A resignation letter is one of the shortest formal documents you'll ever write at work, and one of the easiest to overdo. People treat it like a farewell speech, a complaint memo, or a confessional. None of those serve you. The letter has one job: confirm in writing that you're leaving, when, and on what terms.

This post is the structure that gets that job done in under 200 words without burning a bridge.

The shape of the letter

The letter has four parts. None of them are long.

The opening line states the fact. "This letter is to confirm my resignation from [role] at [company], with my last day on [date]." That's it. No "I regret to inform you," no "after much soul-searching." The HR system that processes this letter is going to copy your last day into a field — your job is to make that easy.

The transition paragraph offers handover. Two or three sentences. You're giving X weeks of notice, you're willing to help transition your work, and you can document specific things — the runbook, the open tickets, the relationships. Be honest about what you can actually do in the time available. Promising a 60-page handover document you'll never finish hurts more than it helps.

The thank-you line is one sentence and specific. Thank the company for one concrete thing — the team you worked with, a project you got to lead, the manager who took a chance on you. Generic gratitude reads as ritual and disappears from memory. One specific reference reads as genuine and stays.

The sign-off is standard. Name, date you wrote the letter, a personal email address so they can reach you after your work account is disabled.

What good looks like

Here's a working draft you can adapt:

Dear [Manager's name],

This letter is to confirm my resignation from [role] at [company]. My last day will be [date], which gives us two weeks of notice as of today.

Over the next two weeks I'd like to focus on handover. I'll write up the current state of [project] and the open items in [system], and I'm happy to do a working session with whoever picks up the work. If there are other transition priorities, let me know and we can sequence them.

Thank you for the chance to work on [specific project or with specific person] — it's been the most useful stretch of my career so far. I'd like to stay in touch.

Best, [Your name] [Personal email]

Two paragraphs and a thank-you. Under 180 words. Most letters that get into trouble are trying to do more than this.

What to leave out

The letter is not the place to:

• List grievances. If you have feedback for the company, the exit interview is where that goes — and even then, sparingly. The written letter is not where you settle scores. Anything in writing can be forwarded.
• Name the new company. Your new employer is not relevant to this letter. If your current manager asks where you're going, you can answer in conversation. The letter says "new opportunity" or nothing at all.
• Explain at length. A two-paragraph "why I'm leaving" essay invites a counter-offer conversation you may not want, and it reads as defensiveness. State the fact, offer the handover, thank them, and stop.
• Promise more than you'll deliver. "Happy to help anytime after I leave" sounds nice and almost never gets honored. Promising a contractor arrangement you don't actually want commits you to an awkward conversation later. Keep promises narrow and timeboxed.

The letter should not be the moment your manager finds out you're leaving. Tell them first — in person if you can, on a video call if you can't — and send the letter as the written record of that conversation. A resignation letter that arrives by email before a conversation reads as cold and gives your manager no chance to respond well, which makes the next two weeks worse for both of you.

How much notice

Two weeks is the US default, but it's a norm, not a law. Check your contract first. If you signed something with a specific notice clause — common in senior, executive, sales, or non-US roles — that clause wins. Some industries (finance, certain engineering roles) routinely require 30 days or more.

The cases for more than two weeks: you're a critical single point of failure, your new role can wait, and your current manager has been good to you. The cases for less than two weeks: the situation is hostile, your mental health is suffering, or your new role can't wait. The second case is more common than people admit, and it isn't the career-ender HR makes it out to be — handled directly, most managers move on quickly.

For the broader conversation about whether to entertain a counter-offer when you resign, see counter-offer-from-current-employer. For what to confirm before you accept the new offer in the first place, see accepting-an-offer-what-to-confirm.

What this isn't

A few clarifications:

• It's not a place to negotiate. If you want a counter-offer conversation, that happens in a meeting with your manager, not in the resignation letter. The letter assumes the decision is made.
• It's not a contract. Verbal commitments to handover items, references, or transition help should be confirmed in follow-up emails, not in the letter itself.
• It's not how you tell your manager. The letter is the written record of a conversation that already happened. If you let the letter break the news, you've started badly.

The short version: state the fact, offer the handover, thank them for one specific thing, sign off. Tell your manager in person first. Keep it under 200 words. The goal is a clean exit and a door that stays open.