How to end a letter

How to End a Letter (With Closing Examples)

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How you end a letter is important. It’s your last chance to make a good first impression on your reader. Choose the wrong closing, and you might damage the goodwill you have built up in the rest of your communication.

What’s the best way to end a letter or email message? Your closing needs to leave the reader with positive feelings about you and the letter you have written.

In closing your letter, it is important to use an appropriately respectful and professional word or phrase.

Most formal letter closing options are reserved, but note that there are degrees of warmth and familiarity among the options. Your relationship with the person to whom you’re writing will shape which closing you choose:

Above all, your closing should be appropriate. Choose the right letter closing, and your reader likely won’t remember how you ended your letter. Ideally, your message will resonate instead of your word choice.

The Best Options to End a Letter

Review the best way to end a letter and review formal, business, or personal letter closings, sample signatures, letter examples, and writing tips.

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Letter Closing Examples

The following are letter closings that are appropriate for business and employment-related letters.

Sincerely, Sincerely yours, Regards, Yours truly, and Yours sincerely

These are the simplest and most useful letter closings to use in a formal business setting. These are appropriate in almost all instances and are excellent ways to close a cover letter or an inquiry. Sincerely is a classic way to end a letter or email, and if you’re not sure about options, it’s a good one to choose.

Best regards, Cordially, and Yours respectfully

These letter closings fill the need for something slightly more personal. They are appropriate once you have some knowledge of the person to whom you are writing. You may have corresponded via email a few times, had a face-to-face or phone interview, or met at a networking event.

Warm regards, Best wishes, and With appreciation

These letter closings are also appropriate once you have some knowledge or connection to the person to whom you are writing. Because they can relate back to the content of the letter, they can give closure to the point of the letter. Only use these if they make sense with the content of your letter.

More Letter Closing Examples

When you’re ending your letter, be sure to choose a letter closing that is appropriate to the topic of your letter and to your personal situation and relationship with the person to whom you are writing. Here are more examples to choose from:

Letter Closings to Avoid

There are certain closings that you want to avoid in any business letter or email. Most of these are simply too informal. Casual doesn’t work with professional correspondence. Some examples of closings to avoid are listed below:

Some closings (such as “Love” and “XOXO”) imply a level of closeness that is not appropriate for a business letter. Slang or acronyms aren’t appropriate either.

If you would use the closing in a note to a close friend, it’s probably not suitable for business correspondence.

How to Capitalize a Closing

Capitalize the first word of your closing. If your closing is more than one word, capitalize the first word and use lowercase for the other words. For example:

How to Format a Letter Ending

Once you have chosen a word or phrase to use as a sendoff, follow it with a comma, some space, and then include your signature.

Printed letter: If you are sending a hard copy letter, leave four lines of space between the closing and your typed name. Use this space to sign your name in ink.

Email message: If you’re sending an email, leave one space between the complimentary close and your typed signature. Include your contact information directly below your typed signature.

What to Include in Your Signature

Beneath your letter closing, include your signature. If this is a physical letter, first sign your name in ink, and then list your typed signature below. If this is an email letter, simply add your typed signature below your sendoff.

Make sure to include your contact information in your letter.

If this is a physical letter, your contact information will be at the top of the letter. However, if this is an email, include that information beneath your typed signature. This will allow the recipient to respond to you easily.

Signature Examples

Hard Copy Letter Signature

Handwritten Signature (for a printed letter)

Email Message Signature Example

Typed Signature
Email Address
Phone
LinkedIn URL (if you have a profile)

Need Help Setting Up Your Signature?

Here’s how to set up your email signature, with a list of what to include in it and samples.

Review Letter Examples

These sample letters and emails use a variety of professional closings. Use them as a starting point for your own business and career-related correspondence.

Employment Letters

Review a variety of letter samples for job seekers, including cover letters, interview thank-you letters, follow-up letters, job acceptance and rejection letters, resignation letters, appreciation letters, and more employment letter samples.

Business Letters

New to writing business letters (or need a refresher)? These how-to’s and examples will help you with all your professional correspondence. Learn how to write business letters, review general business letter format and templates, and see employment-related business letter examples.

Email Messages

The majority of business correspondence now takes place over email. But just because it’s easier than ever to communicate with colleagues and prospective employers, it doesn’t mean you can afford to come off as casual or unprofessional.

Use these email message examples to format your professional email messages and make a good impression.

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Don’t know How to End Your Letter?

It seems as if ending a letter should be the easiest part. After all, the content has already been planned and written; only a handful of words need to be added.

You probably know that you shouldn’t end a letter to your mom the same way you’d end one to your boss. However, it might still be unclear what the best word choice is for each situation. What’s the difference, for instance, between sincerely and yours truly? Is there any difference?

Each different phrase has subtle connotations attached to it that can shape your recipient’s reaction. To understand how to end a letter, look at the following 12 farewell phrases and the situations in which they should be used.

Additionally, if you’re ever uncertain about the content of your letter or simply want someone neutral to take a look at it, you can always consider submitting your letter to a professional editor for editing or proofreading. They can help you avoid embarrassing errors.

