letter or email is to select a tone that is appropriate for the person receiving the correspondence.
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Instructions
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How to Close a Letter
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Sign the letter off with "Yours faithfully" if you are sending it to someone you don't know, such as the human resources department of a company where you are applying for a job. This is the most appropriate way to close a letter with a "Dear Sir" or "Dear Madam" salutation.
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Close the letter with "Yours sincerely" if it's a formal letter to someone you know, such as a co-worker, adviser or business contact.
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Sign your letter off with "Kind regards," "Best regards," "Yours truly" or a similarly informal and friendly phrase if you are writing a letter to a family member or friend.
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Add your signature and full name after the sign-off line on all formal letters. Include your job title and contact details on professional and business letters. For informal letters to friends and family members, sign off with your first name or nickname, if appropriate.
How to Close an Email
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Sign-off an email with "Yours faithfully" or just "Faithfully" if it's a formal or professional email to an unknown individual.
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Close the email with "Sincerely" or "Regards" if it's a formal email to someone you know. For example, this email might be one you would send to a professional adviser, your boss or a co-worker.
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Sign-off the email with "Kind Regards," "Warmest Regards," "Best wishes" or a similarly friendly phrase if you're sending the email to a family member or friend. For very good friends, you might decide you don't need to include a sign-off line at all.
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Add your full name and contact details after the sign-off line. Always include your job title on professional emails. It's good practice to include this as a standard signature block on all emails so that the recipients can contact you easily if they need further information
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Tips & Warnings
Configure your computer's email application to add a default signature containing your name and contacts details to all your outgoing emails. You can usually enable this feature from the Settings, Options or Tools menu on your email program.
References
Resources
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