Best Email Salutations to Start Your Emails on the Right Note

Struggling to decide how to start your email? You’re not alone. Finding the best email salutation can be tricky—get it wrong, and you might come across as too formal or casual. The best email salutations often take a good two minutes of your time.

You can’t miss out on finer nuances—capitalizing certain letters, using the right punctuation, etc. Even a minor faux pas could end up giving the wrong signals to the reader.

Your choice of words matters, too. For example, ‘Dear Sir’ may appear too formal and distant. You don’t want to start with a ‘Hey [First Name]’ either. Ideally, you want to connect personally and let the introduction line or ‘hook’ do its job.

Don’t you wish you had a pocket guide to the best email salutations for any situation?

In this blog, we’ll answer all your questions about what types of email salutations to use and when, what mistakes to avoid, plus some handy examples to tie it all together.

Let’s get started.

Table of Contents

Key Takeaways

Pick your email salutations depending on who you’re writing to. For example, “Dear [Name]” works well for formal emails, while “Hi [Name]” is good for casual ones.
Avoid overly casual salutations like “Hey” in professional settings. Stick to neutral options like “Hello [Name]” to keep things professional.
Always personalize your salutations by using the recipient’s name. It makes your email feel more thoughtful and shows you’re paying attention.
If you’re unsure of someone’s pronouns or cultural norms, use a neutral salutation like “Hello [Name].” It’s better to be safe than make the wrong assumption.
Be mindful of salutations like “Good morning” or “Good evening”—they might not fit if the recipient is in a different time zone. Opt for a general “Hello” to keep it simple and appropriate.

What are Email Salutations?

An email salutation is the greeting you open an email with. Whether you’re writing to a business associate or a close friend, it must be appropriate. The salutation should also be in the context of the overall message.

If the salutation doesn’t match one or the other, the reader may quickly zone out or simply click the following email. For example, when you’re writing to the CEO, you might use a more formal ‘Hello [First Name]’ versus a casual ‘Hi [First Name].’

Types of Email Salutations

Let’s break down the different types of email salutations to help you pick the best for each scenario.

The best email salutation usually fits the context and relationship with the recipient. In that sense, you could divide email salutations into:

Formal

Business emails call for formal salutations, especially if you’re writing to someone in a position of authority or for the first time.

Examples include:

‘Dear [First Name]’ for people you already know.
‘Dear Mr. [First and Last Name]’ if you don’t know someone well.
‘Dear Sir/Madam’ for shared mailboxes.

Casual

As the name suggests, a casual salutation addresses a co-worker, friend, or community member –someone you’re on a first-name basis with. These are good for informal messages and are really simple.

Examples include:

‘Hi [First Name]’
‘Hey [First Name]’

Neutral

‘Hello [First Name]’ is a great neutral salutation when you don’t personally know the person or group you may be writing. It sounds professional but less formal. These work well with cold outreach emails, email opt-in confirmations, or promotional emails.

Best Practices for Choosing Best Email Salutations

Effective email salutations are specific, culturally appropriate, and respectful. Here are some best practices for using email salutations:

Consider the relationship

Generally, using a greeting like ‘Hey’ is inappropriate in business communication. However, it may be OK if it’s a team member or direct report.

A good rule of thumb is to use formal salutations for people you haven’t interacted with before and reserve casual salutations for those you know well.

Be mindful of cultural differences

In Eastern cultures, using a person’s first name is considered too casual, while in Western countries, using a fellow team member’s last name is too formal.

If you work in a multicultural setting, it’s always good to research the recipient’s cultural background before deciding on a salutation. Company culture also determines the salutation you would use.

For example, if everybody on your team is on a first-name basis, follow the norm in your emails, too.

Think about the context

Generally, if you’re writing to a higher-up, stick to a formal salutation like ‘Dear [First Name].’ On the other hand, you can be slightly less formal when addressing a team member working on the same project.

Emails addressed to people outside your organization, like vendors, customers, or regulatory bodies, should always have a formal salutation.

Be gender neutral

Using the right pronouns is a key part of email etiquette today. When in doubt, it’s safe to use ‘Dear [First Name]’ or ‘Hi [First Name].’ Don’t make any gender-specific references in the body of the email. However, generic salutations like ‘Greetings [First Name]’ can work too.

It’s a good practice to look up the recipient in your company’s employee directory when framing a salutation.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

When it comes to email salutations, there’s often a fine line between right and wrong. Here are a few nuances to keep in mind:

Using overly informal greetings in a formal setting

Not using a salutation in a business email is considered unprofessional, even among co-workers. While this may be perfectly okay for a chat channel, emails must be addressed by the name or title of the recipient.

