By the end of this lesson you will be able to
- Write a short email with a greeting, a clear request, the details and a polite ending.
- Attach a file, check the attachment and decide when a link is better than an attachment.
- Choose correctly between Reply, Reply All and Forward.
- Treat attachments you receive with care before opening them.
A clear email gets a quick answer. A confusing one gets ignored, or answered with a question that wastes everybody's day. At school, at work and when dealing with offices, your emails are often the only impression people have of you. This lesson shows a simple structure that works for nearly every message, how to attach files so that they arrive and open, and the small habits of etiquette that make you easy to deal with.
A simple structure for any email
Think of an email as a short, polite letter that the reader may only glance at on a telephone. Put the most important thing first, keep paragraphs short and say exactly what you want. A reliable pattern has five parts: a subject that names the topic, a greeting, a one or two sentence purpose, the details the reader needs and a polite ending with your name.
- Marker 1: Subject says what it is about
- Marker 2: Greeting uses the person's name
- Marker 3: The request comes first
- Marker 4: Details: reason and choices
- Marker 5: Polite ending and your name
Read this figure as text
A simulated email page with numbered markers on the subject, greeting, request, details and sign-off.
A fictional email from Amina Wanjiru to Mr Kamau. The subject is Request to move my appointment from Tuesday to Thursday. The greeting is Dear Mr Kamau. The first sentence states the request: I would like to move my appointment on Tuesday 14 May to Thursday 16 May. The next line gives the detail: I have a course on Tuesday morning. I can come at any time after 10 am on Thursday. The sign-off is Kind regards, Amina Wanjiru. Marker 1 is the subject, marker 2 the greeting, marker 3 the request in the first sentence, marker 4 the detail and marker 5 the sign-off with the name.
Match the tone to the reader. For a teacher, an official or someone you do not know, use a formal greeting such as Dear Ms Odera, and finish with Kind regards, or Yours sincerely,. For a friend or a close colleague, Hello Fatuma, and Best wishes, are fine. When in doubt, begin formally. It is easy to become friendlier later and harder to repair a message that sounded rude.
- Subject: Hi
- No greeting
- SEND ME THE THING NOW
- No name, no date
Reader must guess
- Subject: Photos for the school newsletter
- Dear Mrs Odera,
- Could you send the photos by Friday?
- Kind regards, Amina
Reader knows what to do
Read this figure as text
Two columns comparing a rude unclear email with a polite clear one.
Two columns. Poor: no subject or the subject Hi; no greeting; ALL CAPITAL LETTERS; unclear request such as Send me the thing; no name at the end. Good: a specific subject; a greeting with the person's name; normal capital letters; a clear request with the date needed; Kind regards and your name.
Attaching files
An attachment is a file sent inside the email, such as a CV, a photograph or a form. In webmail you look for a paperclip icon or a button labelled Attach, then choose a file from your computer. In an email program the button is also a paperclip. The file appears as a small label under the subject line, with its name and size. Check that the name is sensible: CV-Amina-Wanjiru.pdf is much better than document1 (3).pdf.
Attach a file safely
Step 1: Write the message first
Write your greeting and request, and mention the attachment in the text, for example: I have attached my CV as a PDF.
You should see: You see your message with a sentence that announces the attachment, which also reminds you to attach it.
Step 2: Choose the paperclip or Attach button
Click it and browse in the file window to the file. Select it and press Open.
You should see: A label appears with the file name and its size, for example 180 KB.
Step 3: Check the name and the size
Make sure it is the right file and the right version. If the file is a document that others should not edit, a PDF is usually better than an editable file.
You should see: The label shows the file name that you intended.
Step 4: Check the recipients, then send
Look at To, CC and BCC one last time, then press Send.
You should see: The message disappears from Drafts and appears in Sent.
Providers limit the size of a message. A common limit is about 25 MB for the whole message, and the limit of the recipient's provider applies too, so a large file can be refused even if yours accepted it. If a file is too big, you can compress it into a ZIP file, reduce the size of photographs, or share it with a link instead. A shared link to a file in cloud storage is better for large files and for files that several people may change, because there is only one current copy. You will learn this in the next module.
Reply, Reply All and Forward
Three buttons look similar but do different jobs. Reply sends your answer to the sender only. Reply All sends it to the sender and everyone in To and CC. Forward sends the message, with its history, to someone new. The rule is to use Reply unless everyone really needs to see your answer.
| Situation | Choose | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A colleague asks you a question | Reply | Only she needs the answer |
| A message to twenty people says: please confirm if you are coming | Reply | Twenty people do not need to read your Yes |
| A group is deciding a date and you have a suggestion | Reply All | Everyone involved should see it |
| A message should go to a person who was not on it | Forward | She was not included, so she needs the original |
- Is the message for someone who was not on it?
