Email greetings: The best formal and informal email openings

Email greetings: The best formal and informal email openings ; I hope this email finds you well. I hope your week is going smoothly. I hope you ... Email Email Createemailaccount Domains Mailapp Businessemail MailCollector MailCheck Premium Features Organizer Contacts OnlineOffice Search Firefox+mail.com Cloud Cloud Cloudbackup Filesharing Cloudupgrade CloudforWindows&macOS Security Security Spamfilter Antivirus Password Two-factorauthentication Support Migrationservice Firststepswebmail FirststepsAndroid FirststepsiOS Help&ContactCenter Blog Backtoblogpage May29,2022 Emailgreetings:Thebestformalandinformalemailopenings Astheoldsayinggoes,younevergetasecondchancetomakeafirstimpression.Andwhenitcomestowritinganemail,youremailgreetingcanaffectthewaytherecipientviewsyou–andevenwhetherornottheyreadyourmessage. Todayweshareemailopeningsthatyoucanuseinprofessionalemailsorinformalmessages. Bestemailsalutations Sometimesitcanbehardtochoosethebestsalutationforyouremail.Herearefiveexamplesthatarealmostalwaysappropriate: Hi(firstname)-Whenitcomestoanemailgreeting,it’shardtobeat“Hi(firstname)”.It’ssuitableforanysituationwhereyouknowandusetherecipient’sfirstname.Ifyou’readdressingtherecipientwithMr./Ms.+lastname,however,chooseoneofthemoreformaloptionsbelowinstead.Andrememberthat“Hithere!”isstrictlyforinformalemails. Hello(name)-Anotheruniversallyacceptablesalutation,“Hello(name)”isconsideredslightlymoreformalthan“Hi”andcanbeusedeitherwithafirstnameorMr./Ms.+lastname. Dear(name)-“Dear(name)”isappropriateforallformalemails,buthasaslightlyold-fashionedfeelthatmakesitlesssuitableforinformalmessages. Greetings-Thisisacommonandpolitesalutationforanemailsenttoagroup–orasinglerecipientwhenyouarenotsurehowtospelltheirname. Goodmorning/afternoon/evening-Thisisanotherpolitewaytoopenanemailtoagroupofpeople,oritcanbepersonalizedbyaddingthenameofanindividualrecipient. Protip:Avoidthesemistakesinyouremailsalutation Althoughitmightseemlikenotalotcouldgowronginashortopener,herearesomecommonmistakestosteerclearofinyouremailopeninggreetings: Ifyouareusingaperson’snameinyoursalutation,alwaysmakesureyouhavespelleditcorrectly! Ifyouarenotsureofyourrecipient’sgender,avoidusingtheMr.orMs.honorific+lastname.Usetheirfullnameinstead.“DearSirorMadam”isalsonolongerconsideredagender-inclusiveoption. Whiletechnicallycorrect,“Towhomitmayconcern”isconsideredimpersonalandoverlyformalbymanypeopletoday.Ratherthanriskputtingthemoff,playitsafebyusingoneoftheformalgreetingslistedaboveinstead. Emailsalutationsshouldbepunctuatedwithacomma,notanexclamationmarkorperiod. Professionalemailstarters Onceyou’vechosenasalutation,it’stimetostartyourmessage.Inaprofessionalemail,youmaywanttostartwithapolitestatementofgoodwillbeforejumpingtothereasonforyourmessage. Ihopethisemailfindsyouwell. Ihopeyourweekisgoingsmoothly. Ihopeyouhadaniceweekend.  Notethatallofthesestartersarephrasedaswell-wishesratherthanquestions–asking“Howwasyourweekend?”canfeelintrusive.Butifyouknowthepersonandtheytoldyoutheyweregoingonvacation,forexample,youcouldleadwith“Howwasyourvacation?”orasimilarpolitequestion.   Nowmovetothereasonforyouremail.Besuretokeepthingsconcise–thisshowsyourespectyourrecipient’stime.Thesephrasescanhelpyouintroducethecorecontentofyourmessage I’mreachingouttoyoubecause… I’memailingyouto… I’mhopingtogetyourinputon… I’mwritingtoinformyou… Informalemailexamples Ifyouarewritingtoacolleagueyouknowwell,it’sperfectlyfinetostartwitha“Hithere”or“Hey,it’smeagain!”Itcanbenicetogiveyouremailapersonaltouch–youcanstartbycongratulatingthemonarecentaccomplishmentoraskaboutaprojectthey’vebeenworkingon.It’salsookaytoinjectamildtouchofhumorinyouremailopener: Hopefullyyou’vehadyourcoffee! Youmaywanttositdownbeforereadingthis. I’llkeepthisshort,Ipromise! Hopeyou’resurvivingtheworkweek. Justkeepinmindthegoldenruleofworkplaceemailing:Youneverknowwhoanemailcouldbeforwardedto,sobesuretokeepanyhumorappropriate. Stuckfortheperfectemailopening?Tryoneofthestartersinourguide! Howtostartanemailresponse Ifyou’vereceivedareplytoyouremailandneedtosendaresponse,takealookathowthepersonsignedoffontheirmessage.Forexample,ifyousentanemailto“DearMs.Smith”butshesignedherresponseas“Jackie”,followherleadandstartyourresponsewith“HelloJackie”. Inaprofessionalcontext,it’salsoconsideredgoodformtobeginaresponsewithsomeappreciation: Thanksforyourhelp. Iappreciatetheupdate. Thankyouforyourquickresponse. It’sgreattohearfromyou. Professionalopeningsforfollow-upemails Sometimesyouhavetoreachouttoapersonforasecondtime–ifyouhavenewinformationtoprovide,forexample,orifyouhavenotreceivedaresponse.Herearesomephrasestogetyoustarted: Iwantedtofollow-upwithyouabout… Asmentionedinmyemail/inourlastmeeting/inourphonecall… I’mcheckinginon... Canyouprovidemewithanupdateon… Aspromised,I’msending… Wehopeouremailgreetingswillhelpyounexttimeyou’restaringatablankscreen!Welookforwardtoyourfeedbackbelow.  Images:1&1/Shutterstock Postedin Email Office 26 peoplefoundthisarticlehelpful. Thisarticlewashelpful Thisarticlewasnothelpful Thankyouforyourfeedback! Relatedarticles March27,2022 Arewetakingworkemailstoopersonally? Researchshowsweareoftenoffendedbyworkemailsthatarenotmeantnegatively.Herearesomecommon-sensewaystoimproveworkplacecommunication. more March03,2022 HowdoIsendajobapplicationbyemail? Whensendingajobapplicationbyemail,howdoyoumakeapositiveandprofessionalimpression?Ourtipsensureyourapplicationwon’tslipthroughthecracks. more January16,2022 WhatisIMAP?WhatisPOP3?DoIneedtousethem? WhendoyouneedIMAPandPOP3tosetupanemailaccount?Andwhatisbehindtheseabbreviations?Ourblogexplainstheseemailprotocolsandtheirprosandcons. more