1. Sincerely

Sincerely (or sincerely yours) is often the go-to sign off for formal letters, and with good reason. This ending restates the sincerity of your letter’s intent; it is a safe choice if you are not overly familiar with the letter’s recipient, as it’s preferable to use a sign-off that is both common and formal in such a situation.

2. Best

Ending your letter with best, all the best, all best, or best wishes indicates that you hope the recipient experiences only good things in the future. Although it is not quite as formal as sincerely, it is still acceptable as a polite, formal/semi-formal letter ending, proper for business contacts as well as friends.

3. Best regards

Quite like the previous sign-off, best regards expresses that you are thinking of the recipient with the best of feelings and intentions. Despite its similarity to best, this sign-off is a little more formal, meant for business letters and unfamiliar contacts. A semi-formal variation is warm regards, and an even more formal variation is simply regards.

4. Speak to you soon

Variations to this farewell phrase include see you soon, talk to you later, and looking forward to speaking with you soon. These sign-offs indicate that you are expecting to continue the conversation with your contact. It can be an effective ending to a letter or email when confirming or planning a specific date for a face-to-face meeting.

Although these endings can be used in either formal or casual settings, they typically carry a more formal tone. The exception here is talk to you later, which errs on the more casual side.

5. Thanks

This is an effective ending to a letter when you are sincerely expressing gratitude. If you are using it as your standard letter ending, however, it can fall flat; the reader will be confused if there is no reason for you to be thanking them. Try to use thanks (or variations such as thanks so much, thank you, or thanks!) and its variations only when you think you haven’t expressed your gratitude enough; otherwise, it can come across as excessive.

Furthermore, when you’re issuing an order, thanks might not be the best sign-off because it can seem presumptuous to offer thanks before the task has even been accepted or begun.

6. [No sign-off]

Having no sign-off for your letter is a little unusual, but it is acceptable in some cases. Omitting the sign-off is most appropriately used in cases where you are replying to an email chain. However, in a first email, including neither a sign-off nor your name will make your letter seem to end abruptly. It should be avoided in those situations or when you are not very familiar with the receiver.

7. Yours truly

This is where the line between formal and informal begins to blur. Yours truly implies the integrity of the message that precedes your name, but it also implies that you are devoted to the recipient in some way (e.g., your friend or, as a more antiquated example, your servant).

This ending can be used in various situations, when writing letters to people both familiar and unfamiliar to you; however, yours truly carries a more casual and familiar tone, making it most appropriate for your friends and family. It’s best used when you want to emphasize that you mean the contents of your letter.

8. Take care

Take care is also a semi-formal way to end your letter. Like the sign-off all the best, this ending wishes that no harm come to the reader; however, like ending your letter with yours truly, the word choice is less formal and implies that the writer is at least somewhat familiar with the reader.

9. Your friend

Though it may seem obvious, ending a letter in this way is informal, and, as the sign-off itself states, is to be used only when writing to your friend.

10. Cheers

Cheers is a lighthearted ending that expresses your best wishes for the reader. Due to its association with drinking alcohol, it’s best to save this sign-off for cases where you are familiar with the reader and when the tone is optimistic and casual. Also note that because cheers is associated with British English, it may seem odd to readers who speak other styles of English and are not very familiar with the term.

11. With love

This ending (or the even simpler variation, love) signals a familiar and intimate relationship with the reader. In other words, this sign-off should be used only in letters and emails to people with whom you are very familiar.

12. xoxo

Because this sign-off signifies «hugs and kisses,» it’s probably best that you reserve it for letters addressed to those closest to you. It’s definitely not meant for the bottom of your cover letter!

How to End a Letter: Sign-offs and Signatures

Of course, there is more to understanding how to end a letter than just the sign-offs. You might be wondering how to punctuate your sign-off, what to include in your signature, or what P.S. stands for at the end of a letter or email.

Punctuating Farewell Phrases

When writing your sign-off, it’s important to remember to use proper capitalization and punctuation.

Only the first word should be capitalized (e.g., Yours truly), and the sign-off should be followed by a comma (or an exclamation mark in some informal settings), not a period. Here are a few examples:

Email Signatures

With emails, you have the option of creating a standard signature. Your signature will appear at the bottom of each of your emails. Ideally, it will make clear who you are and what your contact information is. For example, you may want to include the title of your position, or your degree(s), after a comma in the same line as your name:

Leslie Knope, Deputy Director of the Department of Parks and Recreation

In addition to including your phone number(s) and email address, consider adding the street address of your office. Reflect on the value of linking to your social media profiles (provided they are maintained with your professional life in mind).

If you are considering adding a signature to your personal email, which might be used for both business and personal communications, deciding what needs to be added is a little more complicated. Once again, include your necessary contact information, but only include information you think your recipient will need. After all, you don’t want to overwhelm your reader with information.

Postscripts

A P.S. (or postscript) comes after your sign-off and name. It is meant to include material that is supplementary, subordinated, or not vital to your letter. It is best to avoid postscripts in formal writing, as the information may go unnoticed or ignored; in those cases, try to include all information in the body text of the letter.

