Better Alternatives to “Hope You’re Doing Well”

Hope you’re doing well (or hope you are doing well) is a common expression in email communication and other correspondence. It’s used to start an email, greeting the addressee and showing interest in their well-being.

The expression is clear and friendly in tone, so there’s nothing wrong with using it. You can use the phrase both formally and informally, but it’s often used in the context of professional communication.

But since the phrase is so frequently used, it can come across as insincere or cliché. You may want to use an alternative every now and then, especially when you communicate with the same people. Below, we explain alternatives to help you vary your language and strike the right tone in every context.

I hope this email finds you well

This alternative is more traditional than “hope you’re doing well,” which makes it appropriate for a more formal setting. You could use this expression for messages to customers or business partners or in a context where your relationship with the person is not close.

Hope all is well

This expression is used interchangeably with “hope you’re doing well,” although it can convey a rushed tone. It’s a good casual alternative for short messages to people you’re on good terms with or contact frequently.

I hope you’re having a good week

This phrase is similar in tone to “hope you’re doing well,” but a bit more specific, which makes it a good alternative. You can use it to vary your language in casual correspondence with coworkers.

How are you doing?

“How are you?” and “How are you doing?” are very common alternatives to “hope you’re doing well.” They work best in somewhat informal communication, although they’re not overly informal.

However, these phrases are also frequently used and might come across as insincere or automatic—people often use these questions as a standard greeting, without any expectation of a sincere answer. You can choose to emphasize the sincerity of your greeting by adding another phrase.

Other variants on the phrase

Using hope you’re doing well as a sentence on its own is technically not grammatically correct, since the sentence lacks a subject. This is not a problem in most cases, since the implied subject is clearly “I,” but it’s something you might want to avoid in a formal context.

Besides using the expression in a full sentence with a subject (“I”), you can also add words or vary punctuation to better fit the context. Some examples are shown below.

Other interesting language articles

If you want to know more about commonly confused words, definitions, and differences between US and UK spellings, make sure to check out some of our other language articles with explanations, examples, and quizzes.