What to write in a farewell card.

Say Jordan from the next desk has handed in their notice, and Friday is their last day. You liked working with Jordan. You’d like the card to say more than “Good luck!” but you’re not sure what that looks like.

This guide covers what a good farewell message does and how to adjust it for how well you knew the person and why they’re leaving. It also covers what to keep out of the card. There are 50 examples along the way. Use them as starting points, since the message people remember is almost always the one with a detail only you could have written.

Why the card matters more than it looks

Most people never hear what their coworkers really think of them. Work feedback is about the work. Nobody stops a Tuesday standup to say that you’re the reason the team doesn’t fall apart in March. The leaving card is one of the few moments where that kind of thing gets said out loud, and people tend to keep these cards. They get reread on a bad day at the new job, or years later when someone is clearing out a drawer.

That’s why a vague message falls flat. There’s nothing wrong with “Best of luck!” but anyone could have written it to anyone. Two sentences with one real detail in them will mean more than a paragraph of nice-sounding filler.

Three pieces to build a goodbye from

If you’re stuck, build the message from three pieces. First, one thing you’re grateful for or will remember. Second, a line about what they were like to work with. Third, a wish for whatever comes next. You don’t need all three. Even one done well is enough.

Say your teammate Priya is leaving after six years, and everyone knows her as the person who did the Friday snack run and fixed the reporting spreadsheet whenever it broke, usually before anyone asked. A message built on that shape might look like this.

Priya, thank you for walking me through the reporting mess in my first week, when you clearly had a hundred other things to do. I still use your color system. Fridays are going to be a lot less fun without the snack run, and the new team has no idea how lucky they are. Please keep in touch.

Nothing in there is clever. It just shows the writer was paying attention. If no single moment comes to mind, describe how they made work feel. Maybe they stayed calm when everything was on fire, or they were the one who asked how your weekend actually went. That counts as a detail too.

Farewell messages for a close coworker

With someone you’re close to, you have the most material and the most pressure, which is why these messages often end up oddly short. Pick one memory instead of trying to cover the whole friendship. Inside jokes are welcome here, as long as the joke still makes sense to the person reading it in a year.

• I don’t know how I’ll get through Monday mornings without our coffee debrief. Thank you for every one of them, and please don’t be a stranger.
• You made this job so much better than it had any right to be. I’m going to miss you more than I’m willing to admit in a card everyone else can read.
• Thank you for every rant, every lunch and every time you covered for me when I was drowning. I owe you a lot more than this card.
• Work friends are supposed to stay at work. Sorry, but you’re stuck with me now.
• I learned more from sitting next to you than from any training I’ve been sent on. Thank you for being so generous with what you know.
• You’re leaving the job, not the group chat. See you at trivia on Thursday.
• I still think about the launch week when we ate dinner out of the vending machine and somehow got it done. I wouldn’t have wanted to be in that trench with anyone else.

Farewell messages for a coworker you don’t know well

This is the most common situation and the one people overthink. You don’t need to pretend to a closeness you didn’t have, and a short, warm note is exactly right. If there’s one thing you noticed, like their patience on a call or a document they wrote that you leaned on, mention it. It will probably surprise them that anyone noticed.

• I didn’t get to work with you as much as I’d have liked, but you were always kind every time our paths crossed. Best of luck with what’s next.
• Your onboarding guide saved me more times than I can count. Thank you for writing it, and good luck in the new role.
• Wishing you all the best in the new job. They’re lucky to have you.
• Thanks for always being so quick and helpful whenever I came to you with a question. You’ll be missed around here.
• Sorry we only ever spoke in the kitchen, but those chats were a highlight of a lot of afternoons. All the best.
• Congratulations on the new job. I hope it’s everything you wanted.
• You held the elevator for whoever was running late, every single morning. People noticed. Good luck out there.

Farewell messages for a manager

Writing to a boss is tricky, because it’s easy to sound like you’re angling for a reference. The way around that is to be concrete about what they did for you. A good manager rarely hears how their decisions landed, so “you trusted me with the client pitch before I thought I was ready” is worth more to them than “you were a great leader.” If you want a longer list for this situation, there’s a whole post on farewell messages for a boss.

• Thank you for backing me in that budget meeting when it really counted. I’ve grown so much working for you.
• You’re a big part of why a lot of us stayed as long as we did. Thank you for being the kind of manager people talk about at their next job.
• Thanks for trusting me with things I didn’t think I was ready for. I’m going to try to do the same for someone else one day.
• You always made time, even on the weeks when you obviously didn’t have any. I noticed, and I’m grateful.
• Thank you for telling me the hard thing in my first review, kindly and early. It changed how I work, and I don’t think I ever said so.
• You set the bar for every manager I’ll have from now on, which is a bit unfair to them. Good luck, and thank you.

Farewell messages for someone who reported to you

When you’re the manager and someone on your team leaves, the card is a chance to tell them plainly what they were good at. People often leave without ever hearing it in words. Be generous, and don’t make it about how much harder your life is about to get, even as a joke.

• Watching you go from shadowing calls to running the whole account has been one of the best parts of my job. You’re ready for this.
• You made the team better in ways that never showed up on a dashboard. Thank you, and go get it.
• I’ll be pointing new hires to your work for a long time. I’m proud of you and can’t wait to see what you do next.
• If you ever need a reference, a sounding board or just someone to vent to about the new place, you have my number.

Farewell messages for a remote coworker

Remote colleagues are the ones most likely to miss the leaving card entirely, and the ones whose cards tend to be the thinnest. You may have only met them on video calls, but that still gives you plenty to work with, from their calm in a messy incident thread to their background that never changed.

