Email Signature Generator

How to create your email signature

1. Fill in what you want people to see. Empty fields don't appear, so skip anything you don't use.
2. Choose a template, accent color and font. Every template is built from tables with inline styles, the format email apps handle best.
3. Add a photo or logo with a public image link, or use your initials if you don't have an image online yet.
4. Click Copy signature and paste it into your email app's signature settings. The install tabs above cover Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail and phones.

Your details are saved in this browser only, so you can come back later and change a phone number without starting over.

What to include in a professional email signature

A good signature tells someone who has never met you who you are, what you do and how to reach you. In practice:

• Your name, plus pronouns if you use them.
• Your role and business name. "Brand designer, Okafor Studio" tells a new contact more than a logo does.
• One or two ways to reach you. A phone number people may actually call, and your email address, which helps when a message is forwarded.
• Your website or portfolio. For most freelancers this is the link that wins work.
• One call to action. A booking link, a recent case study or "Now booking projects for March". One, not three.
• Two or three social profiles that matter for your work.

Leave out quotes, long lists of qualifications and your full street address unless clients visit you or you are required to show it.

Email signature examples by profession

Consultants sell trust and time, so a calendar link that removes the scheduling back-and-forth earns its place. Designers should let the portfolio do the talking: one accent color and no extra graphics. Developers often live in long reply threads, where the Compact one-liner keeps things tidy.

Image size and best practices

• Display size: 64 to 100 pixels for a headshot, and up to about 150 pixels wide for a logo. Bigger images dominate the email.
• File size: save the image at twice the display size (160 × 160 for an 80-pixel circle) so it stays sharp on high-resolution screens, then shrink it with an image compressor. Well under 100 KB is a good target.
• Hosting: email apps load signature images from the web. Put the image on your website or any host that gives a public link to the file, and paste that link into the Image link option. Links that need a login, or open a viewer page, show up broken.
• Format: PNG or JPG. SVG images don't display in most email apps, and Outlook for Windows only shows the first frame of an animated GIF.
• Expect images to be blocked. Many apps hide images until the reader allows them. Because every detail in these templates is real text, the signature still works without the picture.

Uploading an image here is fine for trying out a layout, but uploaded images are embedded in the HTML. That bloats the signature, and Gmail and many other apps strip them.

Legal and disclaimer lines

This is general information, not legal advice. The rules depend on where your business is registered, so check them for your country.

• Company details. In some countries, including the UK and much of the EU, limited companies must show details such as the registered name, company number and registered office on business correspondence, which is generally taken to include email. Sole traders usually have fewer requirements.
• Tax numbers. If you are registered for VAT or a similar tax, adding the number saves clients asking for it at invoice time.
• Confidentiality notices. They are common but carry limited weight in many places. If a client or contract expects one, keep it to one or two short lines.
• Regulated work such as finance, law or healthcare may come with wording rules from your regulator.

Put legal lines below the signature in small but readable text. The Disclaimer field does this, and its sample button inserts a short, generic confidentiality line you can edit.

Common email signature mistakes

• Making the whole signature one image. Nobody can click, copy or read it when images are blocked.
• Too many links. Nine social badges and three phone numbers bury the one link you care about.
• Pale grey text. Light text on white is hard to read, especially on phones. Keep the main details dark.
• Forgetting replies and phones. Set the signature for replies and forwards too, and add a mobile signature on each device.
• Never testing it. Send an email to yourself, open it on your phone and your computer, and click every link.

How to add your signature in Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail

Copy the signature with the button above, then:

• Gmail: Settings → See all settings → General → Signature → Create new. Paste, choose it under Signature defaults, then click Save Changes.
• Outlook on the web and new Outlook: Settings → Accounts → Signatures → New signature. Paste, pick your defaults and save.
• Classic Outlook for Windows: File → Options → Mail → Signatures → New. Paste, set defaults, then OK.
• Apple Mail: Mail → Settings → Signatures → +. Untick "Always match my default message font", then paste.
• Phones: set it in each mail app's settings. Many accept plain text only, so use Copy plain text.

The install tabs in the tool have the full steps. Starting a new business too? Try the business name generator.

Frequently asked questions