Outlook Email Signature: How to Set Up in 2026

An Outlook email signature is a customizable block of text, images, and links that appears automatically at the end of your outgoing emails in Microsoft Outlook. It typically includes your name, job title, phone number, and company details, serving as a digital business card that reinforces your professional identity every time you hit send.

Most people spend five minutes setting up their Outlook signature and never touch it again. That's a missed opportunity. According to the Radicati Group, the average business professional sends and receives over 120 emails per day. Each one of those is a branding moment, a chance to look polished and trustworthy. A sloppy or missing signature? That's 120 chances per day to look unprofessional.

This guide covers everything you need to set up, customize, and troubleshoot your Outlook email signature across every platform: Windows, Mac, web, and mobile.

How to Add a Signature in Outlook Desktop (Windows)

Windows users have two versions of Outlook to deal with: the New Outlook (which Microsoft has been pushing since 2024) and Classic Outlook (the one most offices still rely on). The steps differ slightly, so here's both.

New Outlook for Windows

1. Open Outlook and click the Settings gear icon in the top-right corner
2. Select Accounts in the left sidebar, then click Signatures
3. Click + New signature and give it a name (something like "Work" or "Main")
4. Use the rich text editor to build your signature:
   • Type your full name, job title, and company
   • Add your phone number and website URL
   • Click the image icon to insert your company logo
5. Under Select default signatures, choose which signature to use for new messages and which for replies/forwards
6. Click Save

Pro tip: Set your full signature for new emails and a shorter version (just name and title) for replies. Long threads get cluttered fast when every reply has a full signature attached.

Classic Outlook for Windows

1. Click File in the top menu bar, then Options
2. Select Mail from the sidebar
3. Click the Signatures button
4. In the dialog box, click New and enter a name for your signature
5. Compose your signature in the editor below - you can format text, insert images, and add links
6. Under Choose default signature, set your preferences for new messages and replies
7. Click OK to save

The classic version gives you a few more formatting options in the editor compared to New Outlook, including direct access to HTML editing if you know your way around it.

How to Add a Signature in Outlook for Mac

Apple users, your process looks a bit different from Windows. The good news: it's straightforward once you know where to look.

1. Open Outlook and go to Outlook > Settings (or Preferences on older versions) in the menu bar
2. Click Signatures
3. Click the + button at the bottom of the signature list to create a new one
4. Give your signature a name
5. Use the editor to add your content - text, links, and images are all supported
6. Use the Account dropdown to assign the signature to a specific email account
7. Set it as default for new messages, replies, or both using the dropdown options
8. Close the window - Outlook saves automatically

One thing to watch out for on Mac: if you paste formatted text from another app, Outlook sometimes strips or changes the formatting. If your signature looks off, try pasting as plain text first (Cmd+Shift+V), then reformat inside the editor.

How to Add a Signature in Outlook Web (OWA / Microsoft 365)

If you use Outlook through a browser - whether that's outlook.office.com or outlook.live.com - here's how to get your signature set up.

1. Sign in to outlook.office.com
2. Click the Settings gear icon in the top-right
3. Type "signature" in the search bar, or navigate to Mail > Compose and reply
4. Click + New signature
5. Name your signature
6. Build it using the toolbar - you can add bold text, change fonts, insert images, and add hyperlinks
7. Choose your default signature for new emails and replies/forwards
8. Click Save

According to Litmus, Outlook clients (desktop, web, and mobile combined) account for roughly 10% of all email opens globally. That might not sound like much, but for B2B communication, Outlook dominates. If you're sending emails to other businesses, there's a strong chance the recipient is reading in Outlook too.

Outlook email signature in Microsoft 365: If your organization uses Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), your IT admin may have the ability to set organization-wide signatures through the Exchange admin center. If you notice your personal signature getting overridden, that's likely why. Check with your IT team to understand what's centrally managed versus what you can control.

How to Add a Signature in Outlook Mobile (iOS and Android)

The mobile experience is more limited than desktop, but you can still set up a basic signature.

iOS (iPhone and iPad)

1. Open the Outlook app and tap your profile picture in the top-left
2. Tap the gear icon (Settings)
3. Scroll down to the Mail section
4. Tap Signature
5. Toggle Per Account Signature if you use multiple email accounts
6. Type your signature text
7. Tap the back arrow to save

Android

1. Open Outlook and tap the hamburger menu (three lines)
2. Tap the Settings gear icon
3. Tap your email account
4. Tap Signature
5. Enter your signature text
6. Tap the checkmark to save

Here's the honest truth about mobile signatures: they only support plain text. No images, no formatted HTML, no logos. If you need a professional-looking signature on mobile emails, your best bet is to create it in Outlook web or desktop and let it sync. The mobile app will respect signatures set through Microsoft 365 if your admin has configured them server-side.