To keep your email concise, stick to a simple ‘Hi [first name].’ To be sure, check with your co-workers or supervisors beforehand regarding what’s acceptable and what’s not.

Forgetting to personalize

Make sure you address the recipient by name and get that spelling right. Just saying ‘Hi’ may also come across as too casual, depending on who you’re writing to and the context of the email.

If you’re responding to an email message, double-check the sender’s name and title in their email signature. Using a similar salutation to the one they used is an excellent way to build rapport.

Using exclamation marks

Salutations with exclamation marks are best avoided if it’s a professional email. It comes off as too casual. However, if the person you’re emailing tends to use exclamation marks themselves, you can do the same. The key is to use them sparingly.

Know when to use a comma or colon

Here’s a quick rule of thumb:

If your email is formal, use a colon at the end of your salutation. (For example, ‘Hello Mr. Brady:’)
If your email is informal, add a comma between ‘Hello’ and the recipient’s name, along with a comma at the end of the salutation. (‘Hello, Kathy,’ for example.)

Using time-specific salutations

Salutations like ‘Good Morning’ or ‘Good Evening’ are generally good if the sender and recipient are in the same time zone. However, it could be inappropriate if the recipient is in another time zone.

For business emails, time-specific salutations should be used sparingly.

Avoid using ‘To whomsoever it may concern’

In modern business communication, this salutation is inappropriate, even for formal emails. Address the recipient by their title instead. For example, ‘Hello Customer Support Team.’

Effective Email Salutations for Different Scenarios

If you aren’t sure about the best email salutations to use in a given scenario, here are some tried and tested salutations you can use:

Best salutations for business email

In most business scenarios, using ‘Dear [First Name]’ or ‘Hi [First Name]’ is the best email salutation you could use. The recipient’s name is a must, although short forms like Bill for William or Ed for Edward are fine.

If you’re writing to a team or several recipients, use ‘Dear Team’ or ‘Hi Team.’ If you don’t know what pronouns to use for certain people, stick to the standard ‘Hello [First Name]’ or Dear [‘First Name’].

Emails to friends or close associates

Personal emails allow more flexibility; however, not using the first name can still be rude. If you know the person well, using ‘Hey’ is OK. Otherwise, there’s a risk the reader might ignore the email entirely.

You could make an exception if replying to an email with a one-liner. However, it’s important to use discretion as that same email could be forwarded to others.

Best email salutations for cold outreach emails

If you’re writing to a sales prospect for the first time, using ‘Hi [First Name]’ works best. You can use the first and last name if your research shows two or more people by the same name at the company.

Or use titles like ‘Dr.’ (for Doctor) or ‘Prof.’ (for Professor) to address the recipient. If in doubt, call the company office to ensure you’re contacting the right party.

Examples of Best Email Salutations and When to Use Them

Here’s a quick guide to help you choose the best email salutations for common business and personal use depending on the context:

Salutation	Tone	When to use
Dear (First Name)	Formal	Use when writing to senior managers, people you don’t know
Hello (First Name)	Formal	Use in place of ‘dear’ so that you sound more respectful. Ideal for cold email campaigns or general business emails
Hi (Name)	Informal	Use when communicating with team members or people you may be following up with.
Hey (First Name)	Informal	It is best used when emailing colleagues, business associates, friends, or family.
Greetings	Neutral	Good for situations where multiple recipients are involved, in both formal and informal situations.
Good morning/afternoon	Formal	Common salutation based on time of day, both within teams and when communicating with senior managers
Hi Team	Informal	Use to build rapport with a group of people
Dear (Title)(Last Name)	Formal	Use to communicate with C-level executives, business associates, etc
Hey everyone	Informal	Use when replying to email chains, progress updates, etc., within your team or group

Conclusion

Ready to start writing emails that stand out? Practice these email salutations, and you’ll be making connections that count!

And hey, I know, sometimes, typing up an email can feel like a chore. However, you can save time and effort by using email templates for those everyday tasks – add the subject line, modify the body copy, and hit send.

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FAQ

What is the best salutation for an email?

Depending on the nature of the relationship and message, salutations like Dear (First name), Hello (First name), or Hi (First Name) are widely used in a professional setting.

‘Hey (First name) or Hi (First Name) works well for personal emails. You can also open an email with a ‘Hope you’re doing well’ for a personal touch.

How do you start a professional email greeting?

Starting your email with a professional greeting is just as important as the right salutation. Some examples are ‘Hope you’re doing great,’ ‘Hope you enjoyed the weekend,’ etc.

If responding to somebody, use phrases like ‘Thanks for getting back to me’ to acknowledge the sender.

What can I use instead of dear in an email?

In place of ‘Dear,’ you can use ‘Hi’ or ‘Hello’ for professional emails. For personal emails, ‘Hey’ (first name) could be used too.