Jerz > Writing > E-text > Email Tips

Follow these email etiquette tips in order to write more effective email messages.

Email in a professional setting works differently from texting and social media conversations.

In a group chat or social media thread, we ask questions, clarify, and correct mistakes in a flurry of messages between peers who are relaxing, phone in hand, during their downtime.

By contrast, in a professional setting we can’t expect both parties to be laser-focused on their email, ready to engage in a real-time chat. So we try to anticipate how we can give the other party what they need to resolve the issue without further exchanges:

• Subject: Do we need to meet with Jim this week to discuss budget proposal, or are you ready to submit?
• Body: As I was following up on Jim’s notes on the budget draft, I noticed that item 2 calls for a decision this week. Are you good to go, or should we brainstorm with Jim first? I’ve already sent you an invite for my regular mtg with Jim Wednesday at 2. But if you don’t need to meet, just shoot me a quick update I can enter into the Friday afternoon minutes. 

The above email puts the purpose of the message — the actual question — right in the subject line; the subject line is not something vague like “Important question.” The body is designed to make it as easy as possible for the recipient to act; it even anticipates different initial responses.

Productivity suffers when email threads fill up with chatty clutter.

Created by Jessica Bauer in 2000; expanded and maintained by Dennis G. Jerz

Follow these further tips to level up your email skills.

1. Write a clear, actionable subject line.
2. Keep the message focused.
3. Avoid attachments.
4. Identify yourself clearly.
5. Be kind. Don’t flame.
6. Proofread.
7. Don’t assume privacy.
8. Distinguish between formal and informal situations.
9. Respond Promptly.
10. Show Respect and Restraint.

1. Write a clear, actionable subject line.

Before you hit “send,” take a moment to write a subject line that clearly lays out the action you want your recipient to take. (You might not have known what that action was when you first started drafting your email.)

In the business world, actionable verbs include confirm, schedule, evaluate, review. Depending on the nature of your email, gentler labels like “suggestion” or “FYI” might be appropriate, but a good subject line should always identify the specific topic.

A vague or blank subject line is a missed opportunity to encourage your recipient to respond. But avoid an inappropriately bossy tone.

If you’re a junior employee, don’t email the CEO about the break room vending machine. If you’re a student, don’t pester the school board about your algebra homework. Tailor your message for the right recipient.

Remember — your message is not the only one in a busy professional’s mailbox. A well-crafted subject line will help them decide that your email is worth their time.

	Subject: [Blank]
A blank subject line suggests that your name in the “From” line is all your recipient should need in order to make you message a top priority. That could come across as arrogant, or at the very least, careless. A well-chosen subject line is your first opportunity to persuade your reader.
	Subject: “Important! Read Immediately!!“
Rather than brashly announcing that the secret contents of your mystery message are inexplicably important…
	Subject: “Important! Due to ongoing service of the drainage system on North Campus, all cars in the lower lot will be towed in one hour.”
Anyone reading this on their mobile phone will only see the first half of the subject line, which means they will miss the crucial call to action.
	Subject: “NORTH LOT CARS: MOVE BY 10AM; TOWING EMERGENCY”
That subject line will get more responses.
	Subject: “Quick question.“
If the question is quick, why not just ask it in the subject line? This subject line is wasted pixels.
	Subject: “Follow-up about Friday“
Fractionally better — provided that the recipient remembers why a follow-up was necessary.
	Subject: “That file you requested.“
The more specific and relevant your message appears, the more likely your recipient’s spam-blocker will let your message through.
	Subject: “10 confirmed for Friday… will we need a larger room?“
Upon reading this revised, informative subject line, the recipient immediately starts thinking about the size of the room, not about whether it will be worth it to open the email.

2. Keep the message focused.

Why are you writing? Are you asking the recipient to take some action? Are you reporting a decision? Responding to a request for details? Apologizing for an error on your part? Build your message around delivering that one specific message.

• Tone: Please and thank-you are still important, and including relevant keywords (names of team members or projects) improve searchability, but wordiness wastes your reader’s time (which is rude). 
• Directness: You probably don’t need to open with “Dear Ms. Jones,” engage in personal chit-chat, and close with “Yours Truly.” (If you really want to be that formal, send a letter on paper instead.)

