Please Be Advised vs. Please Be Informed
“Please be advised” and “please be informed” can both introduce a formal notification. “Inform” directly means giving facts, while “advise” also has an informational business/formal sense in addition to its better-known recommendation sense.
Both can introduce a formal notification; “please be informed” states the information function more transparently, while “please be advised” uses an established informational sense of “advise.”
Key details
Important caveats
Scope Boundary
Do not infer that every use of “advise” means recommendation. In “be advised that …” the informational sense may be intended, but simpler wording can be clearer when formality is unnecessary.
Further guidance
Application
Use either construction only when the level of formality fits the message. “Please be informed” transparently signals factual notification; “please be advised” can also function as formal notification even though “advise” has a separate recommendation sense.
Core Rule
In formal/business use, “advise” can mean give information or notify, while “inform” directly means tell someone facts, especially officially.
Practical Application
Both phrases can introduce a formal notification. Choose “please be informed” when you want to foreground the act of supplying information; use “please be advised” only where its established formal informational sense suits the register. Often, stating the fact directly is clearer than either formula.
Reader Check
Does the message need a formal notice formula, or can the important fact appear immediately in a direct sentence?
Worked Example
Formulaic: “Please be informed that access ends Friday.” More direct: “Access ends Friday.” Use the formal version only when the document’s register calls for it.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- advise — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Direct dictionary evidence for advise as giving advice and, in business/formal use, giving information or notification.
- inform — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Direct dictionary evidence for inform as telling someone facts, especially officially in business use.