per my last email

What does per my last email mean?

"Per my last email" means "as I said in my previous email." On paper it is a neutral reference, the way "see attached" is neutral. "Per" means "according to", so the phrase points the reader back to something already sent.

In practice, almost nobody reads it as neutral. When someone writes "per my last email", the usual message underneath is: I already told you this, and you either did not read it or did not act on it. CNBC summed up the common reading as "You didn't really read what I wrote. Pay attention this time!" That gap between the literal meaning and the felt meaning is why the phrase became a symbol of passive-aggressive office email.

It does still get used innocently. Someone recapping a long thread for a new person, or pointing a colleague to an attachment they missed, may write it with no edge at all. The reader cannot hear tone in email, though, so the phrase tends to land harder than intended.

Examples

• Chasing a deadline: "Per my last email, I still need the signed form by Friday."
• Answering a repeated question: "Per my last email, the meeting moved to 3 p.m."
• Looping in a new person: "Adding Sam. Per my last email, we agreed to pause the launch until March."
• Group chat joke: "per my last text, WHO is bringing the chips"
• Office meme: a mug that says Per my last email sitting on a desk in a sitcom
• Escalating thread: "Per my last two emails, I need a yes or no."
• Softened version: "Following up on my email from Tuesday about the form."

The phrase usually opens the message, and the sentence that follows repeats the original ask. Adding "two" or "three" emails turns the edge into open frustration.

Where did per my last email come from?

• Business letters: "As per your letter" and "as per our conversation" were standard formal phrasing long before email. "Per" here means "according to".
• Office email era: As work moved to email, "per my last email" became the default way to point back to an earlier message in a thread.
• 2019: Know Your Meme says the phrase started showing up in memes around 2019, with early viral examples posted on Reddit. It became shorthand for office frustration.
• Since then: It has been printed on mugs, T-shirts and calendars, and it is a standard example in guides to passive-aggressive work phrases, including The Muse and LanguageTool.

Is per my last email rude?

It is not a swear word, and nobody will be disciplined for writing it. But it is pointed. Most readers hear a mild rebuke, so it is worth thinking about who it is going to:

• To a peer who missed something: acceptable, but it can sting. Restating the ask is kinder.
• To your manager or a client: risky. It can read as a reprimand in the wrong direction.
• To someone who has ignored three emails: this is where people use it on purpose, and readers understand it as a polite warning.

If you want the information without the edge, The Muse and LanguageTool both suggest naming the date and the ask: "Following up on my email from Tuesday: could you confirm by Friday?"

How to reply to per my last email

• If you missed it: "Thanks for resending. I missed this, and I'll have it to you today."
• If you didn't miss it and are waiting on something: "I saw it. I'm waiting on the numbers from finance and will reply by Thursday."
• If it's from a friend as a joke: "per my last reply, I said I'm bringing the chips"

The best reply is short, specific and calm. Matching the edge rarely helps.

Per my last email vs just circling back

Both chase a reply, but they lean different ways. Circling back is the softer nudge: "I haven't heard from you, so I'm checking again." "Per my last email" adds blame: "I already gave you this." If you need a reply and want to keep things warm, circle back. If you need someone to read something they keep missing, quote the key line instead of the phrase.

Is per my last email still used in 2026?

Very much so, both seriously and as a joke. In real email it remains a common way to chase a reply. In chats and on social media it is used ironically, often swapped to "per my last text". The email subtext decoder flags it as a high-confidence phrase. For a longer list of lines like it, see passive-aggressive email phrases.