How do you address an email cover letter?

You address an email cover letter as you would a physical cover letter. Use a formal full-name greeting or a formal salutation followed by the contact person's last name. Or, if you can’t find a person to address, use the department name or a job title. Here are a few examples: Dear Joanna Parks, Dear Ms Wells, Dear Mr Riddley, Dear Dr Blake, Dear Tesco Marketing Team, Dear HR Manager,

What is a warm salutation?

A warm salutation is one that: starts with ‘Dear’ addresses the contact person by name Here’s an example of a warm salutation followed by a cold one you should avoid using wherever possible: Warm salutation Dear Ms Kryzgalia, Cold salutation To Whom It May Concern,

Should you say ‘I look forward to hearing from you’ in a cover letter?

Yes, you can say ‘I look forward to hearing from you’ in your cover letter. Employers expect to see a call-to-action like this at the end of your cover letter , as it demonstrates your genuine interest in the role. But if you want to avoid using this common phrase, here are some alternatives: I’m excited to hear back from you soon Awaiting your kind response at your earliest convenience Anticipating your reply And remember to include your email address and phone number when you use this phrase. Even though this information should be in your cover letter header , repeating it in your closing paragraph ensures it’s easy for the employer to find.

How do I address a cover letter in the modern era

An anonymous Redditor posted this question. Here’s the answer from our experts: Even in this modern era, you should use a formal greeting for your cover letter, following this format: Dear [Mr/Ms/Mx] [Name], But if you’re addressing your cover letter to someone you know (e.g., your friend is a manager at your target company and has encouraged you to apply for a role on their team), you can use ‘Hello’ in place of ‘Dear’ to be less formal.

How to Address a Cover Letter in 2026

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Here’s the standard way to address a cover letter in the UK:

Dear (Mr/Ms) (Surname),

For example:

Dear Ms Singh,

‘Dear [hiring manager’s name]’

Do you know the contact person’s name, gender, and title (e.g., Mr/Ms/Dr)? Then, use that information to customise your cover letter greeting by creating a personal connection to the reader.

Here are some ways to address a cover letter that are always okay:

An infographic showing four ways to address a cover letter when you know the contact person — ‘Hello’ is an appropriate salutation if you know the contact person or are applying for an internal position.

How to find the hiring manager’s name

If you don’t have it, here are some ways to find the hiring manager’s name:

Company website

If the company has a website, look for a ‘Team’ or ‘About Us’ page. These pages are often linked in the header or footer menus. Consider the role you’re applying for and look for the head of that department.

For instance, if you’re applying for a junior digital marketing position, try to find someone with a title like ‘Head of Marketing’ and address your letter to them directly.

Even if a company has no official website, its employees probably have a LinkedIn presence. Search the company’s name. Look for employees listed as a hiring manager, a department head, or a recruiter.

Google

A simple Google search can also help you find the hiring manager’s name. Try searching for the company name along with keywords like ‘Head of [Department]’, ‘Hiring Manager’, or ‘Recruiter’. For example, type in ‘[Company Name] Head of Marketing’ or ‘[Company Name] recruitment team’.

You might even find relevant information from press releases, staff directories, company blog posts, or even cached pages that mention key personnel.

Make sure a source isn’t too old, though — it might be out of date, and you may end up addressing your cover letter to someone who left the company months or years ago.

And if you still can’t figure out what title to use, addressing your cover letter ‘Dear (Full Name),’ is fine.

Some prominent businesspeople have been knighted. In that case, ‘Sir’ or ‘Dame’ is followed by their first name, not their last name. For example, ‘Dear Dame Maggie,’

If you can’t find the hiring manager’s name

If you don’t have the name of the hiring manager, you have a couple of options. You can:

Address your cover letter to the department or organisation
Use a generic greeting

1. Address your cover letter to the department or organisation

If you can’t find the name of the hiring manager or are still unsure after looking in the above places, you should address your cover letter to the overall department, branch, or organisation. For example:

Dear Design Department,
Dear HMRC,
Dear Tesco Business Support Department,
Dear InnoTech Hiring Team,
Dear River Island Bradford,

2. Use a generic greeting

Generic greetings on a cover letter are a last resort because they indicate you didn’t spend any time tailoring your cover letter to the job listing, but in some rare cases, you may be applying blind for a position with no idea about the company or who works there.

Here are some ideas for generic cover greetings for when you can’t find a person’s or department’s name:

Dear Hiring Manager,
To Whom It May Concern,
Dear Hiring Team,
Dear Recruiter,

We recommend avoiding ‘Dear Sir or Madam‘ in a cover letter, as it can come across as outdated and overly formal. It also excludes non-binary individuals, making it less inclusive.

Frequently asked questions

Below, we answer commonly asked questions about how to address a cover letter for a job:

1. How do I format the addresses on my cover letter?

Here’s how you format your cover letter’s top-most sections:

To be clear:

Single space and right-align your contact information, putting your name, street number and name, town, and postcode each on their own line
Add today’s date on a separate line under your contact details and right-align it
Hit ‘Enter’ twice to add a paragraph break, and put the employer’s contact information in a left-aligned list, following the same format you used for your contact details
Hit ‘Enter’ twice and write your greeting

If you think you might get it wrong, a preformatted cover letter template will have these elements all laid out — you’ll just need to fill in the details.

2. How do I address a cover letter to a recruitment agency?

Here’s how you address a cover letter to a recruitment agency:

if you have a contact’s name: Dear [Mr/Ms/Mx] [Contact’s Surname],
if you don’t have a contact’s name: Dear Recruiter,

Whenever possible, use a contact’s name to make your cover letter more personable. You should be able to find a person to address your cover letter to by searching the agency’s website. But if not, contact the agency and ask who to address your cover letter to.

3. How do I address a cover letter if I only have the hiring manager’s first name?

First, you should still try to find the hiring manager’s last name and title by researching their company website and social media.

But if your search comes up empty, you can greet them by their first name, like ‘Dear James,’.

Don’t feel shy about using their first name. If that’s all you have, then it’s likely that’s how they prefer to be addressed.

Get help writing your cover letter

Now that you’ve nailed the greeting, it’s time to focus on the opening paragraph of your cover letter.

If you’re unsure how to start your cover letter — let alone write the rest — consider using a cover letter builder. These AI-powered tools ask a few quick questions about your work history and education, then generate a personalised cover letter in minutes.

Even better, you can create multiple versions tailored to each job you’re applying for. That way, you’ll address the specific requirements in every listing and stand out from the flood of generic applications employers often receive.

Build My Cover Letter Now

Build a standout cover letter in just a few clicks using our cover letter builder.

Written by

Samuel Johns

Samuel Johns is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Senior Editor on the CV Genius team, with 7+ years of experience in the careers space. He has helped countless job hunters craft high-quality CVs and cover letters, exceed expectations at interviews, and obtain their dream jobs. Born and raised in County Durham in the beautiful North East, he graduated with a BA (Hons) in French Language and Literature from the University of Bristol in 2013 and has worked in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, London, Paris, and Taipei as a French–English translator. He’s determined to use his native English and fluent French skills to help UK and French candidates get the jobs they deserve. In addition to the British and French versions of CV Genius, Samuel’s job-hunt advice has been published on numerous websites, including Careers.org, the University of Warwick, the Enterprisers Project, and HR.com. If you’d like to collaborate, please reach out to Samuel through LinkedIn. Please note, we don’t accept guest posts and won’t reply to such requests.