Creating HTML Signatures in Outlook

The built-in Outlook editor works fine for basic signatures, but if you want precise control over layout, colors, and spacing, you'll need HTML.

Why HTML Matters for Email Signatures

Email clients are notoriously picky about rendering. What looks great in your editor can fall apart when the recipient opens it in Gmail, Apple Mail, or an older version of Outlook. HTML signatures built with table-based layouts and inline CSS are the most reliable way to maintain consistent formatting across clients.

How to Add an HTML Signature in Outlook

Windows (Classic Outlook):

1. Design your HTML signature using a tool like Signkit's signature builder or write the HTML by hand
2. Open the signature file location: press Win + R, type %appdata%\Microsoft\Signatures, and hit Enter
3. Find the .htm file for your signature and open it in a text editor
4. Replace the content with your custom HTML
5. Save the file and restart Outlook

Outlook Web:

1. Create your HTML signature in a browser tab or text editor
2. Open your signature in a browser window so it renders visually
3. Select all content (Ctrl+A), copy it (Ctrl+C)
4. In Outlook web signature settings, paste (Ctrl+V) into the signature editor
5. Save your signature

HTML Signature Rules for Email

If you're writing or editing HTML yourself, keep these rules in mind:

• Use tables for layout - Flexbox and CSS Grid don't work in most email clients
• Inline all CSS - External stylesheets and <style> blocks get stripped by many clients
• Stick to web-safe fonts - Arial, Helvetica, Georgia, Verdana, and Times New Roman
• Keep images small - Under 50KB per image, and always include alt text
• Use absolute URLs for all images - Relative paths will break
• Set explicit widths on tables and images - Don't rely on percentages for critical layout elements

Outlook Signature Best Practices

Getting your signature set up is only half the job. Making it effective is the other half.

Keep It Short

Four to six lines of text. That's the sweet spot. Your signature should include the essentials and nothing more:

1. Full name
2. Job title
3. Company name
4. Phone number (make it clickable with tel: links)
5. One link - your website, LinkedIn, or calendar booking page

Resist the urge to add your Instagram, Twitter/X, Mastodon, Threads, Facebook, and YouTube all at once. Nobody's clicking six social icons in your email signature.

Stay Consistent Across Your Team

If you're managing signatures for a team, consistency matters more than individual creativity. Everyone should use the same fonts, colors, layout, and logo version. It looks professional and reinforces your brand.

This is where tools like Signkit help. Instead of emailing a Word doc and hoping 50 people follow instructions, you create one template and push it to everyone. When something changes - new logo, office move, someone gets promoted - you update it once.

Make It Mobile-Friendly

Over half of all emails get opened on phones. Your signature needs to look good on a 6-inch screen, not just a 27-inch monitor.

• Avoid signatures wider than 600 pixels
• Make sure phone numbers are tappable
• Use a single-column layout instead of multi-column designs
• Test by emailing yourself and checking on your phone

Mind the Legal Requirements

Depending on where you operate, your signature might need to include specific legal information. In the EU, business emails often require company registration numbers. In the UK, the Companies Act mandates registered office address and company number. Skipping these can result in fines.

Check out our compliance guide if you're unsure what applies to you.

Common Outlook Signature Issues and Fixes

Even with a perfect setup, things go wrong. Here are the issues we see most often, along with what actually fixes them.

Images Not Displaying

What's happening: Your logo or headshot shows as a broken image icon, a red X, or a blank space.

Fixes:

• Make sure your image URL starts with https:// (not http://)
• Host images on your company website or a CDN, not locally on your computer
• Keep image files under 100KB
• Some recipients have image loading blocked by default - you can't fix that on your end, but including alt text gives context even when images don't load

Signature Disappears on Replies

What's happening: Your signature shows on new emails but vanishes when you reply or forward.

Fixes:

• Open signature settings and check that you've assigned a signature for replies/forwards, not just new messages
• In Classic Outlook, go to File > Options > Mail > Signatures and verify the "Replies/forwards" dropdown isn't set to "(none)"
• If your admin manages signatures through Exchange, reply signatures might be controlled centrally

Formatting Breaks When Received

What's happening: Your signature looks great in Outlook but arrives mangled in Gmail or Apple Mail.

