How add a professional signature in Outlook

Open Outlook’s in-app editor

• Go to the search box at the top-left side of your Outlook screen and type in “signature”
• Click on the “Signature” result that appears
• Click on “Signature” from the dropdown menu and you’ll be prompted to set a signature in Outlook using the in-app signature editor.

Create a new Outlook signature

• Click on the “New” button to create a new signature for your email
• Give your new signature a name (use a name that describes this specific signature well, in case you create multiples signatures in the future)

NOTE: If you already know you’ll need multiple Outlook signatures, go see our guide on how to create multiple Outlook signatures and how to manage them.

Add your signature details

To begin with, we’ll create the simplest form of Outlook email signature – a simple text signature. This may be enough for you. But, in case you want something more professional, later on I’ll show you ways to create a much richer and effective email signature.

• To create your text signature click in the signature editor’s text field, and type in your full name, your job title, and your contact information.
• If you’re satisfied with this signature layout you can stop here. Simply click OK, and you’re good to go. For more advanced signature features, keep reading.

A good Outlook signature would include the following:

John L. Due
Associate Partner at Astoria Law Firm NY
1-800-800-800
301 Park Ave, New York, NY 10022
www.astoria-law-nyc.com

Edit signature design

You can edit your Outlook signature to make it look more organized and give it a clear visual hierarchy, by setting different colors and font sizes for the most important information.

• To change the color of any text in your signature, all you need to do is select it with you cursor and click the Color dropdown menu > then pick your color, or click More colors (at the bottom of the panel) to choose a custom color.
• To change the text size – select the text then click the Font Size dropdown menu and try different sizes till you feel you’ve reached the best balance.
• To change font type – select any text and click the Font type dropdown, try some options till you find your fit.

TIPS:

1. Choose 1 color from (preferably one of the colors you use for your brand).
2. Use 1 font size for your contact details (12-14px is good), and use 1 bigger font size for your name and job title (2-3px greater than the text for your contact details). Set your name in Bold and your job title in Regular, to give slightly more importance to your name.
3. Use only 1 font for your entire signature, otherwise it will look messy.

Add a hyperlink to your Outlook signature

• To add a hyperlink to your Outlook signature, select any text with your cursor(when text is selected it should have a grey background)
• Then click the link icon in the right hand side of the tool strip.
• Now enter the URL you want the text to link to, and hit OK.

Make your telephone number clickable:

In the example image I made the telephone number clickable by adding a special kind of hyperlink.

• Instead of adding a URL, like before, I entered the phone number with the prefix “tel:”, like this – “tel:1-800-800-800”.

Make your local address clickable:

If you run a brick and mortar business you can also gain from making your address clickable. You can set it up so when clicked on, it brings up Google maps navigation.

• To add a clickable local address – find your business on Google Maps and hit the “Directions” button > then copy the URL from the address box.
• Select the address in your Outlook signature and click the link icon like before. Now add the URL you took from Google Maps, and click OK.

Add an image

• Click your cursor where you want to place your signature image
• Click the image icon in the right hand side of the tool strip
• Upload the image from your computer

Resize the image:

• To resize your image according to your prefered signature design – click on the image and drag any of the black squares on the image corners.

Make your image clickable:

• Select your image with your cursor > then click the link icon from the tool strip > insert the URL you wish the image to link to and hit OK.

Add social media icons and links:

• To add your social media icons – follow the same steps as adding an image with a link as stated above
• Simply add them as images > drag them to the desired position > select the icon and click the link button from the tool strip to assign it the link to your social media page.
• For more professional look – see our more advanced guide on how to add social icons to your Outlook signature

Set auto Outlook signatures

In order to add a signature to Outlook automatically, you are given a choice whether or not you want your signature to appear in your New messages and/or in your Forward and Reply messages. Doing this is fairly straightforward.

I) Go to the top-right corner of your Outlook editor

There you’ll find 2 dropdown menus, one for setting an auto signature for your New messages and one for your Forward/Reply messages. Each menu should house all your available signatures.

II) Choose the signature you wish to appear for each message type

If you feel that your Outlook signature is done, click “OK” to save your work. To see your new signature in Outlook, simply open a new message. Your new signature will appear at the bottom.

III) Manage your signatures directly from the Message window by clicking on the “Signature” button in the top ribbon. From there you will be able to choose the signature you required for any given email.

NOTE: This guide doesn’t end here. If you want to learn how to add special features to your signature like, images, links, and videos, keep reading.