10 Better Ways to Say “Sorry to Keep You Waiting” (Email)

“Sorry to keep you waiting” works when you have made someone wait for longer than you originally intended. It’s polite in a business email to include this if you’ve made someone wait too long. This article will explore some better synonyms in formal emails.

The preferred alternatives are “sorry to have kept you waiting,” “sorry this took so long,” and “sorry for keeping you waiting.” These phrases work well in business emails to show that you’re apologetic for how long something took. It’s good to use these phrases to build a strong rapport.

Sorry To Have Kept You Waiting

“Sorry to have kept you waiting” is a great alternative in formal emails. It shows that you did not mean for someone to wait as long as they did before receiving a follow-up email. It’s a polite way to keep a good rapport with the recipient.

• Dear Tim,
• Sorry to have kept you waiting for longer than I intended. I hope you appreciate the attached file finally being ready for you.
• All the best,
• Max

• Dear Abbie,
• Sorry to have kept you waiting. I wasn’t able to find out the information I wanted sooner than this.
• Kind regards,
• Steven

• Hey Roger,
• Sorry to have kept you waiting. I hope you don’t mind if you wait a little bit longer before I give you the final results.
• Thank you for your patience,
• Sara

Sorry This Took So Long

“Sorry this took so long” is a great choice in many situations. It works best when you have made someone wait longer than intended. If you didn’t expect something to take as long as it did to complete on your end, “took so long” is a good way to show that.

• Hey Samuel,
• I’m sorry this took so long. I hope you weren’t waiting on it for any specific reasons. Here it is now, though.
• Thank you for your patience,
• Mr. Jones

• Dear Christina,
• I’m sorry this took so long. I wasn’t sure how to go about finding the correct sources to give to you.
• Kind regards,
• Peter

• Dear Michael,
• I’m sorry this took so long. I finally have the information you are looking for, and I should be able to help you out with it.
• All the best,
• Freya

Sorry For Keeping You Waiting

“Sorry for keeping you waiting” works well and is a close synonym to “sorry to keep you waiting.” The two phrases are nearly identical, and it mainly comes down to a style choice to determine which one is better suited to you.

• Dear Marissa,
• Sorry for keeping you waiting all this time. I really appreciate you being patient with me while I figured this out.
• Kind regards,
• George

• Hey Nuria,
• Sorry for keeping you waiting. I’ll be sure to update you again as soon as I have all the information that you requested.
• Thank you for your patience,
• Christopher

• Dear Benny,
• Sorry for keeping you waiting. I didn’t know where to get the information from, so I had to do a bit of searching.
• All the best,
• Fred

Sorry About The Wait

“Sorry about the wait” is a simpler alternative you can use. It shows that you are “sorry” for the “wait” that someone had to go through. This is a very useful phrase to remain polite and professional, regardless of the situation.

• Dear Mr. Target,
• I’m very sorry about the wait. I hope you weren’t kept waiting for too long. We are able to continue with the process now.
• Kind regards,
• Kingsley

• Dear sir,
• We are sorry about the wait. Hopefully, you’ll find this email to be of some comfort while you wait a little longer.
• All the best,
• Harry

• Hey Mitch,
• I’m sorry about the wait. It wasn’t my intention to make you wait this long for an answer from me.
• Thank you for your patience,
• Martin

Apologies For Making You Wait

“Apologies for making you wait” comes at the apology in a different way. This time, instead of “sorry,” “apologies” is used, which some people believe to be a more formal synonym.

Saying “making you wait” also shows that you are taking responsibility for how long something took. You are not blaming anyone else for the error. It is purely something that you had to do.

