Having a good signature in Outlook allows you to apply a quality sign-off to every email. Whether you want a signature for professional or personal use, it’s a great way to add something unique to your virtual communications. Another great element of Outlook signatures is the fact that they don’t have to adhere to the limits of “traditional” signatures that you might see on a printed document or handwritten letter. Outlook signatures can include text, images, links, and more.
But how do you add a signature in Outlook? What if you already have an Outlook signature and you want to change it? Finally, what are some different ways to troubleshoot signature issues in Outlook?
In today’s guide, we will answer all of these questions and more. But if you’re struggling with Outlook and you need additional help, feel free to reach out to the experts at Geeker today!
How To Add A Signature In Outlook
Adding a new signature in Outlook is the most common need among users, especially if you’re relatively new to the application or you haven’t spent time tinkering around with all of its features. However, the process you’ll need to follow will vary based on the version of Outlook you use. First, we’ll take a look at adding a signature in the Outlook Web App, and then the Outlook Desktop App:
Add a Signature in Outlook Web App
To set up a new signature in the Outlook Web App, follow these steps:
- Sign in to Outlook on the web
- Click on the “Settings” gear icon
- Click on “View all Outlook settings” (near the bottom of the Settings window)
- In the “Mail” category, click on “Compose and reply”
- Type your signature and select your preferred format in the “Email signature” box
- Adjust the settings for your signature and click “Save” to finalize the changes
Add a Signature in Outlook Desktop App
Even if you know how to set a signature in Outlook Web App, that knowledge may not help much in the Outlook Desktop App. To create a signature in the Outlook Desktop App, follow these steps:
- Open a new message and go to the “Message” tab
- Select “Signature”
- Click “New” under the “Email Signature” tab
- Pick a name for your signature and click “OK”
- Type and format your signature in the “Edit signature” box
- (Optional) Add other elements by clicking on “Business Card,” “Picture,” or “Hyperlink”
- Set your signature preferences in the “Choose default signature” section
- Click “OK” to finalize your signature
How To Change Signatures In Outlook
Whether you use Outlook Web App or Outlook Desktop App, you can create, edit, and save more than one signature with your account. For example, you may have an older signature that you’d like to update or delete. Alternatively, you might have made a mistake the first time you created a signature and want to go back and modify it. Regardless of your specific circumstances, the process remains the same when changing signatures. Now we’ll look at the steps you’ll need to follow to change signatures in both Outlook Web App and Outlook Desktop App:
Change Signatures in Outlook Web App
To change your signature in the Outlook Web App, follow these steps:
- Sign in to Outlook on the web
- Click on the “Settings” gear icon
- Click on “View all Outlook settings” (near the bottom of the Settings window)
- In the “Mail” category, click on “Compose and reply”
- Make the desired changes to your current signature
- Click “Save” to finalize the changes
Change Signatures in Outlook Desktop App
To change your signature in the Outlook Desktop App, follow these steps:
- Click on the “File” tab
- Select “Options” and then “Mail”
- Under “Compose messages,” click on “Signatures…”
- Choose the signature you want to change in the “Signatures and Stationery” window
- Make your desired changes in the “Edit signature” box
- Click “OK” to finalize your changes
Troubleshooting A Disappearing Signature
Have you ever looked at your emails in Outlook and found that your signature is not showing up? Or perhaps your signature appears in some emails but not in others? Either way, there are a variety of potential causes. New updates to Outlook can occasionally cause problems with customized signatures, but this is not always the case. To help you find the cause of disappearing signatures in Outlook, here are a few ways that you can troubleshoot the problem:
Signature Settings
If you can’t see your signature in Outlook, you might not have set it up to appear in all new messages, replies, or forwards. To check if this is the issue, follow these steps:
- Go to File > Options > Mail > Signatures
- Under “Choose default signature”, ensure that the correct signature is selected
- Make sure the signature is set for “New messages” and “Replies/forwards”
- Restart Outlook and see if your signature is present
Plain Text Formatting
Outlook signature does not always appear in messages that are formatted to use plain text. Since plain text does not support images, colors, and other advanced formats, your particular signature may be incompatible. To see if plain text formatting is causing the problem, follow these steps:
- Begin composing a new email
- In the email window, go to the “Format Text” tab
- Choose “HTML” or “Rich Text”
- Restart Outlook and see if your signature is present
*Note: Keep in mind that signatures may be visible to you in HTML or Rich Text formatting, but they may not be visible to the recipient. This is because some mobile devices can only read plain text, and will therefore be unable to display Outlook signatures that are not visible in plain text.
Conflicting Add-Ins
If you use certain add-ins for Outlook, there’s a possibility that they could be interfering with your email signature. You can disable add-ins one-by-one to see if any of them are the culprit. To disable add-ins, follow these steps:
- Go to File > Options > Add-ins
- Ensure that “COM Add-ins” is selected and click “Go…”
- Uncheck the boxes next to the add-in(s) you want to disable and click “OK”
- Restart Outlook and see if your signature is present
- If your signature is still not present, repeat steps 1 through 4 with different add-ins disabled
While you may not want to disable all of your add-ins at once, this is the fastest alternative to disabling them one by one. If you disable all of your add-ins and your email signature is still not showing up, you know that you’ll need to try something else.
Office Repair
Sometimes, users encounter signature problems when they install a different version of Microsoft Office than the one that came preinstalled on their computer. So, if you still can’t find the problem after trying the solutions outlined above, try repairing Office by following these steps:
- Go to Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features.
- Right-click on Microsoft Office in the list of installed programs and select “Change”
- Select “Repair” or “Online Repair” in the dialog box
- Follow the prompts to repair Microsoft Office
- Restart Outlook and see if your signature is present
If you still can’t get your signature to appear in Outlook, you may need to contact IT experts to help you troubleshoot the issue further.
Need help from dependable software experts? Reach out to Geeker today for on-demand IT and software solutions!