How to add an email signature in the Outlook desktop app

There are two Outlook desktop apps on Windows right now and the signature setting is in a different place in each. Check which one you have before you start: if the ribbon has a File tab with Options underneath it, you are in classic Outlook. If it does not, you are in the new Outlook and the setting lives with the account settings instead.

Do not have a signature yet?

Make one first. The generator is free, needs no account, and gives you something to paste before you open your settings.

Open the free email signature generator

Classic Outlook for Windows

The long-standing desktop app, the one with File in the ribbon.

Copy your signature from the generator with the Copy signature button.Copy signature puts the formatted version on your clipboard, which is the one you want. Copy HTML is for pasting into a system that asks for source code.
Open a new email message.
On the Message menu, select Signature, then Signatures.You can also get there without composing anything: File, Options, Mail, Signatures.
Under Select signature to edit, choose New and type a name for the signature.
Click into the Edit signature box and paste the signature.
Under Choose default signature, pick your account in the E-mail account list.The defaults are set per account. If you have more than one mailbox in Outlook, repeat this for each one you send from.
In the New messages list, select your signature.
In the Replies/forwards list, select your signature, or (none) if you want replies to stay short.
Choose OK to save.Microsoft notes that classic Outlook does not add the new signature to the message you opened in step 2, even when you have set it as the default. Open a fresh message to see it.

New Outlook for Windows

The rebuilt app Microsoft is moving people to. Same settings screen as Outlook on the web.

Copy your signature from the generator with the Copy signature button.Copy signature puts the formatted version on your clipboard, which is the one you want. Copy HTML is for pasting into a system that asks for source code.
Select Settings at the top of the window.
Select Accounts, then Signatures.
If you have added more than one account, select the account the signature is for.
Select Add signature and give it a distinct name.
Click into the editing box below the name and paste the signature.
Use the checkboxes at the bottom to apply it to new messages and to replies and forwards.Leave them blank if you would rather add the signature yourself per message.
Select Save.

Things worth knowing

Desktop and web signatures do not share

Microsoft states it plainly: if you use both the Outlook app and Outlook on the web, you have to create the signature in both. Setting it in one place does not populate the other.

Adding it to a single message

On the Message tab, select Signature and pick the one you want from the list. Useful when the defaults are set to none.

Outlook for Mac is a different app again

The Mac version has its own settings layout and Microsoft documents it separately. The Outlook on the web steps are usually the faster route if you have a browser open.

Images have to stay publicly reachable

Your logo and photo are loaded from the address they live at, by every recipient. Mail clients can also be set to block remote images, in which case the first person to receive your signature sees a placeholder until they choose to load it.

Using a different email client?

Checked against

Microsoft — Create and add an email signature in Outlook (opens in a new tab) — checked 2026-08-08