How to change your email signature in Gmail
It's buried three levels into Settings, which is why you're here. Four steps below, or build one first and come back.
This is an approximation. Email clients render differently - Outlook especially - so expect small differences in spacing. If you paste into a text editor or a code window, you'll get plain text - that's normal. The formatting only survives if you paste somewhere that accepts it, like your email client's signature field.
Nothing you type is uploaded to our server or saved - the tool runs in your browser only.
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Gmail's signature setting lives in its own settings menu, not in the compose window.
- 1.Open Settings (the gear icon, top right), then click "See all settings."
- 2.On the General tab, scroll to the Signature section and click "Create new."
- 3.Paste your signature into the editor, or type it directly.
- 4.Scroll down and click "Save Changes."
Things worth knowing about Gmail signatures
You can have more than one, and assign them separately. Gmail lets you create multiple signatures and choose which appears on new emails versus replies and forwards. That's the cleanest way to run a full signature on first contact and a short one on the back-and-forth.
There's a setting for where it sits on replies. By default Gmail places your signature below the quoted conversation, which means on a long thread it ends up buried at the bottom of the page. The option to move it above the quoted text is in the same settings area, and it's worth changing.
The mobile app has its own signature. Setting one on the web doesn't set it on your phone, and the Gmail app's version is plain text only. If you want them to match, use the plain text version on mobile.
Multiple addresses each get their own. If you send from aliases or connected accounts, each one can carry a different signature.
Frequently asked questions
- Why does my signature look different in Gmail than in the preview here?
- Every email client renders HTML slightly differently, so a browser preview can only be an approximation. Gmail is one of the closer ones: spacing may shift a little, but layout and styling should carry over.
- My signature lost its formatting when I pasted it.
- You most likely used the HTML option rather than "Copy signature," or pasted via a plain-text step in between. Use "Copy signature" and paste directly into Gmail's signature box.
- Can I have different signatures for new emails and replies?
- Yes. Gmail lets you create multiple signatures and assign one to new messages and another to replies and forwards, which is useful if you want something shorter on replies.
- My image isn't showing.
- The image URL needs to be publicly accessible. If it's on Google Drive, a standard share link won't work. It has to be a direct link to the image file itself.