[Update] This article was first published on July 09, 2013. It begged for a major update, so we did it.
The Outlook email signature location depends on which Outlook you’re dealing with. In this article, I’ll list the possible locations of Outlook signatures and show you how to back up and restore them.
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The year 2023 is already in full swing and you want to use the momentum to keep things fresh. A small step towards that goal might be updating your email signature. If that’s the case, you might be wondering what email signature designs are trending and where to find inspiration.
Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. In this article, we’ve put together some examples of best email signatures for 2023 to spark your imagination.
Email signature design is constantly evolving. The last time we took a close look at modern trends was in 2020. Three years don’t seem like much and it’s true that the same core principles of esthetics still apply. However, there are some interesting new trends (the 2023 buzzwords are #inclusion, #tweetlike, #charity #csr #csat) in the current email signature designs which you might want to incorporate into your signature. To get a better understanding of how an email signature template should appear nowadays, have a look at the collection of contemporary email signature inspirations below.
If you are a streamer or a vlogger who wants to promote their channel, check out email signatures below. Such signatures don’t only sign off your emails, they showcase your content & grow your followers. Whether you are a streamer, a vlogger, or both, you can use an email signature to highlight your streaming accounts.
Inspiration 1
This eye-catching email signature example really draws attention with its neon colors and is perfect for a streamer. In addition to standard social media icons for Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, it also includes TikTok and Discord buttons, as well as a Twitch mini-banner. Even though the signature is packed with graphical elements, its two-column layout keeps all details organized.
Inspiration 2
This email signature template is a perfect match for a vlogger. It’s a toned-down design which will appeal to a different audience than the one above. Readability is crucial, therefore all elements are grouped for easy identification. The large banner at the top can link to your newest videos and the small banner at the bottom can take the recipients to your TikTok bio.
Download this free template or edit it in our email signature generator to personalize it
An email signature typically contains your name, contact information, and other relevant details about you or your company. But it can also be a powerful tool to communicate the organization’s identity, values, and commitment to diversity and inclusion. By adding such information, you can make a positive impression on your recipients and build trust and rapport with them. This can also inspire others to be more inclusive and respectful in their communication and interactions. Many of 2023 email signature designs show that inclusion becomes more and more important.
Inspiration 3
One way to make email signatures more inclusive is to add gender pronouns. We’ve seen a major increase in such email signatures in 2023. This shows respect for people’s gender identities and helps avoid misgendering. It also encourages others to share their pronouns and creates a more welcoming and safe environment for everyone. From a design perspective, it’s best to add pronouns next to or under your name (as shown in the example below). That’s where most people expect to find them. This signature inspiration also includes a direct Zoom link in form of a call-to-action (CTA) button to allow for quick video calls with you.
Inspiration 4
You can also make email signatures more inclusive by adding name pronunciation details. This helps avoid confusion or embarrassment in communication, shows the company’s respect for people’s names and cultural backgrounds, and fosters more positive and personal connections. The following email signature design includes a CTA button which you can link to an audio recording. Thanks to the toned-down design, this signature template is suitable for both personal and professional use.
Download this email signature from our template library or edit it to your liking
Not all email signatures are created equal. Some can be too long, too cluttered, or too boring. Here’s where tweet-like email signatures come into the picture. Those 2023 email signature designs are crisp, concise and catchy. Such signatures use minimal elements such as small logos, sometimes also small banners, and a few words to convey the essential information. They are inspired by the brevity and clarity of tweets, and they can make your emails stand out from the crowd.
Inspiration 5
Take a look at the email signature below. It’s simple, compact and short. A perfect choice for business communication. It’s certainly not lacking in any department, it includes: contact details, company logo, social media buttons, and even a small marketing banner. Everything is there, presented in a minimalistic form which can easily match your corporate style.
Inspiration 6
This tweet-like email signature is a great example of how less is more. Despite its small size, the signature still conveys all the essential details – contact information, linked social media icons and logo (or photo). It’s a straight-to-the-point template which is ideal for replies, forwards, and internal correspondence.
Adjust this email signature template to your needs or download it now
If you are running a charity or a non-profit organization, you know how important it is to communicate your mission and vision to your audience. One of the ways to do that is by using a tailored email signature that reflects your values and goals. Such a signature can also help you increase your visibility, credibility, and fundraising potential.
Inspiration 7
This original design includes a banner encouraging your recipients to make donations. You can also find a sample disclaimer at the bottom of the template. Although the signature’s been primarily designed with charitable organizations in mind, you can replace the graphics to fit your needs.
