How to add an email signature in Outlook

Which Outlook do I have?

If the window has a File tab at the top left, you are on classic Outlook. If there is a toggle labelled New Outlook switched on, or no File tab and a gear icon at the top right, you are on the new Outlook, which works like Outlook on the web.

Classic Outlook for Windows

1. In the generator, click Copy signature.
2. In Outlook, go to File → Options → Mail and click Signatures….
3. On the E-mail Signature tab, click New, type a name and click OK.
4. Click in the Edit signature box and paste with Ctrl+V.
5. On the right, under Choose default signature, pick the email account, then your signature for New messages and Replies/forwards.
6. Click OK, then OK again to close Options.

New Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web

1. In the generator, click Copy signature.
2. Click the gear icon (Settings) at the top right.
3. Go to Account → Signatures. (If your menu looks different, search “signature” in the settings search box.)
4. Click + New signature, type a name and paste your signature into the editor with Ctrl+V.
5. Click Save.
6. Under Select default signatures, choose it For new messages and For replies/forwards, then click Save again.

With a Microsoft 365 work or school account, signatures made here are stored in your mailbox and follow you between the new Outlook and Outlook on the web.

Outlook for Mac

1. In the generator, click Copy signature.
2. In Outlook, open Outlook → Settings (or Preferences) and click Signatures.
3. Click +, give the signature a name and paste it into the editor with ⌘+V. Save.
4. Under Choose default signature, select the account and the signature for new messages and replies.

Images and layout problems

• Images show as attachments or as a red X. Use images linked by a public https URL (Fairsig never embeds them). Many recipients' Outlook blocks remote pictures until they click “Download pictures”: that is normal, and it is why the text of your signature must work on its own.
• Spacing looks different in classic Outlook. Classic Outlook renders email with Microsoft Word's engine. Fairsig templates use tables and inline styles for that reason; avoid editing the layout inside Outlook's editor afterwards.
• Rounded photos look square in classic Outlook for Windows. That engine ignores rounded corners; use a photo that looks fine square.
• Your signature changes back or gets duplicated. Microsoft 365 “roaming signatures” sync signatures across devices, and a signature saved in one Outlook version can overwrite another. Edit your signature in one place, ideally Outlook on the web, and let it sync.

Advanced: install from the .html file (classic Outlook only)

Classic Outlook keeps signatures in %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Signatures. You can copy the file from Fairsig's Download .html there (rename it, for example Work.htm) and pick it in the Signatures dialog. With roaming signatures turned on, Outlook may replace files in that folder with the cloud copy, so the paste method above is more reliable.

Other guides: Gmail · Apple Mail