• 	Indirect and wasteful: “Dearest Arnold: I would be very much obliged if, at your earliest convenience, you would trouble yourself to….  Awaiting your worthy response, I remain, as ever, your Philomena.”
  	Blunt to the point of rudeness: “Need access to website.”
  If you get a message like this, you might assume the sender trusts you and really needs your help; however, if you send a message like this, you might appear needy and panicky.
  	Urgent, but solution-focused: “Website down, but my credentials don’t work. Can you or Marcus either let me in, or restart server?”

• Organization: Readers will often get partway through a complex message, hit “reply” as soon as they have something to contribute, and forget to read the rest. That’s human nature.
  • Front-load crucial information.
    • Don’t begin with old news and bring your reader step-by-step through your entire thought processes.
    • Do put your decision or request in your first sentence. (Repeat and amplify the basics that should already be in the subject line.) 
  • Use short paragraphs, section headings, bullet points, and bold keywords.  Most people will find unbroken blocks of text boring, or even intimidating — especially when they are using a mobile device. 
  • Number your points in more complex message. (Start with a clear statement of how many parts there are to your message.)
  • Split unrelated points into separate, purposeful emails.
    • Don’t clutter a thread with long messages that send different messages that apply only to different subgroups.
    • Send everyone a brief overview, telling them where they can download the details — in a document from your organization’s Google Drive, OneDrive, etc. (Students especially, see “Avoid attachments,” below.)
• Accuracy: Proofread, especially when you are asking your recipient to spend time and effort helping you.

3. Avoid attachments.

Rather than forcing you reader to download an attachment and open it in a separate program, you will probably get faster results if you copy-paste the most important text into the body of your email, and post the full document on a cloud server (such as Google Doc or OneDrive) or for students the course management platform (such as Canvas or Blackboard).

	To: All 1000 Employees From: Eager Edgar Subject: A helpful book everyone should read ——– Hello, everyone. I’ve attached a PDF that I think you’ll all find very useful. This is the third time I sent it the file — the version I sent yesterday had a typo on page 207, so I’ve sent the whole thing again. Since some of you noted that the large file size makes it a bit awkward, I’ve also attached each chapter as a separate document. Let me know what you think!Attachments: Big Honking File.pdf (356MB) BHF Cover.pdf (25MB) BHF Chapter 1.pdf (35MB) [… ]
Be honest now… how many of us would delete the above message immediately, without looking at *any* of those attachments?
	To: Bessie Professional From: Morris Ponsybil Subject: Email tips — a subject for an office workshop? —- Bessie, I came across some tips on streamlining professional communications. Has anyone volunteered to present at the office workshop next month? Let me know if you’d like me to run a little seminar (20 minutes?) on using email effectively. I can send you a PDF if you want, and I’ll post the table of contents below: Write a clear, actionable subject line. Keep the message focused and readable. Avoid attachments. […]

Recognize that attachments

• consume bandwidth (your professor who is out running errands on a Saturday morning does not want to burn 250mb of personal data to check the video you emailed)
• can require specific apps (such as Microsoft Publisher or Apple’s Pages) that your recipient may not have installed
• might not display correctly on all devices

4. Identify yourself clearly.

When we send text messages to our friends, we expect a lot of back-and-forth. But professionals who use email don’t enjoy getting a cryptic message from an email address they don’t recognize.

If you are asking for a total stranger to do something for you for free, be prepared to hear nothing in response. Introductions and relationships matter.

A formal “Dear Ms. Wordsworth” salutation is not necessary for routine workplace communication.

	To: Morris Ponsybil From: Sally Griffin  Subject: Graphic design major interested in your marketing internship Body: This is Sally Griffin; Prof. Blinderson tells me you had some kind things to say about about the mural I finished last week for the Main Street Cat Cafe. I’m reaching out because…
Very professional. A message like this is sure to get a response.
	To: Professor Blinderson From: susdog2009@gmail.com Subject: [Blank]Yo goin 2 miss class whats the homework
That evening when you settle down to your homework, when you check your email hoping to see a helpful reply, you might instead see this: “Please let me know your name and which class you’re in, so that I can respond meaningfully. I don’t recognize the address.” Your professor probably won’t see your response until tomorrow, more than a day after you first reached out to your professor. You will have less time to catch up.
	To: Professor Blinderson From: m.ponsybil@gmail.com Subject: EL227 Absence, Oct 10 Body: Hello, Prof. Blinderson. This is Morris Ponsybil, from EL227 section 2. This morning, I just found out that the curling team has advanced to the playoffs, so I’m going to be out of town on the 10th.According to the syllabus, it looks like I will miss a paper workshop and the discussion of Chapter 10.Can you open up the Chapter 10 forum early so I can post before I leave town? And could I come to your office hour at 2pm on the 12th, in order to discuss the paper? I’ve asked Cheryl Jones to take notes for me. Thank you very much. I’ll see you in class tomorrow.
If you are asking the other person to do you a favor, providing the right information will give him or her a good reason to decide in your favor. In this case, instead of simply announcing “I’m going to miss class on the 10th” and leaving it up to his professor to respond, Morris shows he cares enough about the class to propose a solution to the problem his absence will cause.

