These email disclaimer examples are drafting starting points, not tested legal wording. Twelve email disclaimer examples are below, grouped by what each one is for, with its length and a note on what to ask a lawyer before you use it. Treat them as examples to discuss with someone qualified in your country, not as guaranteed-valid text. This is general information, not legal advice.
We wrote the sample wording ourselves for this article. We did not copy it from a law firm or a statute, and we have not checked it against the law in any country. The sources we did read, on 4 October 2026, are the ones that explain how to add text to email and what a UK company must show on its stationery. Those are linked where they matter.
The short version
- Email disclaimer examples are text added at the bottom of email. Adding it is a technical job; what it achieves in law is a legal question.
- None of the official pages we read says what legal effect a disclaimer has. Do not assume one.
- Shorter is easier to read, and less likely to bury the message. Keep it to a few lines.
- If your company must show registration details, treat that line as separate from a disclaimer and have it locked.
- Ask your lawyer to approve the final wording of any of these email disclaimer examples before you roll it out to a team.
What email disclaimer examples can and cannot do
Start with what we can support. Microsoft’s Exchange Online documentation says admins can add an HTML or plain text legal disclaimer, disclosure statement, signature or other information to the top or bottom of messages that enter or leave an organisation, using a mail flow rule. Google’s Workspace help page describes a similar appended footer. Both pages explain how to add the text. Neither says what legal effect it has.
That gap is the honest centre of this topic. The wording of a disclaimer states what the sender wants. Whether a court, a regulator or a recipient treats it as binding depends on the country, the facts and the rules that apply to your sector. Our companion page, are email disclaimers legally binding, takes that question on directly. For the narrower question of what an electronic signature is worth, see are email signatures legally binding.
Two practical points we can support from the vendors’ own pages. A disclaimer repeated in every message of a long thread gets noisy, and Microsoft’s page suggests adding an exception that looks for unique text in your disclaimer so it is added only to the original message. And length costs space: the longer the notice, the further your actual message sits from the top.
Email disclaimer examples for confidentiality
1. A short confidentiality notice
This email and any attachments are confidential and meant only for the people it is addressed to.
Purpose: says the message is not for general sharing. Length: 17 words. Questions for your lawyer: whether “confidential” is enough for your sector, and whether you need to say what happens to a message sent to the wrong person.
2. A misdirected email notice
If this email reached you by mistake, please tell the sender and delete it. Please do not read, copy or forward it.
Job: asks a wrong recipient to tell you and delete it. Length: 22 words. Check with a lawyer: whether the request to delete is appropriate where records may need to be kept.
3. A privilege notice (for law firms and legal teams)
This message may contain privileged and confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, please tell the sender at once and delete it. Sending it to you by mistake does not waive any privilege.
Effect: tells a wrong recipient that the message may be privileged. Length: 35 words. Lawyer’s call: all of it. The last sentence is a legal claim, and professional regulators may have rules on wording. Do not use it without approval. Our law firm email disclaimer page goes deeper.
Email disclaimer examples for company details
4. A UK company details line
Harbour Studio Ltd is registered in England and Wales, company number 01234567. Registered office: 10 Example Street, London EC1A 1AA.
Aim: shows the details GOV.UK says a UK limited company must show on business letters, order forms and websites. The page lists the registered number, registered office address, where the company is registered and that it is a limited company. It does not mention email, and we cover that gap in our UK business email legal requirements page. Length: 20 words. Ask your company secretary: whether emails count as business letters for your company. The company name and number here are made up.
5. A regulated-firm line
Harbour Advisers Ltd is authorised and regulated by [regulator name], registration number [number].
Use: shows a regulator’s name and number if your sector requires one. Length: 13 words, with placeholders. Raise with counsel: the exact wording your regulator requires. Do not guess it. In healthcare, see also healthcare email disclaimer.
Email disclaimer examples about contracts and views
6. A no-contract-by-email line
Nothing in this email is an offer or an acceptance. A contract is formed only when a director of the company confirms it in a signed document.
Role: tells the reader that staff emails do not bind the company to a deal. Length: 27 words. For your lawyer: whether this fits how you actually trade. If your salespeople agree prices by email every day, a line like this may contradict how you work, and how typed names count as signatures varies by country; see our signature law page.
7. A personal-views line
The views in this message are the sender’s own and not necessarily those of Harbour Studio.
Point: separates personal opinions from the company position. Length: 16 words. Confirm with an adviser: whether it suits your staff, since most business email is not personal opinion anyway.
Email disclaimer examples for security and data
8. A malware and virus line
We take care to keep our systems free of malware, but we cannot guarantee that this message or its attachments are. Please scan them before you open them.
Function: warns that attachments should be scanned. Length: 28 words. Legal check: whether a statement like this is useful to you. Many companies drop it because every recipient already scans attachments.
9. A data protection pointer
We handle personal data as described in our privacy notice at https://harbourstudio.example/privacy.
Intent: points to your privacy notice instead of repeating it. Length: 12 words. Counsel’s view: whether this meets the notice duties in your country. See our GDPR email disclaimer page.