- YesDo thisUse Forward. Delete anything private from the older messages first.
- NoDoes everyone on it need to see your answer?
- YesDo thisUse Reply All, and check the list of names.
- NoDo thisUse Reply. Only the sender will receive it.
Read this figure as text
A yes or no decision tree that ends in Reply, Reply All or Forward.
Start: Do you want to send the message to someone who was not on it? If yes, use Forward and remove anything private. If no, ask: does everybody on the message need to see your answer? If yes, use Reply All. If no, use Reply, which sends only to the sender.
Good manners: the small habits
- Answer within a day or two where you can. If you need longer, send a short note saying when you will reply.
- Keep one topic per message, so that the subject stays true. Start a new message with a new subject when the topic changes.
- Do not write anything in anger. Anything you send can be forwarded or shown to others.
- Use plain, simple words. Avoid slang and many exclamation marks in formal messages.
- Do not send emails that ask for a password, and never reply with one.
- Check the address, the attachment and the recipients before you press Send. Many providers offer a short time to undo a send, but you should not rely on it.
A final note on automatic replies. If you are away, you can switch on an out-of-office message in your email settings. It tells senders when you will be back. Keep it short and do not say that your home is empty.
Common mistakes
✖ Instead of: Writing a long message without a clear request.
✔ Do this: State what you want in the first one or two sentences, then give the details.
✖ Instead of: Saying that a file is attached and forgetting to attach it.
✔ Do this: Attach the file as soon as you mention it, and check the label under the subject before sending.
✖ Instead of: Writing in capital letters or with many exclamation marks.
✔ Do this: Use normal capitals and plain polite words; one exclamation mark at most.
✖ Instead of: Opening every attachment you receive.
✔ Do this: Open only attachments you expected, from a sender whose address you have checked.
If something goes wrong
- I get the message that the file is too large to attach.
- Compress it into a zip file, reduce the size of any photographs, or upload it to cloud storage and send a link. Check who the link is shared with.
- The recipient says the attachment will not open.
- Check that they have a program for that file type. A PDF is the most widely readable. Resend it in PDF format, and make sure the file extension was not removed.
- I sent the message to the wrong person.
- If your provider offers an Undo Send, use it quickly. If not, send a short polite message asking the person to delete it. If it contained a password or private data, change the password and tell the people affected.
- The send button is greyed out.
- Make sure that there is at least one valid address in To, and that no address is mistyped. Check that you are online and that the attachment has finished uploading.
Key terms
- attachment
- An attachment is a file sent along with an email message.
- CC (carbon copy)
- CC is a box for people who should see an email for information and are not the main person you are writing to.
- BCC (blind carbon copy)
- BCC is a box for recipients whose addresses are hidden from everyone else who gets the email.
- email signature
- An email signature is a short block of text, such as your name and contact details, added automatically at the bottom of your messages.
- shared link
- A shared link is a web address that gives access to a file or folder in cloud storage.
Practise it for real
Reading is not the same as being able to do it. Complete these on your own computer, then tick only what you have actually done. These ticks are your own honest record: nothing checks them for you.
Write and send yourself a formal email
Create a short PDF or text file called practice-note containing a few lines. Compose an email to your own second address (or to yourself) with a clear subject line, the greeting Dear and a name, a one-sentence request, two lines of details and a sign-off. Attach the file, check the label on it and send. Open the received message and open the attachment.
Rewrite a poor message
Rewrite this poor message so that it is clear and polite: Subject: hi. Body: I NEED THE FORM TODAY SEND IT. Imagine you are writing to Ms Odera at a college office to ask for the enrolment form by Friday. Then decide which of Reply, Reply All or Forward you would use if a message to forty parents asked: please say if you will attend.
Knowledge check
6 questions. You need 80% to pass. Mistakes here are part of learning, and you can retry as often as you like.
Summary
- A good email has a specific subject, a greeting, a clear request, details and a polite ending.
- Mention an attachment in the text, attach it, and check the label before sending.
- Use a link instead of an attachment for large files.
- Reply goes to the sender only; Reply All goes to everybody; Forward goes to someone new.
- Open only attachments you expected, from senders you have checked.
Checklist: can you do these?
Marking a lesson as read does not prove you can do it. Skills count as demonstrated when you pass the quiz (not yet) and complete the practical tasks (not yet).
Related lessons
References and further reading
Official sources for details that can change between versions.
- Thunderbird support (Mozilla)
- Outlook support (Microsoft)