• Dear Abbie,
• Apologies for making you wait while I tried to sort this out. I had you in my mind while I was looking for the answers.
• All the best,
• Laura

• Hey Mrs. Catford,
• Apologies for making you wait. I hope you’ll be able to look past this when we continue moving forward with our business.
• Thank you for your patience,
• Taylor

• Dear Talen,
• Apologies for making you wait. Is there anything I can do to help you while you wait for these forms?
• Kind regards,
• Milo

Apologies For Only Just Getting Back To You

“Apologies for only just getting back to you” is appropriate when you have spent a long time looking for an answer. If it took you longer than you first realized to respond to someone, this phrase is a good way of showing that you’re sorry about that.

• Hey Isaac,
• Apologies for only just getting back to you. It turns out that there’s a lot more to the process than I had originally bargained for.
• Thank you for your patience,
• Gregory

• Dear Ryan,
• Apologies for only just getting back to you. I didn’t know where to go to find the information that you were seeking.
• All the best,
• Brad

• Dear Mr. Paulson,
• Apologies for only just getting back to you. I want you to know that you will be the first to hear about it when I get an answer.
• Kind regards,
• Mr. Winstone

Hope You Didn’t Mind The Wait

“Hope you didn’t mind the wait” shows that you know that someone had to wait for a response. Using “didn’t” here implies that the wait is over. It’s only appropriate to use this phrase in an email when you are able to provide whatever the recipient wanted in the first place.

• Dear Delilah,
• I hope you didn’t mind the wait. I tried to speed things up as quickly as I could for your sake.
• Kind regards,
• Tom

• Hey Jude,
• I hope you didn’t mind the wait. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you now that everything is sorted?
• Thank you for your patience,
• John

• Dear Mr. Munster,
• I hope you didn’t mind the wait. I’ve gathered all of the information for you now, so you can look into it to your heart’s content.
• All the best,
• Sam

Hope You Weren’t Kept Waiting Too Long

“Hope you weren’t kept waiting too long” is a good way of showing that you’re sorry about the wait. It is best to use this phrase if you weren’t the original person to email the recipient.

If you were the original sender, you likely know how long the recipient has been waiting. If the email has been passed to you, but someone else originally dealt with it, you might not have a clear understanding of how long the recipient was waiting.

• Dear Tom,
• I hope you weren’t kept waiting too long. There were a few things that I needed to do first before sending you the files.
• All the best,
• Hughie

• Dear Abigail,
• I hope you weren’t kept waiting too long. I was trying my best to find out where to go to source these documents.
• Kind regards,
• Melissa

• Hey Ben,
• I hope you weren’t kept waiting too long. I’ll be sure to get the files sent across to you first thing in the morning.
• Thank you for your patience,
• Drew

Appreciate Your Patience

“Appreciate your patience” is a great choice to show that you’re happy someone is being patient with you. It is a formal choice that shows you are appreciative of them.

You can use this phrase to show that their wait is over or that they might have to wait a little more. Either way, it’s wise to compliment their “patience.”

• Dear Alex,
• We appreciate your patience. We hope that you’ll be able to accept these files, even if they are slightly later than expected.
• Kind regards,
• Eric

• Dear Marcus,
• I appreciate your patience with this problem. I just want to make sure that everything is going according to plan before responding.
• All the best,
• Samuel

• Hey Patrick,
• I appreciate your patience here. If you could just bear with me for another couple of days, I should have a more concise answer.
• Thank you,
• Sharon

Appreciate You Sticking With Us

“Appreciate you sticking with us” is slightly more informal. You can still use it in business emails, but it’s best to use this when you’re looking for a more conversational tone with the recipient. It’s a great choice because of how conversational and friendly it sounds.

• Hey Matilda,
• I appreciate you sticking with us through these trying times. Is there anything I can do to help you?
• Thank you for your patience,
• Miss Danforth

• Dear ma’am,
• I appreciate you sticking with us. Again, we’re very sorry that it took so long for us to get to the bottom of this.
• All the best,
• Pedro

• Dear Julietta,
• We appreciate you sticking with us. Feel free to come to us if you have any issues with the product we delivered.
• Kind regards,
• Romero