Please Note vs. Kindly Note
“Please note” and “kindly note” both direct attention to information, but they are not neutral stylistic twins. Cambridge directly records “Please note (that) …” as a formal notice construction and marks request “kindly” as formal/old-fashioned with context-sensitive tone.
Use “please note” for a straightforward formal attention marker; use “kindly note” only when its more marked formal tone suits the context.
Key details
Important caveats
Scope Boundary
Tone is contextual rather than a grammar rule. “Kindly” can sound courteous in some varieties and settings and irritated or overly formal in others, so avoid claiming one phrase is universally more polite.
Further guidance
Application
Use “please note” when the main job is simply to direct attention to information. Use “kindly note” only when its more marked formal tone fits the audience and house style.
Core Rule
Both expressions can direct a reader’s attention, but “please note” directly uses the established formal “note” construction, while “kindly” is itself marked as formal/old-fashioned in request wording and can carry extra tone.
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.
- note — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Direct dictionary evidence for formal note meaning notice/pay attention, including the “Please note (that)” construction.
- kindly — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Direct dictionary evidence that kindly can be old-fashioned formal in requests and may carry an annoyed tone in some contexts.