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I have a habit of ending all my emails like so :
Thanks,
Adel
But the default setting is that every email automatically says "Regards," at the bottom. Is the "Thanks" unnecessary in that case? Or is it a good add-on to include?
Many of my colleagues would only start off with a "hi" and don't include "thanks"
What are people doing that you are thanking them for in every email?
Personally I find a bare "thanks" when there's nothing you should be thanking me for a little off-putting. Of course not everyone shares my view.
If you must add the fluff, Regards, Cheers, or something similar would be better in my opinion. I tend to leave greetings and closings off unless the email is very formal, and "thanks" is too casual in that context.
It really does depend on the context though. If I'm asking someone to do something, I might close with "Thanks in advance". If they've already done something for me, I thank them in the body of my email.
I came across an article that had an e-mail in it that summarized nicely why I find "Thanks" or "Thank you" as an e-mail closing when there's no reason to be thanking me off-putting: Adblock Plus blocked from attending online ad industry’s big annual conference
It turns out that while some folks use it as a closing regardless of the tone of the e-mail they're writing, my experience is that "Thank you" or "Thanks" tends to be the go-to closing for folks who are writing e-mails to brush people off or terminate a conversation. I tend to read it as "Thanks - you can show yourself out" and I end up looking back over the e-mail for clues to decide if that's just the standard closing that person uses or if they're really being that dismissive.
I think a lot of factors depend on it. Interoffice emails, especially informal ones between teams can probably start with the basic "hi" and no end statements. I think you should clarify who you are communicating with and if they are literally within shouting range.
Some folks like to say ending statements when they first write the email then replies are just statements, not greetings and whatnot.
If you are dealing with customers or vendors then it is always a good idea to use formal writing.
Either is acceptable. Email is usually informal communications; salutations and valedictions are often dropped in the interest of saving a few keystrokes, but you're free to use them if you prefer, ot if you want a more formal tone.
Most mail tools will also let you sef a "signature block which is added to the bottom of every outgoing message. The signature block will be preceeded by a line containin onlY two '-' characters, to indicate that it was appended automatically. (That's especially important if your signature contains a quip or quote; you don't usually want folks thinking it's a comment upon what precedes it or on themselves.)
--
"I am about to -- or I am going to -- die: either expression is correct." ~~ reportedly the dying words of Dominique Bouhours, French grammarian
As has been noted already, there are plenty of different ways to go about this. My boss has "Thanks, [his name]" at the end of every email. I've seen people who default to Regards, Best Regards, and sometimes even just "BR" as well. If I'm sending an email to people in my office, who I see every day, usually I put "Thanks," above my standard signature. Emails that are a matter of record, e.g. notices of changes to drawings, usually include the PDF and my signature and nothing else. When I email colleagues in my company but in another office whom I don't know personally, I usually use "Regards,".
What this really boils down to is, no one cares that much. If you're seriously in doubt, I would err on the side of being more formal and ending everything with "Regards". However, it's unlikely that the word you pick to end your emails will affect your career and peoples' image of you unless it's a profanity or exceedingly rude.
