When to use this
A user requests account deletion, from your settings page, via support, or under a privacy law like GDPR. This email does three jobs at once. It confirms the request actually registered, which stops the "did that work?" support ticket. It states the exact deletion date, because "soon" satisfies nobody and privacy regulations expect specifics. And it provides the escape hatch: a restore link that works through the grace period.
The restore link is also a security control. If an attacker with a stolen password deletes the account to cover their tracks, this email is the real owner's only alarm. That's why the "if you didn't request this" line here is stronger than the usual boilerplate: it says act now, restore, change your password, because after the deletion date there is nothing left to recover.
Tone: no theatrics
Skip the "we're sad to see you go" essay and the exit-discount pitch. A deletion confirmation carrying a win-back offer is the fastest way to turn a clean goodbye into a spam complaint, and a complaint from a departing user hurts the reputation you use to reach everyone who stayed. State the facts, offer the restore path, stop talking.
The template
Copy-ready, table-based so it renders everywhere, inline styles only. Swap the {{placeholders}} for your values or your template engine's variables.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<body style="margin:0;padding:0;background:#f4f5f7;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<table role="presentation" width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:#f4f5f7;padding:24px 0;">
<tr><td align="center">
<table role="presentation" width="460" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"
style="background:#ffffff;border-radius:8px;padding:32px;">
<tr><td style="font-size:18px;font-weight:bold;color:#111;padding-bottom:12px;">
{{company_name}}
</td></tr>
<tr><td style="font-size:15px;font-weight:bold;color:#111;padding-bottom:8px;">
Your account deletion is confirmed.
</td></tr>
<tr><td style="font-size:14px;color:#444;line-height:1.6;padding-bottom:16px;">
We received a request to delete the account for {{user_email}}.
Your account and data will be permanently deleted on {{deletion_date}}.
Until then, it is deactivated.
</td></tr>
<tr><td style="font-size:14px;color:#444;line-height:1.6;padding-bottom:20px;">
Changed your mind? You can restore your account any time before
{{deletion_date}}:
</td></tr>
<tr><td align="center" style="padding-bottom:20px;">
<a href="{{restore_url}}"
style="display:inline-block;background:#ffffff;color:#111;text-decoration:none;
font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;border:1.5px solid #111;
border-radius:6px;padding:12px 26px;">
Restore my account
</a>
</td></tr>
<tr><td style="font-size:12px;color:#888;line-height:1.6;">
If you didn't request this, use the restore link above right away
and change your password. After {{deletion_date}}, this cannot
be undone.
</td></tr>
</table>
<table role="presentation" width="460" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td style="font-size:11px;color:#999;padding:16px 8px;text-align:center;">
Sent by {{company_name}} · {{company_address}}
</td></tr>
</table>
</td></tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>What your sending system owes them afterwards
The email is the easy part. The discipline is what follows: the moment deletion is requested, that address must stop receiving marketing, immediately, not at the end of the grace period. Mail sent to people who deleted their account is how you collect the angriest complaints in email, and every one of them teaches mailbox providers to distrust you. Your suppression handling and list hygiene need to treat a deletion request as a hard stop across every stream, with the sole exception of this confirmation and the account mail the law still requires.
Like all account-critical mail, send it on a separated transactional stream from an authenticated domain. A deletion confirmation in the spam folder means the user assumes you ignored their privacy request, and that assumption escalates to regulators, not to support.
Related
- Password reset template: the recovery email this one references
- Login alert template: the warning that often precedes a hijack
- List Hygiene: the suppression discipline deletion demands
- Transactional Email Service: the sending layer for account mail