Create and add a signature to messages

In Outlook, you can create one or more personalized signatures for your email messages. Your signature can include text, images, your electronic business card, a logo, or even an image of your handwritten signature. You can set up Outlook so that signatures are automatically added to all outgoing messages or create your signature and add it to messages on a case-by-case basis.

  1. Open a new email message.

  2. On the Message menu, select Signature > Signatures.

    Depending on the size of your Outlook window and whether you're composing a new email message or a reply or forward, the Message menu and the Signature button might be in two different locations.

    Email signature
  3. Under Select signature to edit, choose New, and in the New Signature dialog box, type a name for the signature.

  4. Under Edit signature, compose your signature. You can change fonts, font colors, and sizes, as well as text alignment. If you want to create a more robust signature with bullets, tables, or borders, use Word to format your text, then copy and paste the signature into the Edit signature box. You can also use one of our pre-designed templates for your signature. Download the templates in Word, customize them with your personal information, and then copy and paste them into the Edit signature box. 

    email signature entry page
  5. Under Choose default signature, set the following options for your signature:

    In the E-mail account drop-down box, choose an email account to associate with the signature. You can have different signatures for each email account.

    If you want your signature added to all new messages by default, in the New messages drop-down box, select one of your signatures. If you don't want to automatically add a signature to new messages, choose (none). This doesn't add a signature to any messages you reply to or forward.

    If you want your signature to appear in the messages you reply to and forward, in the  Replies/forwards drop-down, select one of your signatures. Otherwise, accept the default option of (none).

  6. Choose OK to save your new signature and return to your message. Outlook doesn't add your new signature to the message you opened in Step 1, even if you chose to apply the signature to all new messages. You'll have to add the signature manually to this one message. All future messages will have the signature added automatically. To add the signature manually, select Signature from the Message menu and then pick the signature you just created.

Insert a signature manually

If you don't choose to insert a signature for all new messages or replies and forwards, you can still insert a signature manually.

  1. In your email message, on the Message tab, select Signature.

  2. Choose your signature from the fly-out menu that appears. If you have more than one signature, you can select any of the signatures you've created.