How to add an email signature in Outlook

Which Outlook do you have?

Microsoft currently has several versions of Outlook with different menus. If you see a gear icon for Settings at the top right and no File tab, you are probably on new Outlook for Windows or Outlook on the web (in a browser). If you have a File tab and a ribbon with a Message tab when you write an email, you are on classic Outlook for Windows. Mac and phone apps have their own sections below.

In every version, a signature with a logo or formatting has to be pasted in. Open your finished signature on a web page or in a document, select all of it, copy it, then paste it into Outlook's signature box. Typing it from scratch in Outlook's editor works for plain text only.

New Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web

These two share the same settings, so the steps are the same.

1. Select Settings (the gear icon) at the top right.
2. Select Accounts, then Signatures.
3. If you have more than one account, select the account you want.
4. Select Add signature and give the signature a name.
5. Paste your signature into the editing box below the name.
6. Under the default signature options, choose this signature for new messages and for replies and forwards.
7. Select Save.

To add a signature to one message by hand in new Outlook, select Insert, then Signature. In Outlook on the web, select the Signature button in the message window.

Classic Outlook for Windows

1. Open a new email message.
2. On the Message tab, select Signature, then Signatures.
3. Under E-mail account, choose the account the signature is for.
4. Under Select signature to edit, select New and type a name.
5. Paste your signature into the Edit signature box.
6. Under Choose default signature, set New messages to your signature. Set Replies/forwards to your signature too, or to (none) if you prefer no signature on replies.
7. Select OK.

In classic Outlook, you can also add a signature to one message by selecting Message, then Signature, and picking it from the list.

Outlook for Mac

Microsoft lists separate steps for new Outlook for Mac and legacy Outlook for Mac.

1. New Outlook for Mac: on the Outlook menu, select Settings, then Signatures. Select Standard and rename it, or select the add button to make a new one. Name it and paste your signature into the editor.
2. Set the default in new Outlook for Mac: in Settings, Signatures, under Choose which signature appears, select your account. Set For new messages and For replies or forwards to your signature.
3. Legacy Outlook for Mac: on the Outlook menu, select Settings, then Signatures. Double-click Untitled, type a name, and paste your signature into the editor.
4. Set the default in legacy Outlook for Mac: under Choose default signature, select your account, then set New messages and Replies/forwards.

Outlook mobile app (iPhone and Android)

1. Open the Outlook app and open Settings.
2. Under Mail, tap Signature.
3. Type your signature. If you have several accounts, turn on Per Account Signature and enter one for each.

Treat the phone signature as plain text: your name, title, company, and phone number. Logos and formatting do not carry over reliably to the phone app.

Common problems

• The signature is missing on replies: the Replies/forwards default is set to none. Change it in the steps above.
• The logo arrives as an attachment: the image was pasted from a file on your computer. Use a signature whose logo is hosted at a web address, so Outlook links to it instead of attaching it.
• The signature works on one computer but not another: each version of Outlook can keep its own signature, so set it up in each place you send from, including your phone.
• The spacing grows or shrinks after pasting: paste the whole signature at once rather than in pieces, and avoid retyping lines inside Outlook's editor.

A faster option

Staff Signature builds the signature with the logo hosted for you and gives you a copy button plus steps for your exact version of Outlook. It installs by copy and paste, so each person pastes it into their own Outlook. It does not push signatures from the Microsoft 365 server.

Common questions