Tools
Email signature generator,
built to hold up in every inbox.
Fill in your details, pick one of six layouts and copy a signature that holds together in Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail. Free, no account, and nothing you type leaves your browser.
How to make your email signature
- 01
Fill in your details
Type what you want people to see. Leave out anything you would rather not share, and the signature closes the gap.
- 02
Pick a layout and style
Choose one of six layouts, an accent colour and a font. The preview shows the exact signature your mail app will receive.
- 03
Copy it into your mail app
Select Copy signature, then paste it into Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail or any other app using the steps on this page.
How to add your signature to your mail app
Copy the signature first, then paste it where your mail app keeps signatures. Pasting, rather than typing it again, brings the layout and links across intact.
Gmail
- Open Gmail on a computer, select Settings (the gear), then See all settings.
- On the General tab, scroll to Signature, select Create new, name it and select Create.
- Paste the signature into the box. Under Signature defaults, choose it for new emails and for replies and forwards.
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and select Save Changes.
Outlook and Outlook on the web
- Select Settings (the gear), then Account or Accounts, then Signatures.
- Select New signature, give it a name and paste the signature into the editor.
- Choose it as the default for new messages and for replies and forwards, then select Save.
Classic Outlook for Windows
- Select File, then Options, then Mail, then Signatures.
- Select New, name the signature and paste it into the Edit signature box.
- Under Choose default signature, pick it for new messages and for replies and forwards, then select OK.
Outlook for Mac
- Open Outlook, then Settings, then Signatures.
- Select the add button, name the signature and paste it in.
- Close the editor, then choose the default for new messages and for replies and forwards.
Apple Mail on a Mac
- Open Mail, then Settings (Preferences on older versions of macOS), then the Signatures tab.
- Choose your account, select the add button and name the signature.
- Untick Always match my default message font, then paste into the pane on the right.
- Pick the signature in the Choose Signature menu so it is added to new messages.
Mail on iPhone and iPad
- Open this page on the phone, fill it in and select Copy signature.
- Open Settings, then Mail (under Apps on iOS 18 and later), then Signature.
- Clear the default text and paste. If the formatting disappears, shake the phone and choose Undo to bring it back.
Yahoo Mail
- Select Settings (the gear), then More Settings, then Writing email.
- Turn on the signature for your address and paste it into the box. It saves on its own.
Thunderbird
- Open Account Settings and select your address.
- Tick Use HTML, then paste what Copy HTML gives you into Signature text. Or tick Attach the signature from a file and choose the downloaded .html file.
- Close the settings tab. The change is saved.
Nextmail
- Open Settings, then Addresses, and choose the address that should carry the signature.
- On its Signature tab, add a signature and choose Paste.
- Make it the default for new mail, and pick a shorter one for replies if you like.
What makes an email signature work
An email signature is the block at the bottom of every message you send: your name, your role, how to reach you and often a photo or logo. People read it to check who you are and to find a number without searching. A good one answers those questions in four or five short lines.
Email is not the web. Mail apps strip most of the styling a web page relies on. Gmail drops style blocks from signatures, classic Outlook on Windows draws messages with the engine from Word, and many apps hold back images until the reader allows them. A signature built from tables, with its styles written on each element, is the one layout all of them read the same way.
That is how this generator builds yours. Every part sits in a table cell with its styles inline, images carry an explicit width, height and alt text, colours are hex codes, and fonts fall back to ones every computer has. Nothing depends on a stylesheet, a web font or a script, so what the preview shows is what lands in the inbox.
Keep it short. A signature that runs past the first screen of a phone pushes your actual message out of view, and every image is one more thing a mail app may hold back. A name, a role, one phone number, a website and a small photo or logo cover almost everyone.
What to put in your email signature
Most good signatures carry the same few things. Add the rest only when the people you write to need it.
- Element
- Full name
- Include it
- Always
- Guidance
- The name people address you by, so a reply starts with the right one.