Click here to edit the template in our signature generator or download it right away
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability are two important aspects of any organization that wants to make a positive impact on the world. In 2023, many people look for companies that aren’t all about making profit. An effective channel for showcasing the commitment to these values is email, and email signatures are the perfect place to promote your mission. They can be used to display information about the company’s social and environmental initiatives, such as carbon footprint reduction, charity donations, ethical sourcing, etc. Such an email signature can help you build trust among recipients, motivate employees to share your vision, lead and innovate in your industry and society, and support causes that matter to you and your community.
Inspiration 8
A cleaner future requires both big and small actions. Email signatures can also contribute to the environmental efforts of any individual or organization. Vibrant shades of green used for the banner and the social media buttons make this design perfect for any company wanting to make a statement. Show you care about the environment and ask others to refrain from printing your message.
Download this signature template for free or edit it with the signature generator
Your image in today’s world is shaped by what others think of you. People’s opinions can lift or sink entire businesses. That’s why seeking feedback on your products, services or marketing campaigns is essential. A simple way to learn what your customers think about your company is to use one-click customer satisfaction (CSAT) surveys in your email signatures. Those surveys are quick, accessible, and painless for the customers. That’s why there is a major increase in CSAT surveys in 2023 email signatures.
Inspiration 9
The inspiration below is a great example of how to collect CSAT ratings. The template is designed to catch the recipient’s eye with its contrasty, vivid colors (mainly Pantone’s Color of the Year 2023 – Viva Magenta) and fancy icons. Additionally, the included banner boasts a catchy tagline. This appealing email signature can also be used from time to time to spice up the regular email correspondence and draw the recipients’ attention.
For more email signature inspirations, explore our email signature generator and signature template library – they are completely free of charge.
If you need a solution for designing and managing corporate email signatures, have a look at our email signature management tools for both Microsoft 365 and on-premises Exchange. Our software will help you discover the true potential of your email communication:
See also:
[Update]: This blog post was first published on July 13, 2017. It’s been updated to reflect the current steps required for a proper mail flow rule setup in Exchange Online.
Do your email signatures pile up at the bottom of your conversation threads? Well, I have bad news and good news for you. The bad news is that this is the default setup for Microsoft 365 / Office 365 email signatures. The mail flow rule responsible for appending email signatures can insert them at the very top or at the very bottom of the entire email thread. The good news is that there are ways to work around this. Let’s get right into the details.
Using social media icons in an email signature is a must if you want to compete in today’s digitalized world. A company that doesn’t have at least one social media account, may look like it doesn’t even exist in eyes of potential customers. Companies gain trust by posting regularly, by being available and responsive on social media. Including your email communication in the social media strategy is a perfect way to take advantage of all branding and marketing opportunities. And there’s no easier way than simply adding social media icons to your company’s email signature.
Have you ever seen an email signature you hated? An entity so cringe-inducing that you wanted to end a discussion with it’s owner right away?
Yup, email signatures can do that. However, when set up correctly, they have quite an opposite effect. A neat, professional email signature can either have a WOW effect or simply make you feel like everything is just right. And, as an added value, a good signature lets you e.g. promote your offers or helps gather customer feedback.
So what makes a difference between a lovable and not-so-lovable signature? There is more than one factor and to make sure you get it right, you need to follow the email signature etiquette.
Email signature etiquette is a set of rules and best practices that help others not hate your signatures.
Below, I’ve prepared a list of the worst crimes against email signature etiquette and how to avoid or fix them.
Don’t get me wrong. Disclaimers can be required to comply with laws and regulations. However, some people mistake disclaimers for legal documents and overdo it. Not only are disclaimers too long way too often, but also they tend to be added to each reply and forward. That’s a very effective method of making your recipients angry.
Ask your legal team or whoever who came up with the two-page monster, if the disclaimer really must include all this information in three different languages. And if you have no idea how to start, here are some professional email disclaimer examples.
It might also be a good idea to append a disclaimer only once per email thread.
Images are quite all right in email signatures. They can make your correspondence stand out and if a signature is well-composed, they do promote your branding and encourage recipients to see offers linked to the banners. However, graphics can be your undoing as well. Using extremely large files presents more than one problem:
In most cases, the ideal image resolution is twice as much as its target placeholder. In other words, if your email signature design reserves 300x100px for a banner, you should use a 600x200px graphic file which will scale down nicely. Also, it’s worth exporting your images to PNG and JPG to see which format ‘weighs’ less.