10. A monitoring line
Emails sent to and from our company may be monitored and stored for security and legal purposes.
Reason: tells people their messages may be kept and looked at. Length: 17 words. Take to your lawyer: whether you must tell staff and others about monitoring, and what you may actually monitor, since rules differ between countries.
Email disclaimer examples for marketing and extras
11. A marketing message line
This is a marketing message from Harbour Studio, 500 Market Street, San Francisco, CA. To stop receiving them, reply STOP or use this link: [unsubscribe link].
Goal: gives an address and an opt-out on commercial email. It belongs on marketing messages, not on every staff signature. The FTC’s compliance guide, which we read on 4 October 2026, says a commercial message must include a valid physical postal address and a clear way to opt out. Our CAN-SPAM page maps the rules. Length: 26 words. Run past a lawyer: whether the message counts as commercial and what the rules require in your country.
12. A print-it-or-not line
Please think about the environment before printing this email.
Why it exists: nudges people not to print. Length: 9 words. Open question: nothing, but ask yourself whether the line helps your reader. We usually leave it out.
How the twelve email disclaimer examples compare
| # | Purpose | Words | Needs a lawyer’s approval? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Confidentiality | 17 | Yes, for sectors with confidentiality duties |
| 2 | Misdirected email | 22 | Yes, if you must keep records |
| 3 | Privilege | 35 | Yes, always |
| 4 | UK company details | 20 | Check with your company secretary |
| 5 | Regulated firm | 13 | Yes, for the exact regulator wording |
| 6 | No contract by email | 27 | Yes |
| 7 | Personal views | 16 | Optional |
| 8 | Malware | 28 | Optional |
| 9 | Data protection pointer | 12 | Yes, for notice duties |
| 10 | Monitoring | 17 | Yes |
| 11 | Marketing line | 26 | Yes, for the rules in your country |
| 12 | Print line | 9 | No |
How to add one of these email disclaimer examples to every email
Pick the wording from the email disclaimer examples first, then the method.
Google Workspace. Google’s help page, last updated 1 October 2026 when we read it, describes the route as Menu > Apps > Google Workspace > Gmail > Compliance, then the Append footer setting. Google says users do not see the footer while writing and cannot change or remove it, and that it applies to external messages by default, with an optional checkbox for internal ones. Changes can take up to 24 hours. Google’s page has the full steps.
Microsoft 365. In the Exchange admin center, go to Mail flow > Rules, choose Add a rule, then Apply disclaimers. You name the rule, choose which messages it applies to, select Apply a disclaimer to the message and append a disclaimer, enter the text and choose a fallback option. Microsoft recommends testing before setting the rule to Enforce. The disclaimer text can include HTML and inline CSS. Microsoft’s Exchange page has the details, and its separate admin page lists limitations such as no insertion directly under the latest reply and no visibility in Sent Items.
In the signature itself. If you would rather put the line in each person’s signature, make it a locked footer so nobody deletes it. Our article on adding a disclaimer to an email signature shows the steps in common mail apps. A tool such as emailfooter lets the company admin set a legal footer once for every employee’s signature, and employees cannot edit it. It does not install it in mailboxes for them.
A confidentiality notice sits somewhere between the two, and we cover it separately in the email confidentiality notice article.
Frequently asked questions
Are email disclaimer examples legally binding?
The email disclaimer examples in this article are drafting suggestions. None of the official pages we read says a disclaimer has a particular legal effect, and the answer varies by country and facts. Ask a lawyer before relying on any of them.
Is an email disclaimer template enough for a business?
An email disclaimer template is a start. A business with regulated activities, client confidentiality duties or personal data to protect should have its lawyer or compliance adviser approve the wording, and should check that the registration details it must show are present.
Do I need an email disclaimer for business emails?
It depends on your country and sector. Some details a company must show on its stationery are rules, not disclaimers, and our UK page covers one set. Beyond those, a disclaimer is usually a choice. A lawyer can tell you whether you need one.
How long should an email disclaimer be?
As short as your lawyer allows. The twelve email disclaimer examples above run from 9 to 35 words. Long notices push your message down and may be skipped by readers.
Can I add one automatically to all employee emails?
Yes. Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 both let an admin add text to outgoing mail, with the limits described above. You can also lock a footer inside each employee’s signature.
Keep reading
- Email confidentiality notice: wording that is short and sensible: An email confidentiality notice in three lengths (26, 43 and 52 words), when each fits, what no source says it does in law, and how to add it to all mail.
- Are email disclaimers legally binding? A plain answer for businesses: Are email disclaimers legally binding? What GOV.UK, the ICO and the UK Unfair Contract Terms Act say, what we could not find, and when to ask a lawyer.
- GDPR email disclaimer: do you need one? What the rules say: Is a GDPR email disclaimer required? What the UK GDPR text and ICO pages say about privacy information, business emails and footers, plus a sample line.
- How to add a disclaimer to email signature text, or to every message at server level: How to add a disclaimer to email signature text yourself, or have an admin append it to all mail in Workspace or Exchange, with placement, length and samples.
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