Is it appropriate to use the salutation "Dear All" in a work email?

"Dear All" is fine. There's nothing wrong with it. It is informal - you are addressing people as members of a group of which you are one. EnglishLanguage&UsageStackExchangeisaquestionandanswersiteforlinguists,etymologists,andseriousEnglishlanguageenthusiasts.Itonlytakesaminutetosignup. Signuptojointhiscommunity Anybodycanaskaquestion Anybodycananswer Thebestanswersarevotedupandrisetothetop Home Public Questions Tags Users Unanswered Teams StackOverflowforTeams –Startcollaboratingandsharingorganizationalknowledge. CreateafreeTeam WhyTeams? Teams CreatefreeTeam Teams Q&Aforwork Connectandshareknowledgewithinasinglelocationthatisstructuredandeasytosearch. Learnmore Isitappropriatetousethesalutation"DearAll"inaworkemail? AskQuestion Asked 11years,11monthsago Modified 10monthsago Viewed 639ktimes 36 10 Ihaveobservedthatinmyworkplace,wheneveramailissenttomorethanoneperson(likeaninformation,meetingrequestoranoticeetc.),themailstartswiththesalutation"DearAll".This,somehow,doesn'tseemcorrecttome.Forme,asalutationshouldaddressthereaderindividually,atleastinitssingularform,asin"DearColleagues". AmIcorrectinthinkingthat? emailgreetings Share Improvethisquestion Follow editedJun14,2019at3:30 VaibhavGarg askedAug8,2010at8:39 VaibhavGargVaibhavGarg 3,91244goldbadges2828silverbadges3939bronzebadges 5 3 Wait...peoplestillusesalutationsine-mail?Ihardlyeverseethis. – MichaelScottShappe Aug9,2010at16:54 2 Iusesalutations.Normallyjusta"HeySo-and-so,"though. – kitukwfyer Aug9,2010at20:34 1 Unlessyourbossobjectsto"DearAll",donothing.Inparticular,donotcorrectyourcolleaguesonsuchthings! – GEdgar Aug15,2012at12:40 3 "DearAll"isfine.There'snothingwrongwithit.Itisinformal-youareaddressingpeopleasmembersofagroupofwhichyouareone. – Greybeard Sep15,2021at10:41 Obviouslytoolate,butquestionsaboutworkplaceetiquetteprobablybelongatworkplace.stackexchange.com – StuartF Sep15,2021at11:01 Addacomment  |  8Answers 8 Sortedby: Resettodefault Highestscore(default) Datemodified(newestfirst) Datecreated(oldestfirst) 15 Tome,Dearallconveyslaziness.Awell-thought-outmessageshouldhaveaspecificaudiencethatthemessageappliesto.Dearcoworkers,Dearminions,DearDeath-Eaters,Dearresidents,etc.isnotthatmuchmoredifficulttotype.Thensomeonereadingthemessagecanmoreeasilydiscernwhetherthemessageappliestothemornot. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredAug12,2010at19:48 GaryGary 2,54933goldbadges1919silverbadges1919bronzebadges 2 1 Whatwouldyouwriteforcustomersonafirstemail?"Dearcustomers"? – John Aug29,2016at16:11 1 Nonsense.Awellthoughtoutmessageshouldbesentonlytoitsintendedrecipientsandbemeantforallofthem. – StuartF Sep15,2021at10:56 Addacomment  |  29 Unlesstheyareactuallyyourcolleagues(i.e.noneofthemareyourbosses!orclients,orthird-parties),Iwouldstickwiththeneutral: DearAll, (quitecommon)ormaybe: DearEveryone, (lesscommon) Ijustcheckedbylookinguptheemailswe(asagroup)receivefromthehierarchyabove: Theyallbeginwith'DearAll'(translatedinFrenchby'Bonjouràtousetàtoutes',sincetheequivalentof'all'isnotgender-neutralinFrench.) Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedAug8,2010at9:51 answeredAug8,2010at9:38 VonCVonC 14.4k55goldbadges7171silverbadges6464bronzebadges 2 Igenerallypreferaddressingallgroupsexplicitly,asin"DearSirandcolleagues"etc. – VaibhavGarg Aug9,2010at6:36 ButIftheyarenotmycolleagues?InmycaseIvenevermetanyofthem.Isforajoboffer,mostofthepuopleinvolvedareadministrativestuff.WhatshouldIsay? – Millemila Mar31,2017at22:05 Addacomment  |  11 Dearallisperfectablyacceptable.SoisDearColleagues.Itdependsonhowformalorinformalyouwanttobe,andwhatisnormalusageinyourworkplace.Ifindoubt,dowhatappearstobenormalpractice. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredAug10,2010at10:29 EvanEvan 1,17611goldbadge1010silverbadges1313bronzebadges Addacomment  |  6 Ifindthatusinganon-standard,butpolitegreetinginanemailtendstobequiteeffectiveingettingpeopletoactuallyreadwhatyouarewriting.Forinstance,whenwritingtoagroupofpeople,itisquitecommon(inNewZealand)towrite: Towhomitmayconcern, or,ashasbeenmentioned: DearAll, ButItendtowritesomethingoffcartelike(assumingthatIworkedatBritishTelecom–whichIdon't): DearBTPerson, Ihavefoundthatthisunusualapproach—whichalsofeelslessimpersonal—canbemorelikelytogarneranaudience. ButwhereIcurrentlywork,wehaveatooltoaddresseveryoneindividually,wejustleaveaplaceholderwheretheirnameis,soitwillsay: DearMr.Smith,orDearKevin, WhichIthinkisprobablythebestwaytogetitdoneifitisconvenient. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredAug9,2010at0:49 VincentMcNabbVincentMcNabb 8,95033goldbadges3838silverbadges3838bronzebadges 1 "Towhomitmayconcern"hasitsuses(it'scommonifyou'rewritingsomethinglikealetterofrecommendationordoctor'snote,whichyouaregivingtosomeonewhowillthenshowittoathirdparty),butinadirectmessagesuggeststhatyouhaven'tbotheredtofindoutwhoyoushouldbewritingto.Atleastpretendit'srelevant. – StuartF Sep15,2021at10:58 Addacomment  |  2 Nowadaysoftenonly"All:"isused-notverynicebutthat'sthewayitis. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredAug8,2010at12:50 vonjdvonjd 3,56599goldbadges3737silverbadges4545bronzebadges Addacomment  |  2 Salutationsarenotforbeauty;theyareatooltoalterreader'smodeofunderstanding,oftentomakethemessagemoreconvincing. Ifyouaresuggestingsomethingformal,talkingfrompositionofrightsorpower,youmaywanttousemoreformal"DearColleagues"tomaketheargumentstronger. Ifyouaremakingaproposal,andwanttodownplayitasin"hey,it'sanidea,abasisforfurtherthinkingandpleasejudgeitassuch",asimple'All,'woulddoabetterjob. Inallcases,basicnetiquetterequiresthatmeaninglesstextshouldbeavoidedwhenaddressingalargegroupofpeople.It'seasiertowritethantoread,sooneshouldinvestinbrevity. Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedAug13,2010at7:06 answeredAug12,2010at22:04 PavelRadzivilovskyPavelRadzivilovsky 2,97133goldbadges1717silverbadges1818bronzebadges 0 Addacomment  |  -1 Allisnotaaddressingmode,whenwetalktosomebodywecanusealltodenoteagroupofpeoplebutwhilewritinganemailitsurelydoesn’tmakeanysense. DearAllissurelynotcorrectEnglishtostartwiththeemail,ratheryoucouldusedearcolleaguesataworkplace. Ipresonallyfindwritingdearallveryinformalandhencealwaysusedearcolleagues. Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedOct1,2015at11:19 Wrzlprmft 4,09111goldbadge2626silverbadges4545bronzebadges answeredAug15,2012at4:12 ManavMathueManavMathue 711bronzebadge 1 You'dneversay"Helloall"?Orwrite"DearallatNumberXX"? – StuartF Sep15,2021at11:00 Addacomment  |  -1 OnecanaddressitasDearSirsasitsconsideredasgenderneutralandisperfectlyfine. Iuseitwhenihavetoaddressmanypeopleinemailwhichmayincludeemployeesormixofemployeeorvendors(male/female). https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/17/equality-womens-rights-gender-law Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedSep21,2021at7:38 answeredSep15,2021at7:39 LearningLearning 12911silverbadge99bronzebadges 2 CitationforDearSirsbeinggenderneutral?Mostguidestodayprefer"SirsandMadams"orsomethingevenmoregender-neutral. – StuartF Sep15,2021at10:59 @StuartF,youwherequicktogivedownvote,myreferenceisbasedonTheGuardian.comnewspaper.NotsurewhoisrightyouareTheGuardian?.canyoushareyourguides – Learning Sep21,2021at7:40 Addacomment  |  Highlyactivequestion.Earn10reputation(notcountingtheassociationbonus)inordertoanswerthisquestion.Thereputationrequirementhelpsprotectthisquestionfromspamandnon-answeractivity. Nottheansweryou'relookingfor?Browseotherquestionstaggedemailgreetingsoraskyourownquestion. FeaturedonMeta AnnouncingtheStacksEditorBetarelease! Linked 8 Usageof'DearAll' 2 Whatisthenameofthislineinaletter.e.gwehavesubjectetc? 1 WhatstyleshouldIuseine-mailsalutationstosuperiors,colleagues,orjuniors? 5 Formalsalutationtoagroup 4 Statusof'DearBoth'asasalutation 7 Shouldanotebeaddressedwith"Hiall"or"HiAll"? 3 Capitalizationof"A"in"DearAll" 0 Is"Hialls"usedinEnglish? Related 11 Appropriatetostartbusinessemailorletterwithjust"Dear,"? 2 Isitappropriatetouse"You'rewelcome,"followedbymynameinclosinganemail? 1 Wordforemailthatrendersacrossalldevices? HotNetworkQuestions Whatismeantby“StudyTrack”? ClosestequivalenttotheChinesejocularuseof职业病(occupationaldisease):jobcreateshabitsthatmanifestinappropriatelyoutsidework WhichleadshouldIbuyformyDCpowersupply? Ifaspecieskeepsgrowingthroughouttheir200-300yearlife,what"growthcurve"wouldbemostreasonable/realistic? What'sthemostimportantlifelesson? Coolingbodysuitinsideanotherinsulatedsuit HowcanwesendradartoVenusandreflectitbackonearth? Triangleareafromsidelengths WhyAndHowDoMyMindReadersKeepTheirAbilitySecret Doesabsenceofevidencemeanevidenceofabsence? TheLufthansaLottery Safetoridealuminiumbikewithbigtoptubedent? WasMisterKitsonand/ortheplanetofKitsonbasedon/namedafterGeorgeKitson? Canwedoubtallknowledge? Howismakingadownpaymentdifferentfromgettingasmallerloan? Howcanwedetermineifthereisactualencryptionandwhattypeofencryptiononmessagingapps? Whatistheprobabilityofgettinganumberoflength62digitsthatisdivisibleby7anditsreverseisdivisibleby7also Whyisthecomparativeof"sacer"notattested? Isthereawordthatmeans"relax",butwithnegativeconnotations? IsthereadifferenceinEarth'smagneticfieldbetweendayandnight? Convertallsmallwords(2-3characters)touppercasewithawkorsed HowtoplaytheTotemofaBarbarian Whatistherelationshipbetweenalgorithmsandlogic? Teachinga7yoresponsibilityforhischoices morehotquestions Questionfeed SubscribetoRSS Questionfeed TosubscribetothisRSSfeed,copyandpastethisURLintoyourRSSreader. Yourprivacy Byclicking“Acceptallcookies”,youagreeStackExchangecanstorecookiesonyourdeviceanddiscloseinformationinaccordancewithourCookiePolicy. Acceptallcookies Customizesettings