- Element
- Job title and company
- Include it
- Usually
- Guidance
- Tells a new contact why you are writing and who you speak for.
- Element
- Phone number
- Include it
- One, the one you answer
- Guidance
- Write it in international format, starting with +, so it dials from any country and any phone.
- Element
- Website
- Include it
- Usually
- Guidance
- One link, written without https:// so it reads cleanly.
- Element
- Photo or logo
- Include it
- Optional
- Guidance
- A photo builds trust with people you have not met, and a logo carries the brand. Pick one and keep it small.
- Element
- Social profiles
- Include it
- Two or three
- Guidance
- Only the profiles you keep up to date and would be glad for a client to see.
- Element
- Address
- Include it
- When people visit
- Guidance
- For shops, offices and clinics. Leave it out if nobody comes to you.
- Element
- Disclaimer
- Include it
- When required
- Guidance
- Some industries and countries require one. Keep it to a line or two of small text.
Email signature size guide
Mail apps give a signature little room, and phones give it less. These sizes keep yours readable everywhere.
Overall widthup to 600 px- Most mail apps lay messages out around 600 pixels wide, so a signature inside that width never needs a sideways scroll.
Photo72 to 96 px square- Large enough to recognise a face, small enough to sit beside four or five lines of text. Crop it square before you upload it.
Logoup to 200 px wide- Wide logos read well at 120 to 200 pixels. Give a logo with a transparent background a solid one, so it survives dark mode.
Image fileJPG or PNG, under 50 KB- Save photos as JPG and logos as PNG. Small files load quickly on a phone and stay under the limits some mail apps set.
Text size12 to 16 px- Around 16 pixels for your name and 13 for the details stays readable on a phone without crowding the message above it.
Length4 to 7 lines- Enough for the essentials, short enough to fit on the first screen of a phone below a short reply.
Charactersunder 10,000- Gmail refuses signatures longer than 10,000 characters of HTML. The counter under the preview shows how close yours is.
Common email signature problems and how to fix them
Most broken signatures fail in the same handful of ways. Here is what causes each one.
The image does not show
Many mail apps, Outlook included, hold back images from senders the reader has not trusted yet, and some block every image by default. The reader then sees an empty box or the alt text.
How to fixHost the image on a link that stays online, keep the file small, and give it alt text with your name or company so the signature still makes sense without it. The generator writes the alt text for you.
Spacing grows in Outlook on Windows
Classic Outlook for Windows draws mail with the engine from Word. It adds space around paragraphs and ignores some styles, so lines drift apart and rounded corners turn square.
How to fixUse a signature built from tables with the line height set on each cell, like the ones here, and never paste from a word processor, which brings its own spacing along.
Gmail strips the styling or refuses to save
Gmail keeps only inline styles in a signature and turns away anything over 10,000 characters, which is easy to pass when an image is pasted in as data instead of linked.
How to fixPaste the signature rather than typing it again, link images from the web instead of embedding them, and keep an eye on the character counter under the preview.
The photo arrives as an attachment
When an image file is dragged into a signature editor, Apple Mail and others attach it to every message, so recipients see a separate file and a broken looking signature.
How to fixLink the image from the web with an https address, as this generator does, instead of dropping the file into the signature editor.
Colours turn strange in dark mode
In dark mode, apps such as Gmail on a phone and Outlook invert light backgrounds and dark text. A dark logo on a transparent background can vanish and an accent colour can shift.
How to fixCheck the dark preview, give logos a solid or light background with a little padding, and pick an accent colour with strong contrast.
The signature is too tall on a phone
A large photo beside many lines of contact details stacks into a long block on a narrow screen and pushes the message itself out of view.
How to fixChoose the Compact layout or a smaller photo, keep to one phone number, and leave out details people can find on your website.
Questions this raises
Use your signature in Nextmail
Paste it into any address, keep a shorter one for replies, and send from your own domain with SPF and DKIM set up for you.
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