Read more on best email signature size
The time and energy you put into making sure the signature looks and works well results in an increase of trust from your recipient. Attention to details is a must if you want to make sure your brand is always associated with quality. So if an element you send with each email is out of date, don’t expect others to think highly of you.
That’s why promoting an event which already took place or an offer which ended long time ago is hurtful. But promotion is not the only purpose of an email signature. A signature is also there to, for example, redirect your recipients to another contact channel. And if your contact details are no longer valid, you can be sure that those who can’t reach you will get angry.
If you set up your own email signature, make sure you check on it from time to time. And if your company manages email signatures centrally, it’s best to use a solution which syncs with your users’ database in real time and has a scheduler feature, like our tools.
Full-composition email signatures give you the most space to include your branding, promote your offers and, in general, present yourself in the best way possible.
However, including such a complete signature in each and every email reply or in internal messages can make even the most patient of email users furious. Bombarding your recipients with banners will not increase the number of intentional clicks and makes the whole conversation hard to follow.
The best practice is to reserve your complete email signature for the first email in a thread and use its simple variant in subsequent messages.
The next way to break the email signature etiquette is far from being obvious but it happens a lot. Consider this:
Email signatures are made of HTML. Websites are made of HTML. Since both use the same language, you should be able to create email signatures the same way you construct a website, right? While there is certain logic behind this, it is far from truth for more than one reason.
Nowadays, most Internet browsers display HTML code in fairly similar fashion. Things weren’t always like that. Before Internet Explorer (IE) was discontinued, it was the web developers’ nemesis. Things that worked everywhere else, failed to work on IE, and you needed a special kind of patience to find out why and how to fix it without breaking websites on all other browsers… Now think that almost every email client has a different way of understanding HTML. Almost every email client is like IE, one way or another.
On top of that, when sending emails, you need to remember about mechanisms that prevent spam from getting to inboxes.
OK, that’s a lot of theory. What exactly does it have to do with email signature etiquette?
If you try to design a perfect, responsive email signature which will look different for various screen dimensions, it probably won’t work. If you try to format a signature with JavaScript, it will probably end up in quarantine. Signatures need a very specific kind of HTML code if you want them to work well.
Use well-designed email signature templates from the template library, or create your email signature with the free generator. And if you want to design it from scratch, check out the following article:
See some designer’s tips to creating good HTML code for email signatures
Finally, test your email signatures, before you set them up for good.
In the light of previous point, you might be tempted to simply screenshot the signature once it looks OK and then paste the image into your email signature settings. An image should look identical regardless of an email client. True, but such an approach renders the signature almost completely useless at the same time. Here’s why:
Just don’t do it. It’s worth to put an extra effort, especially when you can use some good email signature designs to help you get started.
Following those best practices requires some effort but, overall, is possible and well worth it. At least for a single person. But think in terms of a whole company.
Ensuring each and every email signature complies with the etiquette and has the same brand identity is an extremely time-consuming task which usually ends up with the IT setting signatures for everyone.
That’s why we’ve come up with tools that let you manage email signatures across the whole company. Thanks to them:
We have just entered a new decade and the changes in the business landscape it brought about affect the way we design and present our products and services. Of course, it doesn’t mean that you must reinvent your entire brand’s visual identity immediately. However, it is a perfect time to adapt it to the times we live in. One of the things you may wish to change are your email signatures. That is why we have prepared some examples of best email signatures for 2020 to get you inspired. Let’s see what signature templates will be trendy this year!
Are short email signatures, sometimes called email signature lines, a good choice if you care about branding in your everyday email communication? In this article, I’ll try to explain why, how and when it’s better to use a compact email signature layout instead of a sophisticated, complex signature template.
Is there really anything special about email signatures for lawyers or attorneys? Actually, there is. Email signatures are like your digital business cards, only they tend to last longer than their paper equivalents. Lawyers send a considerable number of emails all the time and if their signature isn’t perfect, their reputation is at stake. If you want to learn how to design a good email signature for an attorney or see a sample lawyer’s email disclaimer, read on.
For some people, animated gifs are the essence of the Internet – before them, there was nothing of interest. Gifs have opened our eyes to the magic of ultra-cute, animated kittens, memes and epic fails, to mention a few. But apart from those highly popular and reusable gifs, there is another type of gifs – simple animations which in the business world could be deemed as professional.
How about pasting them into email signatures then? Thanks to our atavistic predator instinct, nothing grabs our attention as much as a moving objects next to a static background (that is, regular email content). Animated gifs seem like they are crafted for this purpose exactly. Be careful though, as the line between “attention-grabbing” and “extremely annoying” is finer than you might think.