If you are following up on a face-to-face contact, you might appear too timid if you assume your recipient doesn’t remember you; but you can drop casual hints to jog their memory: “I enjoyed talking with you about usability testing in the elevator the other day.”

Even if you already have a solid connection with the person you are contacting, a little context is helpful. Every fall, I get emails from accounts like “spongebob_fan_2008@gmail.com” that ask me about “class.”

5. Be kind. Don’t flame.

Think before you click “Send.”

If you find yourself writing in anger, save a draft, go get a cup of coffee, and imagine that tomorrow morning someone has taped your email outside your door. Would your associates and friends be shocked by your language or attitude?

Or would they be impressed by how you kept your cool, how you ignored the bait when your correspondent stooped to personal attacks, and how you carefully explained your position (or admitted your error, or asked for a reconsideration, etc.)

Will you have to work with this person for several months? Do you want a copy of your bitter screed to surface years from now, when you want a letter of recommendation?

	@#%&*! $%@! 🤬💢💥🔥💣💀⚡💥🩸
Go ahead… draft it all out. Scribble out your perfectly justified emotions in any way that helps you process them. Just don’t hit “Send” while you’re still angry.
	From: Clair Haddad To: Ann O. Ying Subject: Re: Ongoing Problems with Project Body: I’m not sure how to respond, since last week you told Sue that you didn’t need any extra training, so I cancelled Wednesday’s workshop.I can CC Sue in on this thread if you like, since she’s the one who will have to approve the budget if we reschedule it.Meanwhile, I can loan you my copies of the manual, or we can look into shifting the work to Tracy when she gets back Monday. Let me know what you’d like me to do next. —Original Message – From: Ann O. Ying Subject: Arrgh! Body: I tried all morning to get in touch w/ you. Couldn’t you find a few mins b/t meetings to check your messages? I’m having a rough time on this project, and sorry this is last min, but I’ve never done this before and I think the least you could do take some time to explain it again.
Ann has already dug herself into a hole. Perhaps Clair drafted an angry response, but then took some time to cool down. The email Clair actually sent offers several options, and specifies how she plans to move forward if Ann doesn’t make a choice before the deadline. Clair’s measured response preserves her professional reputation and reminds Ann that they are on the same team.

6. Proofread.

If you are asking someone else to do work for you, take the time to make your message look professional.

While your spell checker won’t catch every mistake, at the very least it will catch a few typos. If you are sending a message that will be read by someone higher up on the chain of command (a superior or professor, for instance), or if you’re about to mass-mail dozens or thousands of people, take an extra minute or two before you hit “send”. Show a draft to a close associate, in order to see whether it actually makes sense.

7. Don’t assume privacy.

A good motto: praise in public, and criticize in private. Don’t send anything over email that you wouldn’t want posted — with your name attached — in the break room.

Email is not secure. Just as random pedestrians could reach into a physical mailbox and intercept envelopes, a curious hacker, a malicious criminal, and your IT department can probably read any and all email messages in your work account.

If you stretch the truth in an email (downplaying a problem, leaving out an important detail, etc.), you’re creating a written record that your recipient can (and will) use to determine whether

• you are uninformed about the truth
• you are informed but deliberately misrepresenting the truth
• your confused and conflicting emails mean you aren’t a reliable source for determining the truth

8. Distinguish between formal and informal situations.

When you are writing to a close colleague, it is probably OK to use emojis and nonstandard punctuation — but bear in mind that all work emails are archived, and any one of them might end up in the CEO’s inbox. 

If you’re working in a professional setting, write accordingly.

9. Respond Promptly.

Ghosting a professional contact is rarely wise.

Even if your reply is, “Sorry, swamped this afternoon, will get back to you ASAP,” or “I need to check on a few things before I’m ready to respond,” at least your correspondent will know you got their message. 