• We only met in person twice, but you made every call better. Good luck with everything.
• Thank you for always unmuting with something kind or funny to say, even at 8am.
• I’ll miss your cat walking across the keyboard in standups. Please pass on my regards.
• You were proof that a great teammate doesn’t need to sit in the same room. Wishing you the best.

Here’s what a fuller one might look like, for a colleague named Tom who spent two years as the calm voice in a fast-moving support channel.

Tom, we’ve been in the same meetings for two years and in the same room exactly once, and I still feel like I know you. Thank you for every late-night thread where you stayed until the fix was out, and for always explaining things without making anyone feel slow. I hope the new team gives you a decent webcam and a lot less overtime.

Adjusting for why they’re leaving

The reason someone is leaving changes the tone more than people expect. A promotion elsewhere is a reason to celebrate. A move across the country to be near family deserves warmth, and being let go needs real care. If you’re not sure why they’re leaving, keep it neutral and focus on what they brought to the team rather than where they’re going.

A new job or a big next step

• Going back to school takes guts. You’re going to be brilliant, and your classmates are getting a great study partner.
• Good luck with the new business. We expect to be your first customers.
• Congratulations on the move. The new city is lucky to have you, and you’d better send pictures of that apartment.
• Enjoy the time at home with the family. You’ve more than earned it.

When someone has been laid off

This one needs a lighter touch. Skip “congratulations,” skip jokes about escaping, and don’t speculate about what happened. What helps is knowing their work mattered and that people would gladly work with them again. If you mean it, an offer of something practical, like an introduction or a reference, is the kindest thing you can write.

• I’m sorry this is how it ended. You were one of the best people on this team, and anyone who hires you is getting a great colleague.
• Your work made a real difference here, whatever the org chart says. I’d be glad to be a reference anytime.
• I’m going to miss working with you. If an introduction to anyone I know would help, just say the word.

Funny farewell messages

A bit of humor can make a card feel human, especially in a pile of earnest messages. The safe zone is jokes about shared office life, like the printer, the meetings or the kitchen fridge. Avoid jokes about why they’re leaving, the company itself or the people staying. Cards get passed around and kept, and a dig that’s funny on a Friday afternoon can read badly later.

• Who am I supposed to complain to about the printer now?
• Good luck at the new job. They’ll never appreciate your spreadsheets the way we did.
• You were the only person who knew how the coffee machine works. We’re doomed.
• I’m not crying, it’s just the office air conditioning.
• Thanks for all the meetings that could have been emails. I’ll miss them. Sort of.
• Sorry you’re leaving. Unrelated question, can I have your chair?

Short farewell messages

Sometimes a short line is the honest answer, and that’s fine. Short messages read best with the person’s name at the start, which makes even three words feel like they were meant for them.

• You’ll be missed. Good luck, and keep in touch.
• Go be brilliant somewhere new.
• Thank you for making work actually fun.
• So long, and thanks for all the help.
• Lucky them, unlucky us. All the best.
• Can’t wait to hear what you do next.
• Don’t be a stranger.

What doesn’t belong in a leaving card

A few things tend to go wrong in leaving cards. Complaints about the company are the big one. Even if the person leaving agrees with you, the card might be read aloud at drinks or seen by their old manager. It also helps to skip anything that sounds like “I can’t believe you’re leaving us,” which can land as guilt rather than affection.

Be careful with private details too. If they’re leaving for health reasons, a family situation or anything they haven’t shared widely, keep your message about them and not about the reason. And if your message is mostly about how hard their job will be to cover, rewrite it and save the worrying for your manager.

One last thing. Write something that will still make sense in a year. “See you at lunch!” is sweet on the day but means nothing later, while “Thank you for the thousand lunches” holds up.

Something to take to the new job

A card on its own is plenty. But if you sat next to someone for years, or the team is chipping in, a present gives them something to use at the new place. The best ones are simple and nod to who they were at work.

For the person who always had a notebook open in meetings, a Moleskine notebook is a nice way to say “take your good habits with you.” You could even write a short note on the first page so it doubles as a second card.

If they were the one always carrying a giant water bottle between desk and meeting rooms, a Stanley Quencher is an easy pick that they’ll use from the first day at the new job.

And for someone moving to a new office or working from home, a golden pothos is a good living goodbye. Pothos plants are famously forgiving, which is a plus for anyone starting a new job with no spare attention for plant care.

For more ideas, including group presents for bigger budgets, see our list of farewell gift ideas for coworkers.

Organizing the leaving card for the team

Leaving cards tend to come together at the last minute. Someone remembers two days before the last day, the paper card goes desk to desk, and anyone who works remotely or in another office never sees it. The person leaving ends up with a card that represents half the people who wanted to say goodbye.

It goes much better if you start about a week ahead and post the card where the whole team already talks, so everyone gets the same chance to sign. When you ask people to write, ask for one memory or one thank you instead of a signature. People write much better notes when they’re asked for something. Then send one reminder a couple of days before their last day, and give it to them with the team around if you can.

An online card takes care of the remote problem. You can make an online leaving card, drop the link in Slack or Teams, and everyone signs from their phone or laptop without an account. On their last day, they open each goodbye one at a time instead of skimming a crowded piece of card. If you’re planning more than a card for a distributed team, our post on virtual farewell ideas has a few more. And if money is being collected for a present, the guide to organizing a group gift covers how to do it without anyone feeling awkward.