Email Disclaimer Examples: Wording You Can Copy

TL;DR: Most email disclaimers are convention, not law. Footer text is legally required in only three cases. These are company details, such as the four a UK company must show, a regulator’s statement in sectors such as financial services, and the opt-out and address details in a marketing email. The rest — confidentiality notices, “sent in error” requests, no-contract lines — are optional. This page gives copy-ready wording for each, says what it can and cannot do, and suggests a short default to start from.

How we checked: the wording below is ours, written for this page. Each “what it does” note was checked against the source it cites in October 2026: UK legislation, a UK court judgment, ICO guidance or the US Code. What the law requires in each country is covered in Email Signature and Disclaimer Laws by Country. The UK rules are covered in full in UK Email Footer Legal Requirements.

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How to use these examples

Pick only the lines you need. A footer that tries to cover everything is long, and people stop reading it. Three rules help:

1. Put required details first. Company details and regulatory statements are the parts a regulator may check. Put them where they cannot be missed.
2. Keep optional lines short. One or two sentences each is enough.
3. Write as you would speak. “This email may be confidential” reads better than “The information contained herein is privileged”.

Replace everything in [square brackets] with your own details.

1. Company details (required for UK companies)

A UK company must show four details on its business correspondence, including email. They are its registered name, where in the UK it is registered, its registered number and its registered office address. The rule comes from the Names and Trading Disclosures Regulations 2015.

[Company name] Limited. Registered in England and Wales, company number [12345678]. Registered office: [address].

What it does: meets the legal requirement. It is the one line in this list a UK company must include. FCA firms, solicitors and charities have extra wording to add. UK Email Footer Legal Requirements has a template for each.

2. Confidentiality notice

The most common disclaimer. No law in the UK, US, Canada, Australia or New Zealand requires one.

Short version:

This email and any attachments may be confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, please tell the sender and delete it.

Longer version, for teams that handle sensitive material:

This email and any attachments are intended only for the person or organisation named above. They may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you have received this email by mistake, please tell the sender straight away, delete it and do not copy, share or rely on it.

What it does: it tells the reader that the content may be sensitive, and asks someone who receives it by mistake to act. It cannot stop a stranger from reading the email. It does not, on its own, decide whether the email stays confidential or privileged if there is a dispute. That depends on the facts and the law that applies, not on the footer. Use it as a polite request, not as protection.

3. Sent to the wrong person

Some organisations use a separate, shorter line instead of a full confidentiality notice:

Received this by mistake? Please let us know by replying, then delete it. Thank you.

What it does: the same job as the short confidentiality notice, in plainer words. It is useful where most email is routine and a long notice would look out of place.

4. No contract by email

This is the one optional disclaimer with a clear legal reason behind it. In Neocleous v Rees, an English court held that a name and contact details added automatically by email software counted as a signature. An email exchange became a binding agreement about land.

Nothing in this email creates a binding agreement unless it is confirmed in a signed written contract.

For staff who should not commit the business at all:

[Name] is not authorised to agree contracts or commitments on behalf of [Company name] by email.

What it does: it makes clear that an email is not intended as a final, signed agreement. It does not guarantee that a court will agree in every case. Use it where staff discuss high-value deals, property or legal settlements by email.

5. Privacy notice link

UK GDPR requires you to tell people how you use their personal data. It does not require a line in every email. Many organisations add one anyway, linking to their full privacy notice. The ICO describes this kind of short, linked notice as a layered approach.

We process personal data in line with our privacy notice: [link].

What it does: it points readers to your privacy information. It does not replace the privacy notice itself. Sample wording for a signature tool’s own privacy line is in Email Signature Tools and GDPR.

6. Marketing emails: opt-out and address

Ordinary business email does not need an unsubscribe line. A marketing message does. In the US, the CAN-SPAM Act sets three rules for a commercial email. It must say it is an advertisement, explain how to opt out and give a valid postal address. The UK, Canada and Australia have their own rules for marketing email.

You are receiving this because [reason]. To stop receiving these emails, [reply with “unsubscribe” / use this link]. [Company name], [postal address].

What it does: it covers the core opt-out and address requirements for marketing email. Be careful with signature banners. A promotional banner on an everyday email can make that email count as marketing. Email Signature and Disclaimer Laws by Country explains when that happens in each country.

Lines you can leave out

• Virus notices. “We cannot accept liability for viruses” does not change who is responsible. Your mail filtering does the real work.
• “Please consider the environment before printing.” Harmless, but it adds length and protects nothing.
• Long legal paragraphs copied from another company. If nobody in your organisation can say why a line is there, remove it.

A short default to start from

For a typical UK company, this covers the legal requirement and the two optional lines most teams want:

[Company name] Limited. Registered in England and Wales, company number [12345678]. Registered office: [address].

This email may be confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, please tell the sender and delete it. Nothing in this email creates a binding agreement unless confirmed in a signed written contract.

If different teams, offices or countries need different wording, you can apply each version automatically. How to Set Email Disclaimers by Department, Office or Country shows how in Microsoft 365.

Frequently asked questions

Should the disclaimer go at the top or the bottom of the email?

At the bottom, after the signature, for most organisations. The reader sees your message first. The exception is a warning the reader must see before reading on, such as a notice that an email came from outside the organisation. That kind of banner usually goes at the top.

Does a disclaimer need to be in the language of the recipient?

The disclosure and anti-spam laws covered in Email Signature and Disclaimer Laws by Country do not require it. But a notice the reader cannot understand cannot ask them to do anything. If you write regularly to people in another language, consider a short translated line under the main one.

Can we put the disclaimer in an image to keep the footer tidy?

Keep it as text. Many email apps block images by default, so an image disclaimer may never be seen. Text also stays readable when an email is printed, forwarded or quoted in a reply.