How to write a freelance design project handoff email

Keep four project states separate

“Everything is done” can mean several different things: the design is approved, the files were delivered, the invoice was paid or the website is live. A handoff email should not collapse those states into one sentence.

Before sending, check the approval record, the delivered file inventory, the invoice status and the implementation responsibility. A paid invoice does not establish that a missing file was delivered. A design delivery does not establish that a developer has implemented it.

For a design-only project, name the design deliverable and the handoff notes. Do not call it a launched website. If development was included, list the actual completed implementation checks and any remaining work instead of borrowing language from a different kind of project.

Include a useful file inventory

List the files the recipient will actually find. Use recognizable names and indicate the intended use: source design, presentation PDF, exports or handoff notes. Check that the version in the email matches the folder and that the recipient’s access works.

This inventory illustrates one project. Do not promise editable source files, font licenses or additional exports unless those belong to the actual delivery.

A project handoff email you can adapt

Hi [contact],

Here is [deliverable/version]: [handoff link]. The folder includes:
- [file and purpose]
- [file and purpose]
- [handoff notes or other agreed item]

Project status: [verified approval/delivery status]. Remaining items: [specific open items, or none within this delivery].

Please confirm you can access the files and let me know if an agreed item is missing. [Actual next step and any agreed support details.]

[Your name]

The access check is about receipt, not a substitute for a separate design approval. If approval is still pending, label that state directly and ask for the specific review decision.

Example: design delivered, development not included

Maya is delivering Northline’s approved homepage design. The project includes design and handoff notes; Alex has a separate developer. The folder has the final source design, PDF and agreed asset exports. This scenario is fictional.

Hi Alex,

Homepage v4, approved on October 15, is ready in [folder link]. It includes the desktop and mobile source design, a review PDF, the agreed asset exports and handoff notes.

This completes the agreed homepage design delivery. Website development is not part of this package. Please confirm you can access the folder and tell me if an agreed file is missing.

Maya

The message does not invent a support period or announce that the website is live. Any invoice follow-up belongs to the actual billing record and can be handled separately.

What if a new request arrives after handoff?

First check whether the request identifies a missing agreed item, an error or genuinely new work. Restore a missing file without describing it as an optional new service. Assess a new page or export request before accepting it.

Should the client have to confirm receipt?

An access confirmation is a useful communication step. Whether it changes the project’s contractual status depends on the actual arrangement; do not invent that consequence in a template.

What should I save?

Keep the delivered version, file inventory, delivery date and relevant approval record in your own project records. Record any later corrections so you can identify the current final version.