Find out the location of Outlook email signatures and how to back them up

Outlook signatures are stored in different locations, depending on your platform and Outlook version. Let’s see where to find them.

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Outlook email signature location backup

Here’s an easy guide on how to update email signature in (almost) any Outlook, if you need it

Outlook email signature location

The exact location of email signatures depends on the type of Outlook and the OS you’re using.

Classic Outlook for Windows

The easiest way to find the signature location in classic Outlook is through the app’s settings. Go to File > Options > Mail. Then, hold Ctrl and click the Signatures button to open the folder where Outlook stores your signatures:

Outlook for Windows signature options

You can also navigate to this location manually. Classic Outlook for Windows stores signatures in the following locations:

For any Windows version after Vista (Windows 11, Windows 10 included): C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Signatures

If, for some reason, you forgot to keep up with technology, the location for Windows XP is as follows: C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Microsoft\Signatures

NOTE: If your Windows language setting is other than English, the path will be your language equivalent of the above, e.g. (Dutch): C:\Gebruikers\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Handtekeningen

You can access the signature location either by pasting the appropriate path into the Windows File Explorer address bar (marked orange below):

Outlook email signature location Windows

Signature cloud settings

In Microsoft 365, there is a setting that changes the default location of your Outlook signatures. It’s called signature cloud settings (roaming signatures). If they are enabled, signatures are no longer stored locally. They are saved in your mailbox settings, in the cloud. It means that you cannot access them using File Explorer. Instead, you can locate your signatures by going to File > Options > Mail > Signatures, which opens the Signatures and Stationary settings:

Classic Outlook - Signatures and stationery settings

New Outlook for Windows

In the new Outlook for Windows, signatures are stored in your mailbox settings. To access these settings, go to:

File > Settings > Accounts > Signatures

New Outlook for Windows signature location

Outlook on the web

Just like in the new Outlook for Windows, signatures are stored in your mailbox settings, and can be accessed from:

File > Settings > Account > Signatures

You can also open these settings directly using the link below:

https://outlook.cloud.microsoft/mail/options/accounts-category/signatures-subcategory

OWA email signature location

Outlook on the web

Just like with the new Outlook for Windows, the path is Settings > Mail > Compose and reply:

OWA signature settings

Outlook for Mac

To access the physical location of your Outlook signatures on Mac, launch Finder, go to Go > Go to Folder and enter the following path:

~/library/mail

Then choose the folder with the version (V9, for example) and go to Signatures. That’s where your HTML email signatures are stored.

Outlook for Mac signature location

Mobile Outlook

In both Outlook for Android and Outlook for iOS, the access path to your email signature settings is similar.

  • In Outlook for Android:

Settings > Quick Settings > Signatures

  • In Outlook for iOS:

Settings > Mail > Signature

Back up and restore Outlook signatures

To back up your Outlook for Windows or Outlook for Mac email signatures, simply copy all the contents from their location to another place.

It’s a bit more complicated if you try to back up Outlook signatures that have no local copy, like in the new Outlook for Windows, Outlook on the web (OWA), Outlook with roaming signatures turned on, or mobile Outlook. In this case, you need to get those signatures into HTML files.

One way to do that is to send yourself an email with a signature included and save it in the HTML format. Then you can delete the message body and save the signature as an HTML file. The problem is, most email clients add some invisible formatting information to the HTML code. This information might be invisible but can manifest itself in some unexpected ways. For example, when you later try to set your backed-up signature up in your email client’s settings. That’s why it might be a good idea to start using the free email signature generator. This way, you can create as many email signature designs as you need and back them up. To restore one of your backed-up email signatures, open its HTML file in a web browser, copy the signature and paste it into your email client’s signature settings. For more detailed guides on setting up your email signatures, check out our how-to articles.