How to write a professional email

Most work email is read on a phone, between other things, by someone deciding in seconds whether to deal with it now or later. Writing for that is a skill.

Updated 21 September 2026 · 7 min read

Almost every rule of professional email follows from one fact: your email arrives in a list of thirty others, is read on a phone, and gets three seconds to establish what it wants. Write for that reader and the rest takes care of itself.

The subject line

It is the only part guaranteed to be read. Make it say what the email is about and what kind of thing it is.

If the email needs action, say so in the subject. “Decision needed by Friday” gets a decision by Friday; “Update” gets read on Monday.

Put the point first

The instinct is to build up: context, then reasoning, then the ask. Reverse it. State what you want in the first sentence, then give the background to anyone who needs it.

The second is shorter, says what it wants, gives a reason to care, and makes replying easy by offering times. That last part matters: an email answerable in one word gets answered.

Greetings and sign-offs

Hi [name], is right for almost all work email. Dear [name], for a first approach to someone senior or outside your organisation, or anything that might be kept on file. Hey only with people you already talk to that way.

To sign off, Thanks, Best, or Best wishes, are all unremarkable, which is what you want. Regards reads slightly cold to some people; Kind regards is safer if you like the formality.

If you don't know the recipient's name, find it. To whom it may concern reads as a mass mailing.

Asking for something

There is a narrow band between sounding demanding and sounding apologetic, and most people land outside it in one direction or the other.

The second respects their time more than the first does, despite using none of the words of deference. Saying how long it takes and what happens if they decline removes the work of deciding.

Things worth doing

• Short paragraphs. Two or three lines. A wall of text on a phone gets postponed.
• Bullets for more than two items. Three questions in a paragraph get two answers.
• Attach the file before writing. The forgotten attachment is the most common email mistake.
• Name files properly. Q4-supplier-analysis.pdf, not final_v3_FINAL.pdf.
• Add the recipient last. A message sent half-written cannot be recalled.

Things worth not doing

• Sending angry. Write it, save it, send it tomorrow. You will rewrite it, and the rewrite will be better.
• Reply All without checking. Look at who is on it first.
• Marking everything urgent. Works twice, then stops working.
• Writing anything you would not want forwarded. Email is forwardable, searchable and disclosable. Assume an audience.

Chasing a reply

Reply to your own original message so the thread stays together, keep it to two lines, and make it easy to answer.

No reproach, no “as per my previous email”. Assume it was missed, because it was.

A checklist before you send

• Subject says the topic and any deadline
• First sentence contains the point
• The ask is specific, with a date
• Attachments actually attached, sensibly named
• Recipient's name spelled correctly
• Nothing in it you would mind being forwarded