How to Write a Professional Email | Tips & Examples

Writing a professional email is a task that most people will have to complete many times in their lives. Email is still considered a reliable, formal, and universal form of communication.

Therefore, it’s important to know how to write a professional email. This article outlines the steps to follow to write and send effective, professional emails.

If you need some help to write a professional email, QuillBot’s AI email writer has your back.

What is a professional email?

A professional email is an email you send in a professional context, like work, university, a hiring process, or a formal request or complaint. Professional emails might be sent to provide or request information, ask or answer a question, set a meeting, clarify details, and much more.

Knowing how to write a professional email is important because:

• It saves you time and energy when communicating.
• It shows competence and collaboration.
• It helps a person or company establish a good reputation.

How to write a professional email

Writing a professional email, like most things, gets easier the more you do it. The steps below outline how to write a professional email, and you can use this article to help you until you feel comfortable completing the process on your own.

1. Use a professional email address

A professional email address is the email you use for work, job searches, and other formal communications. Your company will probably provide you with a company email to use for work, but you should also have a professional email address for personal use, too.

A professional email address should follow a format like:

• [email protected]
• [email protected]
• [email protected]
• [email protected]

Avoid using cutesy, fan-related, or random email addresses when sending professional emails.

2. Write a brief, clear subject line

Regardless of the type of email you’re writing, the subject line is the element that convinces your reader to open the email. When writing professional emails, use a brief, clear subject line so the recipient knows what to expect and can search for the email again in the future if need be.

Some tips for concise, clear subject lines are:

• Aim for 60 characters or less.
• Summarize the goal of the email.
• Include “tags” that may help the reader (e.g., “urgent,” “meeting request,” or “attached”).

3. Start with a positive, appropriate greeting

Knowing how to start an email is also important when writing professional emails. You should greet the recipient using a formal or semi-formal salutation. A few good options are:

• Dear
• Hello
• Good morning/afternoon/evening

If you’re writing a professional email to someone you have a closer relationship with, “Hi” is also a good option.

Avoid salutations that are very impersonal (e.g., “To Whom It May Concern”) or gendered (e.g., “Dear Sir or Madam”).

4. Give context

If you’re emailing someone you’ve never met, it’s a good idea to introduce yourself in the email. State your name, title, and the connection you have to the recipient (e.g., “My name is Lee Sands, and I’m the CMO at …”).

If you’re emailing someone you’ve met but don’t know well, try to give some context about the relationship to make it easier for the recipient to remember you (e.g., “We met last week at the Women in Arts luncheon”).

Finally, if it’s someone you know well, you may want to say you hope they’re doing well (or try one of the alternatives to hope you’re doing well). You can also reference a recent meeting, call, or context you’ve shared together.

5. Write a concise, focused body

In the body of your email, state the purpose of the email in a concise, focused way. Professional emails often arrive to recipients when they’re busy or multitasking, so get to the point as fast as possible. An overly long (or long-winded) email may not be read to completion.

Some tips for writing a concise, focused email body are:

• Use short, simple sentences.
• Write with a formal or semi-formal tone.
• Avoid casual idioms and figures of speech.
• Lead with the most important information and follow with relevant details.
• Avoid overly technical jargon that the recipient may not understand.

6. Include a CTA

In nearly all professional emails, you should include a call to action. While “call to action” may sound quite dramatic, it’s really just a prompt for the recipient to take the action you want them to. The call to action should come after the body of your email and be logically connected to it.

7. End your email with an appropriate sign-off

It’s also important to know how to end an email. While “bye” and “see you soon” might be fine for emailing with friends, professional emails require more polite sign-offs.

Some good sign-offs for professional emails are:

• Yours truly
• Sincerely
• Sincerely yours
• Regards
• Best regards

8. Use a professional signature

For professional emails, use a professional email signature. If you’re writing from a company email account, your signature will usually include your name, title, company logo, phone number, and email.

If you’re writing from a personal email account, consider which information is relevant to the recipient. For example, if you’re expecting the recipient to call you, include your phone number. Or if you’re a university student, you might include your faculty or department.

9. Proofread and edit your professional email

Proofread your email to make sure there are no spelling or grammar mistakes, which can make a bad impression in professional contexts. Double-check that you’ve included any necessary attachments, too.

10. Review your tone

When reviewing your email, check your tone as well. A professional email should be written in a professional tone. You may know your recipient well—and even have a friendly relationship with them—but remember you’re still communicating in a professional setting.

Some tips for maintaining a professional tone are:

• Avoid emojis.
• Use proper punctuation.
• Stay away from slang words.
• Don’t share (or ask for) overly personal or private details.
• Avoid phrasing that you’d usually use for texting.

If you’re not sure if a certain part of your email is professional or not, it’s better to rephrase it or leave it out.

11. Check your recipient fields

Before sending your email, check the recipient field. Make sure the correct contacts appear and that they appear in the correct fields.

When replying, remember:

• Reply returns an email to the person who emailed you.
• Reply all returns an email to the person who emailed you plus anyone who was CC’ed.

12. Schedule your email and send it

Finally, think about the best time to send your email. Ideally, you want it to arrive to its recipient when that person is able to read and reply to it. For most people, this means once they’ve arrived at work, settled in, and dealt with any urgent matters.

Your email client has a scheduling feature that allows you to schedule your email to send at a later time. For example, if you’re drafting your email on Saturday morning, you might want to schedule it to arrive on Monday around noon, giving its recipient time to settle into their day before receiving it.

Professional email examples

The professional email examples below are fictional, but they can give you an idea of what a professional email should look like.

In this first example, Jordan works on the strategic partnerships team for Seaside University. They’re reaching out to Dr. Victoria Nguyen, the founder of EduGreat, an EdTech company that supports university students by digitizing syllabuses and required reading materials.

In the next example, Avery has applied for a communications role at a nonprofit. She did an interview with Lucien Varma last week and now wants to send a follow-up email about the status of her candidacy.

In this third example, Skyler is a product manager at a company that has various wellness apps. Noor is a junior UX designer and was asked to prepare a UX proposal for a new feature the team is building. Skyler has reviewed it and wants to give Noor some feedback.

Frequently asked questions about how to write a professional email

How do I write a professional email to a professor?

Knowing how to write a professional email to a professor is a critical skill for students:

1. Use a formal greeting (e.g., “Dear Professor Smith”).
2. Keep your message polite, concise, and respectful.
3. State your purpose for writing clearly.
4. Include context if needed (e.g., your class or the relevant assignment).
5. End with a polite closing and your full name.

Make sure your email is error-free by putting it through QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker.

How do I write a professional thank you email for support?

To write a professional thank you email for support, follow these steps:

1. Use a polite greeting.
2. Keep your message clear, specific, and appreciative.
3. Express your gratitude.
4. Mention what the support helped you achieve.
5. End with a courteous closing.

If you want to learn more about how to write a professional email thanking someone for their support, ask QuillBot’s AI Chat to help you.

How do I write a professional email to schedule a meeting?

Knowing how to write a professional email to schedule a meeting is an important skill regardless of your job title or industry.

To do so, follow these steps:

1. Use a polite greeting.
2. Be polite, clear, and flexible.
3. State the purpose of the meeting.
4. Suggest a few dates and time options.
5. Invite the recipient to confirm or propose alternatives.
6. Close with a polite sign-off.

Also, make sure your email is free of spelling and grammar errors with help from QuillBot’s Grammar Checker.