How to Add an Email Signature in Outlook (New Outlook, Classic, Web and Mac)

Outlook comes in several versions with different menus, which is the main reason signature instructions get confusing. Find your version below. The steps follow Microsoft's help pages.

New Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web

• Click the gear icon for Settings, then Accounts, then Signatures.
• Choose the account, then click Add signature and give it a name.
• Type or paste your signature into the editing box.
• Tick the boxes to add it automatically to new messages, and to replies and forwards. Leave them blank if you would rather insert it by hand.
• Click Save. To insert a signature manually, open a message and use the Signature option on the Insert tab (or the Message tab on the web).

Classic Outlook for Windows

• Open a new email, go to the Message tab, then choose Signature, then Signatures.
• Select the account, click New and name the signature.
• Build it in the Edit signature box.
• Under Choose default signature, set it for New messages and, if you want, Replies/forwards.
• Click OK.

Microsoft's guidance for complex signatures with tables or bullets is to build them in Word and paste them in. It also advises avoiding VML tags, which can make images appear as attachments. Signatures made in classic Outlook are stored on your computer and may not sync to other devices, so if you also use Outlook on the web, create the signature there too.

Outlook for Mac

• Open the Outlook menu, then Settings, then Mail, then Signatures.
• Edit the Standard signature or add a new one, and name it.
• Type or paste your signature into the editor.
• Choose the account and set the signature for new messages and for replies or forwards separately.
• Close the window to save.

Older versions of Outlook for Mac use Outlook, then Preferences, then Email, then Signatures, with the defaults labelled New messages and Replies/forwards.

Why your images may not show

Microsoft Outlook is configured by default to block automatic picture downloads from the Internet.— Microsoft Support

That default means recipients may see a blank box or a placeholder where your logo should be until they choose to download pictures. Put your name, title and phone in text, not in an image, and give every image alt text so the signature still makes sense with pictures blocked.

Pasting a designed signature

Microsoft's pages describe typing or pasting formatted content into the signature editor but do not promise that a signature pasted from a web page will look identical. Paste it, send yourself a test, and check it in Outlook and on your phone before you rely on it.