How to Sign a Letter: Sign-Offs and Signature Placement

The end of a letter is where small mistakes show. The wrong sign-off, a signature squeezed against the text or a missing typed name make a good letter look careless. This guide covers UK conventions for the sign-off, the position of your signature and what to do for emails, Word files and letters you sign for someone else.

Choosing the sign-off: sincerely or faithfully

In British letters the ending is tied to the opening. If you started with a name ("Dear Mr Khan"), end with Yours sincerely¹. If you started with "Dear Sir or Madam" because you do not know who will read it, end with Yours faithfully². Wikipedia describes the same pairing as typical British usage³.

You begin with	You end with	Typical use
Dear Sir or Madam	Yours faithfully	Complaints, job enquiries, letters to a company
Dear Mrs Walker	Yours sincerely	Formal letters to a named person
Dear Sam	Kind regards or Best wishes	Colleagues, clients you know, friends

A simple way to remember it: no name in the greeting means "faithfully", a name in the greeting means "sincerely". If you can find out the name of the person who will read the letter, a quick phone call or a look at the website is worth it, because "Dear Ms Patel" reads better than "Dear Sir or Madam" and lets you use the warmer ending.

Yours truly and Sincerely: American endings

You will see "Sincerely" or "Yours truly" at the end of American letters. Cambridge Dictionary lists "Sincerely yours" as the US form of the British ending¹ and marks "Yours truly" as formal and mainly American⁴. In a UK letter they are not wrong, but they sound foreign, so stay with Yours sincerely and Yours faithfully.

Kind regards, Best wishes and friends

"Kind regards" is the everyday middle ground, polite without being stiff, and it is what most people write at the end of work emails. "Best wishes" is a little warmer, a polite way to finish a letter to someone you know quite well⁵. For close friends and family you can write anything you like, from "Love" to "See you soon".

Where the signature goes

The signature belongs between the sign-off and your typed name. That gap is the whole reason a formal letter has so much white space at the bottom. Here is the order, top to bottom:

1. Write the closing line of the letter, then a blank line.
2. Type the sign-off (Yours sincerely) on its own line, left-aligned if your letter is in block format.
3. Leave three or four empty lines, enough for the signature to sit freely.
4. Sign in pen in that gap, or place a transparent signature image there.
5. Type your full name directly under the gap.
6. Add your job title and organisation on the next lines, if relevant.

Sign with the pen you would use for any other document, and let the ink dry before folding. A signature that smudges onto the page looks careless and may be harder to compare later.

Typed name and job title

• Name: your full name as you want it on record, with a title such as Dr if you use one. Do not repeat Mr, Mrs or Ms unless you want to show how to address you in return.
• Job title: on the line below, for instance "Operations Manager". Use it when you write on behalf of a business or an organisation.
• Contact details: if they are not in a letterhead, add them below.

A complete example

Here is how the end of a formal letter to a named person looks, top to bottom:

• Last line of the letter: "I look forward to hearing from you."
• Sign-off: "Yours sincerely"
• Three or four empty lines, where you sign in pen
• Typed name: "Priya Kapoor"
• Job title: "Customer Services Manager"
• Optional: "Enc." (enclosures) or "cc" (copies) below the name

Left-aligned (block) layout is the simplest and what most word processors give you by default. If you centre the sign-off, centre the name beneath it too, so the signature has a clear axis. A formal letter reads best when the sign-off, the gap and the name all sit on the same left margin.

Signing on behalf of someone else

If you sign for another person or for a company, the usual device is "p.p." (per procurationem) before your signature. It is covered in detail in our guide to the PP signature, including when to use it and what it does not mean. The short version: write "p.p." and the name of the person you represent, then sign your own name and say who you are. Do not sign somebody else's name as if it were your own.

Adding your signature to a Word letter

Most letters now start life in Word. You can print the page and sign it in pen, or put a signature image in the gap above your name. We walk through the steps in how to insert a signature in Word, and you can create a transparent image with our free generator.

Signing an email or a letter you send as a PDF

Emails need less ceremony: a sign-off such as "Kind regards", then your name and, if you want, a signature block. A handwritten look can be added as a small image. See how to add a handwritten signature to an email for the set-up. For a letter sent as a PDF, put the image above your typed name and save the file as PDF, so the layout cannot move.

Common mistakes when signing a letter

• Mixing up the pairs. "Dear Sir or Madam" with "Yours sincerely" is the classic slip.
• Capitalising every word. It is Yours sincerely, not Yours Sincerely.
• No typed name. A handwritten squiggle alone does not tell the reader who you are.
• Signing over the text. Keep the signature in its own gap.
• Using a different signature each time. Practise one version (see how to practise your signature).

General guidance on British letter conventions, not legal advice. For contracts and official forms follow the instructions on the document itself.

Frequently asked questions

Do I use Yours sincerely or Yours faithfully?

Use Yours sincerely when the letter starts with the recipient's name (Dear Ms Patel). Use Yours faithfully when it starts with Dear Sir or Madam. Only the first word is capitalised.

Where does the signature go on a letter?

Between the sign-off and your typed name. Leave a few clear lines under the sign-off so the signature does not run into either.

Do I need to type my name as well as sign?

Yes, on any formal letter. A handwritten signature is often hard to read, so the typed name underneath tells the reader who wrote it. Add your job title on the line below if you write for an organisation.

Can I sign a letter with an image of my signature?

In most everyday letters, yes. Insert a transparent image of your signature above your typed name. For some documents the recipient may insist on a pen signature, so check what is asked.

What is the best sign-off for a letter to a friend or colleague?

Best wishes or Kind regards both work. Best wishes is warmer and suits someone you know quite well.

Sources

1. 1Cambridge Dictionary: (yours) sincerely (dictionary.cambridge.org)
2. 2Cambridge Dictionary: Yours faithfully (dictionary.cambridge.org)
3. 3Wikipedia: Complimentary close (wikipedia.org)
4. 4Cambridge Dictionary: Yours truly (dictionary.cambridge.org)
5. 5Cambridge Dictionary: best wishes (dictionary.cambridge.org)