5 Useful Goodbye Email Templates for Your Colleagues

1. 7 Important Tips You Should Remember Before Crafting a Goodbye Email

1.1. Be Grateful

Focus on the upsides of your experience. A goodbye email to coworkers is not an appropriate medium to rehash past grievances. Instead, zero in on the things you enjoyed most about the working environment and any useful skills you picked up along the way in your goodbye email. There are plenty of goodbye email templates you can do this through.

1.2 Keep it Crisp and Formal

While it may be tempting to send an emotional goodbye mail to coworkers after resignation, it’s usually best to keep things concise and professional when addressing the whole office in your goodbye email to colleagues. Coworkers will appreciate that you’ve taken the time to write a farewell note, but they probably won’t want to read an essay reminiscing about the details of your employment. Do check a farewell email template to gain a better understanding on how you can do this

1.3. Keep a Balanced Approach

It’s possible to be positive without being sentimental in your goodbye email. Ensure that your goodbye email to coworkers is polite and equable. You can do this by avoiding the use of overly emotive phrasing, even if you are excited to share how much you are looking forward to your new job. As noted earlier, when addressing the entire staff, it’s better to err on the side of formality. Check out some goodbye email templates before you begin writing for some clarity.

1.4. Always Check with Your Team Lead

As a professional courtesy, inform your line manager that you are planning to send a goodbye email to the team. You don’t want to tread on any toes when it comes to your goodbye email, especially if you intend to remain on good terms with management.

1.5. Ensure to Write a Proper Goodbye Email to Coworkers Subject Line

The goodbye email to coworkers subject line is often a stumbling block. Normally, your impending departure will already be known around the office before you send your farewell note, so it’s fine to keep it short and sweet with the words ‘Staying in touch’ or ‘My last day.’

If you want to be a little more effusive, you can opt instead for something like ‘A fond farewell’ or ‘Wishing you all the best’. Remember: if you want to make your goodbye email to coworkers funny, ensure the joke is in good taste. 

Unless your goodbye email is addressed to colleagues who you know very well and have a close relationship with, it’s better to stick with something tried and true, rather than risk offending someone with an ill-judged witticism. A quick search for goodbye email templates or a farewell email template will give you an idea about the kind of language you should use.

1.6. Always Send your Email a Day or Two Before You Leave

To fall back on a cliché, timing is everything. The ideal period to send a goodbye email to coworkers is a day or so before your departure, so that it doesn’t become a distraction but still gives everyone time to wish you well.

On the other hand, if you are sending a goodbye email to clients, you may want to send your email a couple of days earlier, to give them time to get back to you with any inquiries or messages. As with colleagues, you want to leave your clients with a positive last impression, keeping the door open to do business with them in the future.

1.7. Ensure to Mention Your Contact Information

After carefully crafting your sign-off, it’s so easy to forget to include your contact information. However, this is one of the most important parts of any goodbye email to coworkers. It’s fairly hard to maintain a relationship with former bosses, colleagues or clients if you haven’t told them how to reach you once you’ve left the company.

Have a look at the goodbye email templates below to get a better idea of how to draft your mail

2. Sample Goodbye Email Templates 

If you’re still stuck for ideas, below are a couple of goodbye email templates for a goodbye email to colleagues ranging from last day email templates, goodbye email to a boss to a creative last working day mail.

2.1. Goodbye Email for Your Managers

Dear [Insert Name],

I wanted to express my appreciation for your guidance and support over the past [Insert Number of Months/Years].

During my time at [Insert Company], it has been a pleasure working under your leadership. With the benefit of your insight and encouragement, I have been able to flourish as a professional, developing skills that will stand me in good stead for my future roles.

I hope we can stay in touch going forward. You can reach me via [Insert Email] or [Insert Phone].

Once again, thank you for your support and tutelage. I wish you all the best for the future.

Yours sincerely,

[Insert Name]

2.2. Goodbye Email to Coworkers Funny 

Hi [Insert Name],

So here it is, my last day. You think you’re happy to get rid of me now, but wait till you see the new guy!

It’s been an absolute joy working with you over the past [Insert Number of Months/Years]. I’ll never forget the many tipsy Friday lunches where we came up with some of our best ideas for how to improve the company… Though perhaps ‘best’ isn’t the right way to describe them.

A few parting words of advice: watch out for the mug thief, never leave your screen unlocked when Dan is in sight and make sure you don’t get stuck talking to the boss after imbibing too much at the annual company party – well, not again, at least.

Let’s try and stay in touch – and good luck with my replacement!

All the best,

[Insert Name]

2.3. Goodbye Email to Your Close Colleagues

Dear team,

As you know, [Insert Day/Date] is my last day at [Insert Company]. 

Before I leave, I wanted to let you all know what a privilege it has been to work with you over the last [Insert Number of Months/Years]. Each of you has, in a unique way, made my time at [Insert Company] a wonderful experience. 

I can only hope that my future colleagues will be as inspiring and supportive to work with as you all have been.

You can reach me via [Insert Email] or [Insert Phone]. Please stay in touch and I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Yours sincerely,

[Insert Name]

2.4. Goodbye Email to the Head of your Department

Dear [Insert Name],

As you may know, [Insert Date/Day] is my last day at [Insert Company].

I have greatly enjoyed my time at [Insert Company], where I was given the opportunity to develop and prosper, and I would like to personally thank you for your leadership during the last few years. Even though our interactions have been limited, I always found you to be a fair and supportive person who challenged me to deliver to the best of my ability.

If you need to reach me for any reason, my email address is [Insert Email] and my phone number is [Insert Phone]. I hope we can work together in the future.

Yours sincerely,

[Insert Name]

2.5. Goodbye Email to Your Distant Colleagues

Hi All,

Today is my last day at [Insert Company] and I wanted to just briefly thank you all for making this a great place to work.

I may only have interacted with some of you very briefly, but you have all contributed to making the last [Insert Number of Months/Years] at [Insert Company] a memorable experience. 

I’m sure I will see some of you again down the road, but in the meantime, I wish you all the best. 

Please feel free to contact me via [Insert Email] or [Insert Phone] if you want to get in touch.

Yours sincerely,

[Insert Name]

2.6. Goodbye Email to the Clients or Third-party Contacts

Dear [Insert Client Name],

I hope this email finds you well.

I’m reaching out to let you know that I am leaving my position at [Insert Company]. My last day will be [Insert Date].

It has been a pleasure working with you over the last [Insert Number of Months/Years] and I wish you all the best for the future.

I will still be at [Insert Company] for the next [Insert Number of Days] if you have any questions or things you would like clarification on before I leave. After that, you can contact my replacement, [Insert Name of New Point of Contact], at [Insert Email].  

If there’s anything else I can do for you, do not hesitate to contact me at [Insert Email] or [Insert Phone].

Best regards,

[Insert Name]

3. FAQs

A meaningful or creative last working day mail or goodbye email to coworkers leaves behind a warm glow at your last place of work. This can be invaluable when it comes to references for future jobs, but also leaves the door open for contact should there be any mutually beneficial opportunities in the future. In some industries, there is a relatively small pool of professionals and it’s always smart to keep lines of communication open.

3.2. How to write a goodbye email to my manager?

A goodbye email to a boss is often the most important and difficult farewell note you will send. The best approach is to combine general gratitude with specific highlights of how they have helped you develop in a role. You’ll be surprised how a few carefully worded sentences can leave a positive impression, which can lead to beneficial opportunities in the future.