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Last Updated: 12-Apr-2007

Adding a default signature to all Outlook emails

As an individual, you may find it convenient to add a standard "Signature" to all your outgoing emails to avoid the tedium of repeating the same text in every email you send. This is even more relevant if you're running a business. Examples of possible signatures:

To add such signatures:

1. Open Outlook and go to Tools | Options | Mail Format.

2. Click on the Signatures.... button at the bottom of the dialog box

3. Click on the New button.

4. Type in a name for this signature; if you have more than one email account and wish to have separate signatures, assign a name that is easy to relate to the corresponding account.

5. Click on Next.

6. Type in the signature data as appropriate.

7. Click on Finish.

8. Repeat 3 - 7 for each individual signature you intend to use.

9. Click on the OK button (instead of New as previously)

10. In the Signatures section, one of your email accounts will be visible in the drop-down box: use the drop-down box beneath that against new emails to select the relevant signature message, and again for replies and forwards.

11. Click on Apply.

12. Repeat steps 10 and 11 for all the remaining accounts, although you can assign a given signature to multiple accounts.

13. Note that you should define a signature for all your email accounts, as Outlook can behave erratically if an account has no signature assigned when others do. If necessary create a simple general-purpose signature with just a couple of underscores (__) for email accounts that would otherwise not require a signature.

If you're running a business, please note that the italicised text above is a legal requirement (see http://tinyurl.com/y95vtp or www.out-law.com/page-5536). Hence if you also use an auto-responder to reply automatically to all emails, you should ensure that the italicised text (relevant to your business) is added to your auto-responder message.