How to add an email signature in Apple Mail
For Mail on macOS, plus the iPhone and iPad Mail app.
Don't have a signature yet? Make one in two minutes with the free Fairsig generator, then come back here. Use Copy signature (not “Copy HTML”) when you paste into a mail app's signature editor.
Mail on Mac
- In the generator, click Copy signature. Use Safari or Chrome on the same Mac.
- Open Mail and choose Mail → Settings (called Preferences on older macOS), then the Signatures tab.
- In the left column, select the email account the signature is for.
- Click + under the middle column and type a name for the signature.
- Untick “Always match my default message font” under the right-hand panel. If it stays ticked, Mail replaces your signature's fonts and sizes.
- Delete the placeholder text in the right-hand panel and paste with ⌘+V.
- Pick the signature in Choose Signature at the bottom so it's added to new messages automatically. Close the window: Mail saves on its own.
The preview in Settings can look plain or show missing images. Open a new message to see the real result: linked images load there.
iPhone and iPad
- Open the Settings app, then Apps → Mail → Signature (on older iOS, Mail → Signature).
- Choose All Accounts or Per Account, then paste your signature.
iOS keeps basic formatting such as bold text and links, but often drops table layouts and images. Many people use a short text signature on mobile (name, title, phone). Your Mac signature is not synced to iPhone.
Tips
- Images: use a public https link (Fairsig never embeds images). Mail Privacy Protection loads remote images through Apple's servers for recipients who enabled it, which is fine for signatures.
- Exchange or Microsoft 365 accounts: the signature you add in Apple Mail is used only by Apple Mail. Set it separately in Outlook.
- Formatting changed after paste: check the font setting in step 5, delete the signature, and paste again.