Thanks For The Regards | Avoid An Awkward Sign-Off

If you’ve typed “Thanks For The Regards” at the end of an email, you’re not alone. It sounds courteous, it feels warm, and it seems like it should work. Still, the phrase lands a little oddly in everyday English.

The snag is simple: regards usually lives inside fixed patterns. People send regards, give regards, or sign off with regards. They do not often thank someone with that exact wording unless they add a detail such as your kind regards or sending your regards. That small shift makes the line sound natural instead of translated or stitched together.

This article clears up what the phrase is trying to say, where it goes wrong, and what to write instead in emails, texts, cards, and work messages. By the end, you’ll know which version fits a formal note, which one fits a friendly reply, and which one is better left out.

What “Regards” Means In Real English

In plain use, regards points to good wishes, respect, or courtesy. You see it in two steady patterns, and both matter when you decide whether the full phrase sounds natural.

One use is message passing. You say, “Please send my regards to your parents,” or “Give my regards to Maya.” Here, regards means good wishes sent through another person.

The second use is a closing. You write “Regards,” “Best regards,” or “Kind regards” before your name in an email or letter. In that spot, the word works as a neat sign-off. It sounds polite and a touch formal.

That’s why “Thanks For The Regards” feels off. It tries to treat regards as a thing someone handed you, yet English usually wants a fuller phrase around it.

Thanks For The Regards In Emails: Why It Sounds Off

There are two reasons this line can jar.

• It’s too bare. “The regards” is not a phrase people use much on its own. English leans toward “your regards,” “kind regards,” or “warm regards.”
• It blurs the situation. Are you thanking someone for their sign-off, or are you thanking them for passing good wishes from another person? Those are two different moments, and each has its own natural wording.

Say a client ends with “Kind regards.” Replying with “Thanks For The Regards” sounds stiff. A cleaner line would be “Thanks for your kind regards” or, better yet, skip mention of the sign-off and answer the message itself.

Now picture a friend saying, “My parents send their regards.” In that case, “Thanks for sending their regards” or “Please thank them for me” fits the moment. The line is doing real work, so it sounds steady and human.

Reference works line up with that pattern. The Cambridge Dictionary entry for “regards” treats the word as a polite message, and Merriam-Webster’s definition of “regards” includes the familiar pattern “give him my regards.” That is why the word feels smooth in fixed phrases and less smooth when it is dropped into a new one.

Good email endings tend to be short and plain. Purdue OWL’s email etiquette page notes that common closings include sign-off phrases such as “best,” “thanks,” and “sincerely.” That matches what people do every day: they keep the close simple and let the body carry the message.

When You Can Mention Regards Directly

You can mention regards when the message itself matters to the reply. That happens in a few common cases:

• Someone passes good wishes from a third person.
• You want your reply to send good wishes back.
• You are replying to a formal note and want to mirror its tone.

In those spots, the line has a job. Outside them, it can feel like extra padding.

Phrase	How It Lands	Best Use
Thanks For The Regards	Awkward and uncommon	Usually avoid it
Thanks for your kind regards	Polite, still a bit formal	Replying to a formal email
Thanks for the warm regards	Natural in personal notes	When someone sends kind wishes
Thanks for sending your regards	Clear and natural	When good wishes were passed through someone
Please send my regards to Ana	Standard and polished	Sending good wishes through another person
Give my regards to your family	Warm and familiar	Personal letters or friendly notes
Kind regards	Formal and tidy	Business email closing
Best regards	Polite and slightly softer	Work email with a friendly tone
Regards	Neutral and brisk	Short professional closing

Better Replacements That Fit The Situation

The cleanest fix is to swap the phrase based on what you mean. Once you pin down the situation, the wording gets easy.

If You’re Replying To A Sign-Off

When someone closes with “Kind regards” or “Best regards,” you usually do not need to thank them for that closing at all. Just answer their note and use your own sign-off.

• Thanks for your email.
• Thanks for your note.
• I appreciate your message.
• Best regards,
• Kind regards,

This sounds smoother because you respond to the content, not the wrapping around it.

If Someone Passed Good Wishes To You

This is where many people are really trying to go. In this case, a direct thank-you works well.

• Thanks for passing along the regards.
• Thanks for sending your regards.
• Please thank them for me.
• Send them my regards as well.

These lines sound natural because they state who sent the message and where it came from. There’s no guessing for the person reading it.

If You Want A Warmer Or More Formal Tone

Small word choices shift the feel of the line.

• Warmer: Thanks for the warm regards.
• More formal: Thank you for your kind regards.
• Neutral: Please send my regards.

If you’re writing at work, neutral usually wins. If you’re writing to family friends, warm wording feels more at home. If the note is formal, mirroring the other person’s tone is a safe move.

Situation	Best Line To Send	Why It Fits
Reply to a client email	Thank you for your email. Kind regards,	Keeps the tone polite without sounding odd
Friend passes good wishes from parents	Thanks for sending their regards. Please thank them for me.	Names the source of the message
Formal letter reply	Thank you for your kind regards.	Matches a formal style
Short office follow-up	Thanks for your note. Best regards,	Plain, neat, and easy to scan
Card or personal message	Thanks for the warm regards.	Feels friendly and personal
You want to send good wishes back	Please send my regards as well.	Returns the message in one clean line

Common Mistakes That Make The Phrase Sound Unnatural

A lot of odd email English comes from mixing two correct patterns into one faulty line. That is what happens here.

Mixing A Thank-You With A Sign-Off

“Thanks” works well when you are reacting to an action, a message, or a favor. “Regards” works well as a closing or as a passed good wish. Put them together carelessly and the line starts to wobble.

Think of it this way: you thank someone for their message, for their help, or for sending good wishes. You sign off with regards. Those are close cousins, not twins.

Using “The Regards” As If It Were A Set Noun

English rarely uses “the regards” by itself. The article the makes the phrase sound translated. Native-style phrasing leans on forms like your regards, kind regards, or no article at all.

Forcing Formality Into A Simple Note

Many short emails get better when you trim ceremony. A plain “Thanks for your email” often beats a line built around regards. It sounds cleaner, and it keeps the focus on the reason for writing.

Simple Rules To Follow From Now On

If you want one easy rule, use regards as a sign-off or as a passed good wish. Do not build your thank-you around it unless someone truly sent good wishes through another person.

• Use Kind regards, Best regards, or Regards to close an email.
• Use Please send my regards or Give my regards to send good wishes through someone.
• Use Thanks for sending your regards when you are thanking someone for passed good wishes.
• Skip Thanks For The Regards in most cases.

That one swap makes your writing sound smoother right away. It keeps the tone polite, it removes the awkward bump in the sentence, and it gives your message a finish that feels natural on the page.