Fixes:

• Switch from rich text to HTML format: File > Options > Mail > Compose messages in "HTML" format
• Avoid using Outlook-specific fonts that other clients don't support
• Use table-based HTML layouts instead of relying on the WYSIWYG editor's formatting
• Send a test email to accounts on Gmail, Apple Mail, and Yahoo to check rendering

Signature Gets Cut Off

What's happening: Gmail trims your signature behind a "..." ellipsis, or the bottom gets clipped.

Fixes:

• Reduce total signature height - Gmail hides anything it considers extraneous
• Remove unnecessary whitespace and padding
• Keep your entire signature under 10KB of HTML
• Use a simpler design with fewer images

Different Signature on Different Devices

What's happening: Your signature looks different on desktop versus web versus mobile.

Fixes:

• Create your signature in Outlook web (outlook.office.com), which syncs across all Outlook clients
• Avoid creating separate signatures on each device
• If you're on Microsoft 365, signatures set by your admin sync automatically
• Classic Outlook desktop signatures are stored locally and don't sync - that's the root cause for most people

Managing Outlook Signatures for Teams

If you're an IT admin or office manager responsible for signatures across your company, you know the struggle. Getting 20, 50, or 200 people to set up consistent signatures is like herding cats.

Microsoft 365 offers some built-in tools through the Exchange admin center, but they're limited. You can set a basic text template with variables like %%DisplayName%% and %%Title%%, but you can't add images, buttons, or custom HTML through the admin console alone.

For teams that need professional, branded signatures with images, campaign banners, and analytics, a dedicated tool like Signkit fills the gap. You design the template once, and it rolls out to everyone - no manual setup, no "I forgot to update mine" excuses.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I change my email signature in Outlook?

To change your Outlook email signature, go to Settings (gear icon), then navigate to Mail and select Compose and reply. Click on your existing signature name to edit it. Make your changes in the editor, then save. In Classic Outlook for Windows, go to File, then Options, then Mail, and click the Signatures button to access the editor. Changes take effect on your next outgoing email.

Can I add an image or logo to my Outlook signature?

Yes, you can add images to your Outlook signature. In the signature editor, click the image icon in the toolbar and either browse for a local file or paste an image URL. For the best results across email clients, host your image on a web server and use the URL method. Keep logos under 300 pixels wide and 50KB in file size to avoid slow loading and broken images.

Why does my Outlook signature look different in Gmail?

Outlook and Gmail render HTML differently. Outlook uses Microsoft Word's rendering engine, which handles certain CSS properties unlike any other email client. When your signature travels from Outlook to Gmail, formatting inconsistencies appear because each client interprets the HTML in its own way. To minimize issues, use table-based layouts, inline CSS, and web-safe fonts. Testing by sending to yourself on Gmail is the fastest way to catch problems before they reach clients.

How do I set up an Outlook signature on my phone?

Open the Outlook mobile app, go to Settings (tap your profile icon, then the gear), and find the Signature option under Mail settings. Type your signature text and save. Note that Outlook mobile only supports plain text signatures - no HTML, images, or formatting. For a richer mobile signature, create it in Outlook web or desktop, where it will sync to your mobile-composed emails through Microsoft 365.

Can I have multiple signatures in Outlook?

Yes. Outlook supports multiple signatures across all platforms. You can create as many as you need and assign different defaults for new messages versus replies. This is useful for keeping a full, branded signature on new emails while using a shorter version on replies to avoid cluttering long threads. Switch between signatures manually when composing by clicking the signature option in the toolbar.

Key Takeaways

• Set up your Outlook email signature in Settings > Mail > Compose and reply, then assign it as default for new messages and replies separately.
• Use table-based HTML with inline CSS for signatures that render consistently across Outlook, Gmail, Apple Mail, and other email clients.
• Keep your signature to four to six lines, one logo, and one primary link to avoid clutter and Gmail trimming.
• Create signatures in Outlook web (outlook.office.com) for the best cross-device sync, since Classic Outlook stores signatures locally.
• For teams managing 10 or more signatures, use a centralized tool like Signkit instead of relying on each person to follow a manual setup guide.

What's Next

If you're managing signatures for yourself, the steps above should have you covered in under five minutes. But if you're responsible for a team's signatures - making sure everyone's on-brand, up to date, and consistent - doing it manually gets old fast.

Signkit's free plan lets you create and manage one signature to see how it works. If your team is bigger, check out the templates and see how centralized signature management saves you time and keeps your brand looking sharp.

Want to go deeper on email signature design? Read our guide on email signature design best practices or compare signature tools to find the right fit for your team.