Sometimes Email is Too Fast!

A colleague once emailed me for help, and then almost immediately sent a follow-up saying she solved the problem on her own. 

As soon as I saw her first message, I hit “reply” and started writing.

I only saw her second message after I had sent my detailed response.

Worried that it would look like I was bombarding her with advice she said she no longer needed, I quickly sent her another response, hoping to show I regretted missing her follow-up.

But instead of taking time to express that thought clearly, what I sent was this:

Should have paid closer attention to my email.

This was around 1999, at a time when email clients did not visually group related messages, but instead simply listed emails in order of arrival. It would not have been obvious to the average user who was responding to what email.

I gathered from my colleague’s terse reply that, from her point of view:

She sent an email requested my help

She sent a followup explaining why she no longer needed my help.

An email from me arrived, in which I went into great detail providing an unasked-for solution that differed slightly from the method she had used.

An second email from me arrived — a message I thought of as a self-deprecating acknowledgment of my own gaffe, but that she saw as further criticism of her.

If I could do this over again, I would have responded very briefly and quickly to her initial message, asking whether she would like me to dig deeper. I would have saved myself a lot of time and avoided distressing a person I thought I was helping. –DGJ

10. Show Respect and Restraint

Many an “email flame war” has been started by someone who responded to a group message with “reply all” instead of “reply.”

While most people know that email is not private, it is good form to ask the sender before forwarding a personal message. If someone emails you a professional request, it is perfectly acceptable to forward the request to a person who can help — but forwarding a message in order to ridicule the sender is tacky.

Use BCC instead of CC when sending sensitive information to large groups.

A “carbon copy” was document-copying technology invented around 1805 and used through the 1980s. A “blind carbon copy” means each copy does *not* include the names of the other recipients.

Be tolerant of other people’s etiquette blunders. If you think you’ve been disrespected, quote the line back to your sender and add a neutral comment such as, “I’m not sure how to interpret this… could you elaborate?”

Especially if you’ve been publicly wronged, present yourself as the calmer party — and give the offender a chance to apologize profusely.

References & Further Reading

• Alsop, Stewart. “My Rules of Polite Digital Communication.” Fortune. 142.2 (10 July 2000): p 76. Online. Academic Search Elite. 9 October 2000.
• Cronin, Jennifer. “Netiquette, schmetiquette.” Des Moines Business Record 16.24 (12 June 2000): p 11. Online. MasterFILE Premier. 9 October 2000.
• “Email Etiquette.” I Will Follow Services. 1997. <http://www.iwillfollow.com/emailetiquette.html>. 9 October 2000.
• Nucifora, Alf. “Use etiquette when messaging via email.” Memphis Business Journal 21.51 (14 April 2000): p23. Online. MasterFILE Premier. 9 October 2000.
• Thorton, Sam. “Rules and Regulations: Email Etiquette.” 29 April 1998. <http://www.lse.ac.uk/Depts/ITS/rules/email.htm>. 9 October
  2000.

See Also

Surviving Group Projects in College: Helpful Tips.
What can you do to increase your chances of having a successful group project?

12 Dec 2000 — first submitted by Bauer
23 Jan 2001 — posted by Jerz
16 Feb 2001 — updated by Jerz
25 Oct 2001 — minor updates by Jerz
16 Apr 2003 — further updates & changes by Jerz
10 Jun 2004 — strengthened advice against attachments
28 Aug 2004 — trimmed a few minor redundancies
19 May 2008 — updated items 1-3
20 May 2008 — updated items 2-4
23 Jun 2008 — corrected typos identified by Bob Folline
04 Mar 2010 — adding considerations for mobile email users
08 Mar 2011 — formatting changes
20 Dec 2011 — changed “e-mail” to “email” throughout
03 May 2012— very minor tweaks
22 May 2013— updated info on attachments; minor tweaks to layout and phrasing
02 Jun 2015 — updated items 2&3; minor tweaks throughout
18 Jun 2017 — modest tweaks; added references to emojis; removed a dated reference to “PDAs”
18 Dec 2019 — removed dated reference to “Millennials,” most of whom have probably learned these lessons by now
14 Nov 2025 — updated items 1-5 to update for a GenZ audience. (emoticons -> emojis; adding references to cloud and more references to mobile devices; updating examples that referenced hotmail and “leet” spelling)