In casual and personal correspondences, a postscript is generally acceptable. However, try to limit it to include only humorous or unnecessary material.

So with these letter-ending techniques explained and your letter-ending vocabulary boosted, finishing your next letter or email should be no problem!

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How To End A Letter

There are times when you spend half of your time pondering over how to start a letter. And while the body of the letter might just come easily to you, the end is sure to give you a tough time. You will find it difficult to get the right word to pen your thoughts and feelings. This is because the end of the letter matters just as much, if not more, as the beginning and body of the letter. And why, because that is what concludes all that you’ve written so far! There are plenty of ways to end a letter and they take care of almost all writers’ blocks that you may face. Most people end the letter by using ‘sincerely’ or ‘truly yours’. This is because most people do not know a more creative way to end it. While ending the letter, it is important to avoid an abrupt end which could leave the reader wondering what you hope to achieve with your note. You must also consider the message which you want to convey while ending it. Clearly knowing the ways to end a letter can save you from confusions and embarrassments while you send the letter. You can also clearly make your recipient understand your message.

Ending A Letter

How To End A Business Letter

Ending A Cover Letter

Ending A Personal Letter

Ending A ‘Thank You’ Letter

Indications Of Ending A Letter

Some Useful Considerations

You can end your letter in various ways. You can even wear an imaginative hat and end a love letter or informal letter by employing farewells such as ‘Adieu’, ‘Aloha’, ‘Alvida’, ‘Ciao’, etc. Always remember, all well that ends well. If the starting and body are perfect but the ending is a bit lousy, it spoils the letter. You cannot appreciate a business letter ending with ‘Lots of love’. A lover does not look forward to the partner signing off saying ‘respectfully yours’. Ways to end a letter are as significant as the gestures used while starting a letter.

How to End a Letter: 10 Examples & What to Avoid

Have you ever found yourself puzzling over how to end a professional email? Then, you know how it feels. You’re almost done composing that all-important letter and now feel stuck because you can’t decide on the proper closing. Should you put formal letter ending phrases like “Yours sincerely”, drop the laconic “Best” or leave the closing blank at all?

Effective business email writing is a must-have skill for students and professionals of all career levels. And a cover letter closing inevitably shapes the reaction of the recipient. An overly informal or simply inappropriate closing line can prevent you from getting the results you want from the person you’re addressing or make a negative and unprofessional impression.

Luckily, you’re not alone with your letter writing struggles. The copywriting experts of our resume writing service are about to guide you through the most effective business letter closing lines and how they apply to different situations.

How to end an email: recommendations of the online writing services

If you apply for a job or internship via email, you would benefit from the help of resume professionals with years of experience. A resume and cover letter writers of Resumeperk.com will not only pick the appropriate closing for your application letter, but also will check it for any shortcomings and fix mistakes, increasing your chances of getting noticed. We can edit and revise your resume too and ensure it speaks right to the employer’s needs.

10 effective professional letter endings

When finalizing your business email, you need to pick one of the tried-and-true, formal options. Note that business letters aren’t the best place to get overly creative as you might come across as an odd person who can’t master the basics of email writing. So, here are the best options to sign off an email:

There’s plenty of effective closings to choose from – use the above options depending on the context of your email and your familiarity with the letter’s recipient.

How to sign off an email: 5 things to avoid

To create effective professional emails, it’s also important to know what types of closings to avoid. If you end your letter in one of the below ways, it might discredit your professional image and make a negative impression with the reader.

Avoid being too informal, too relaxed or careless when signing off your business letter. This will leave a poor impression both about you as a professional and a company you work for.

Writing a cover letter: How to end a formal email for a job application

Writing a cover letter requires an extra effort since, if written poorly, you’ll never get a response from a hiring manager. The closing of a cover letter should be kept strictly professional since you don’t know the person you’re emailing. Moreover, you want to make the best possible impression on the recipient and demonstrate expert writing skills and understanding of business etiquette. So, your best options for closing this type of letter are Sincerely, Best regards or Yours faithfully.

How to end a thank you letter?

The rules for ending a thank you note are the same as for cover letters except one small difference. Since you’ve already spoken to the recipient in person, the closing might vary depending on the tone and contents of your interview. You can say with sincere thanks if the interview went on a friendly note or thank you for your consideration if you believe the interview went great.

Curious about how to end a business letter? A professional can help

Such letters as covering letter can make or break the success of your important job application. So, if you have even the slightest concern about how your letter is written, let a professional editor review it before sending out. The staff editor of Resumeperk com can eliminate grammar, punctuation or syntax mistakes to help the letter showcase your qualifications for the prospective employer.

Benefit from the best practices in career writing

If you have problems with writing an eye-catching resume, this is something we can help with too. The writer will deliver you a customized resume which effectively highlights your key skills and accomplishments. Check out our prices for resume copyediting and receive a 20% discount off your first order. Want to make your cover letter or another business letter perfect? Contact us anytime.

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