22 email rules every professional should know

ARE YOU YELLING?!?! Because that's what using all caps looks like.

Unless you want to give your email recipient a heart attack, turn your CAPS LOCK off.

Vivian Giang, Rachel Sugar, and Jacquelyn Smith contributed to earlier versions of this article.

At the very least, sharing information that's not yours to share is annoying. It could also be a liability.

Whether you're cc'ing a client on an email where your boss said something about them or including a coworker on an email chain where another coworker shares personal information, "No one likes to have someone else decide to cc someone without being asked first," Rosalinda Oropeza Randall, an etiquette and civility expert and the author of "Don't Burp in the Boardroom," tells Business Insider.

The best rule of thumb is to never assume it's OK to share an email with someone new to the conversation.

As the endless string of email hacks prove, every electronic message leaves a trail.

"A basic guideline is to assume that others will see what you write," Pachter says, "so don't write anything you wouldn't want everyone to see."

A more liberal interpretation: Don't write anything that would be ruinous to you or hurtful to others. After all, email is dangerously easy to forward, and it's better to be safe than sorry.

"Like the boy who cried wolf, if you abuse the urgent marker, it won't be long until no one will pay any attention to it," Rosemary Haefner, chief human-resources officer for CareerBuilder, tells Business Insider.

And when you finally do send a truly urgent email, no one will pay attention, she says.

Just as jokes get lost in translation, tone is easy to misconstrue without the context you'd get from vocal cues and facial expressions. Accordingly, it's easy to come off as more abrupt that you might have intended. You meant "straightforward"; they read "angry and curt."

To avoid misunderstandings, Pachter recommends you read your message out loud before hitting send. "If it sounds harsh to you, it will sound harsh to the reader," she says.

For best results, avoid using unequivocally negative words ("failure," "wrong," or "neglected"), and always say "please" and "thank you."

Your mistakes won't go unnoticed by the recipients of your email. "And, depending upon the recipient, you may be judged for making them," Pachter says.

Don't rely on spell-check. Read and reread your email a few times, preferably aloud, before sending it off.

"One supervisor intended to write 'Sorry for the inconvenience,'" Pachter says. "But he relied on his spell-check and ended up writing 'Sorry for the incontinence.'"

Purple Comic Sans has a time and a place (maybe?) but for business correspondence, keep your fonts, colors, and sizes classic.

The cardinal rule: Your emails should be easy for other people to read.

"Generally, it is best to use 10- or 12-point type and an easy-to-read font such as Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman," Pachter advises. As for color, black is the safest choice.

It's difficult to reply to every email message ever sent to you, but you should try to, Pachter says. This includes when the email was accidentally sent to you, especially if the sender is expecting a reply. A reply isn't necessary but serves as good email etiquette, especially if this person works in the same company or industry as you.

Here's an example reply: "I know you're very busy, but I don't think you meant to send this email to me. And I wanted to let you know so you can send it to the correct person."

Humor can easily get lost in translation without the right tone or facial expressions. In a professional exchange, it's better to leave humor out of emails unless you know the recipient well. Also, something that you think is funny might not be funny to someone else.

Pachter says: "Something perceived as funny when spoken may come across very differently when written. When in doubt, leave it out."

Miscommunication can easily occur because of cultural differences, especially in the writing form when we can't see one another's body language. Tailor your message to the receiver's cultural background or how well you know them.

A good rule to keep in mind, Pachter says, is that high-context cultures (Japanese, Arab, or Chinese) want to get to know you before doing business with you. Therefore, it may be common for business associates from these countries to be more personal in their writings. On the other hand, people from low-context cultures (German, American, or Scandinavian) prefer to get to the point very quickly.

If you choose to use an exclamation point, use only one to convey excitement, Pachter says.

"People sometimes get carried away and put a number of exclamation points at the end of their sentences. The result can appear too emotional or immature," she writes in her business etiquette book. "Exclamation points should be used sparingly in writing."

No one wants to read emails from 20 people that have nothing to do with them. Ignoring the emails can be difficult, with many people getting notifications of new messages on their smartphones or distracting pop-up messages on their computer screens.

Refrain from hitting "reply all" unless you really think everyone on the list needs to receive the email, Pachter says.

"My boss told me that whenever you're writing a letter — and now it applies to emails today — never start a paragraph with the word 'I,' because that immediately sends a message that you are more important than the person that you're communicating with," Loews executive Jonathan M. Tisch tells The New York Times' Adam Bryant.

He says that having to think about how to start a sentence without "I" helps you become a better writer and teaches you how to really think through an issue.

Don't use laid-back, colloquial expressions like, "Hey you guys," or "Yo."

"The relaxed nature of our writings should not affect the salutation in an email," she says. "Hey is a very informal salutation and generally it should not be used in the workplace. And Yo is not okay either. Use Hi or Hello instead."

If you work for a company, you should use your company email address. But if you use a personal email account — whether you are self-employed or just like using it occasionally for work-related correspondences — you should be careful when choosing that address, Pachter says.

You should always have an email address that conveys your name so that the recipient knows exactly who is sending the email. Never use email addresses (perhaps remnants of your grade-school days) that are not appropriate for use in the workplace, such as "babygirl@..." or "beerlover@..." — no matter how much you love a cold brew.

Provide your reader with some information about you, Pachter suggests. She says:

"Generally, this would state your full name, title, the company name, and your contact information, including a phone number. You also can add a little publicity for yourself, but don't go overboard with any sayings or artwork."

Use the same font, type size, and color as the rest of the email, she says.

Examples of a good subject line include "Meeting date changed," "Quick question about your presentation," or "Suggestions for the proposal."

"People often decide whether to open an email based on the subject line," Pachter says. "Choose one that lets readers know you are addressing their concerns or business issues."

"My name is Barbara. I don't like receiving emails addressed as 'Hi Barb,'" Pachter says. "The same is true for using nicknames. Do not call me Barbie!"

Unless the person has told you that they prefer a nickname, don't take it upon yourself to use one. You may just be trying to be friendly or informal, but it's inappropriate and can get under the recipient's skin.

"If you offend someone in the salutation, that person may not read any further," Pachter says.

Be respectful and spell the recipient's name correctly.

"Many people are insulted if their name is misspelled. Check for the correct spelling in the person's signature block. You can also check their email address. Often, people's first and/or last names are in their addresses," she says.

If you're emailing a potential client, then they may assume that you pay little attention to detail or are too busy or distracted to get their name right, and that's not the message you want to send.

A similar faux pas is addressing the wrong recipient at the start of your email, which Danny Rubin, author of "Wait, How Do I Write This Email?," says often happens when you send the same email to multiple people.

"Be sure your email recipient matches the first name at the start of the email ('Hi, John')," he writes. "You may even want to say each one out loud so you're sure of it. Sure beats sending an email to an important person but using someone else's name. Awkward."

Pachter says to pay careful attention when typing a name from your address book on the email's "To" line.

"It's easy to select the wrong name, which can be embarrassing to you and to the person who receives the email by mistake," Pachter says.

"You don't want to send an email accidentally before you have finished writing and proofing the message," Pachter, author of "The Essentials of Business Etiquette," tells Business Insider.

"Even when you are replying to a message, it's a good precaution to delete the recipient's address and insert it only when you are sure the message is ready to be sent," she says.