How does “Kindest regards” rate? It was drilled into me as the sign off for almost all correspondence at environmental engineering firm I temped at several years ago. Never used it before then. Can’t stop using it now.
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As a young person I feel that emails should not have any boilerplate signature. It clutters up the thread (we all use threading email clients these days, yes?)
But, I participate in some email lists in which it has been requested that everyone end each message with some signature because apparently headers aren’t good enough (maybe some people are still using some crazy old AOL mail client or something, who knows). In those contexts I sign off thusly:
-Firstname
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Or possibly “All the best”
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It kinda depends on what you’re using e-mail for. My personal e-mail doesn’t have any standard signature on it, but my work e-mail has a fairly long that includes my department, graduate student status, and office location. We don’t do a lot of long e-mail threads there, but if I’m sending an e-mail to financial, it’s important they know my employment status and department. For students it’s helpful to have my office location at the end of every e-mail I send so they know where to find me for office hours, and it’s also helpful for them to know that I am not a real doctor (I have a Master Degree! In science!). Or if I’m e-mailing research participants, it lets them know where my lab is, and how to reach me by phone if they have a last minute emergency. All the people don’t need all that information all the time, but it’s generally more useful than not.
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I have a friend who always signs off:
--firstname
I figure it’s self-deprecation, as he programs in C.
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“Get on with it.”
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I’m not entirely sure why; but there’s something intrinsically depraved about using affected email sign-offs.
If ‘ciao’ is actually how speakers of Italian are wont to end messages that’s fine; but seeing it from a native English speaker who knows whatever Italian they absorbed from Eat Pray Love makes my loathing gland engorge with viscous bile.
For that reason, I’m not sure how ‘Cheers’ made it to chaotic good. It’s a sinister temptation for people who are neither british nor jocular to attempt to inject some british jocularity into their message.
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“I have finished typing,”
“That’s all,”
“Clicking Send Now,”
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You made me laugh out loud. I would like to give your reply an extra “like” if I could.
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Sometimes they are automatically appended by organizational email systems; but anyone who voluntarily has one of those
“This e-mail is intended for the addressee shown. It contains information that is confidential and protected from disclosure. Any review, dissemination or use of this transmission or its contents by persons or unauthorized employees of the intended organisations is strictly prohibited.”
style signatures…may be subject to ontological reassignment at the recipient’s discretion.
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“Thanks” can be a weird one, because many people use it when they’re making an initial inquiry or a request. But I remember reading somewhere (pretty sure it was Judith Martin, aka “Miss Manners”) the idea that it’s not good to say thanks when making a request because it carries the sense that you fully expect that the person will do what you ask—it has a feeling of imperiousness to it. So the thing to do is to make your request without saying thanks, then when/if the person does what you ask, reply (promptly!) to thank them. It’s only appropriate to sign an initial request with Thanks if you’re actually someone’s boss and they have to do what you ask—but even then, it’s probably best not to say thanks at the time of making a request, so employees can feel they have a choice to do it willingly.
My own preferred sign-off is “With best wishes” or “Best wishes” or “Best” (in that order, as an email exchange goes on). Interesting to know that it might be considered neutral good.
We are asked, in the Community Guidelines, not to sign our replies here, because they already carry identifying information. Good to know that I’m being nudged into being neutrally evil 
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I’ve also thought about that, and my current practice is something like this:
- Just say thanks up front. People probably don’t want extra emails afterwards —at least I don’t.
- If someone really went out of their way, or above and beyond, then maybe send an actual message afterwards showing my meaningful appreciation for that specific thing they did.
Another interesting topic. I worry that things can go too far in the other (passive aggressive, or maybe just falsely-chummy) direction, like the boss in Office Space: “If you could do X, that’d be great.” Like, just tell the person to do X! If I’m telling a subordinate to do something, I generally say, “Please do X. Thanks.” It’s a polite instruction, not a question. If there’s a legitimate question of whether they can do it—maybe it’s a super busy day or something—then I’ll make it a question.
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All the best . . . ? best zucchini? All the best ■■■■■ wipes? What is it?
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Do you feel like you mean it every time you write it? For business?
This I like and I use this about a third of the time. Why agonize over what’s appropriate and conveys the right tone, or write something insincere, when really all you need to convey is “the end”
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Just “the best”. It’s a choose your own adventure thing.
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i close with the words
“more later”
followed by my initials.
if it’s a personal email to a friend or close relative i put the word “love” before my initials.
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I have complete confidence that you won’t be doing that, though 
Yes, I bet that’s probably a big reason that many people go ahead and say thanks along with an initial request. It may be that times and customs have changed due to email overload…who knows, we could get to a point where it’s considered rude if someone doesn’t say thanks with an initial request.
Another angle on saying thanks before something is done—I don’t remember where I read about this—is the idea that being thanked provides a dopamine hit (or something like that) and if you thank someone before they do something, then they have less reason to follow through and actually do it, because they’ve already gotten the reward for it. As I recall, it was suggested that when dealing with children or spouses who neglect to do their chores, holding off thanks until the tasks are actually done could help the situation.
I tried it out on a former landlord, and it really seemed to work (sample size of one, I know). He was always saying he would do things, I would say “Great! Thanks! I really appreciate it!” and then he would never do them. It drove me nuts. So after reading that advice I started saying things like “I’ll look forward to having that done” and then thanking and praising him only after it was done. I didn’t keep before-and-after data or anything, but it seemed to do the trick. I think for one thing he cared about my opinion of him, so he wanted to earn my approval. And for another, I think that most people would like to be thanked for what they’ve done (even if it was a small task and just a one-word thanks), so it probably works a bit like a carrot on a stick—that dopamine hit of getting thanked and recognized for what you did is in the offing, waiting to be enjoyed once the job is done.
(Just offering that idea to you in case you have an employee who doesn’t follow through, it might be an approach that could help in specific cases.)
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That might be a North American view, but in other parts of the Anglosphere it’s considered totally normal. CG is about right.
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Once in a blue-moon I’ll use “warm regards”. Does that mean I’ve brought balance to the Force?
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