Free tool · Paperwork
Email signature generator
A signature that actually renders — table layout, inline styles, system fonts, no remote images. Ugly to write and the only thing that works everywhere. Copy the rendered version straight into Gmail, or take the raw HTML for Outlook.
Becomes a tap-to-call link on a phone.
Optional. One line.
Optional, and short. A long one reads as clutter on every message you send.
Optional. Leave both button fields blank for no button.
Preview
| Your Name |
Use the first button for Gmail, Outlook on the web, and Apple Mail — it copies the rendered signature, which is what those settings panels expect. Use the raw HTML for Outlook desktop and anything that asks for a signature file.
Why there is no logo option
An image in a signature has to be hosted somewhere and loaded remotely. Most mail clients block remote images by default, so the recipient sees a broken box instead of your logo, and the request that fetches it is one of the signals used to sort mail into promotions. A text signature always renders. If you want the logo badly enough to accept that trade, add it in your mail client afterwards — but we would rather not ship you a default that breaks for half your recipients.
What this cannot tell you
Email rendering is genuinely unpredictable and no signature is bulletproof. This uses table layout, inline styles and system fonts, which is the most compatible combination available — but Outlook for Windows renders through Word, dark mode inverts colours unevenly across clients, and some corporate mail servers strip styling entirely. Send yourself one to each account you care about before you rely on it. Also worth saying: a four-line signature outperforms a ten-line one on every message you send for the rest of your life. Resist the temptation to add everything.
The link reopens this page with your exact result already filled in.
The link in your signature needs somewhere to go.
If you are currently linking to a Facebook page, a real site with your services and a quote form converts the same click far better.
The short answer: Email clients render HTML from about 2003. Flexbox, grid, web fonts, background images and external stylesheets all fail somewhere important — Outlook for Windows renders through Word, which is the constraint everything else bends around. A signature that survives is built from a plain table with inline styles and system fonts, which is what this generates. It also deliberately has no logo option: a remote image is blocked by default in most clients, shows as a broken box, and the request that fetches it is one of the signals used to sort mail into promotions. A four-line text signature always renders.
This runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type here is sent to us or to anyone else — there is no server call, no account, and no email required to see your result or take it away with you. The signature is assembled in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
How to build and install your signature
Fill it in, copy the rendered version, paste it into your mail client's settings.
- Fill in your name, role, business and the ways you want to be contacted.
- Add an address or service area only if it earns its place — every extra line appears on every message forever.
- Add a button only if there is one action you genuinely want people to take.
- Pick a layout and an accent colour, and watch the preview.
- Use Copy the signature for Gmail, Outlook on the web and Apple Mail — it copies the rendered version, which is what those settings panels expect.
- Use Copy the raw HTML for Outlook desktop or anything asking for a signature file.
- Send yourself a test to every account you care about before relying on it.
Copying the rendered signature and copying the HTML are different operations. Pasting HTML source into Gmail's signature box gives you visible tags, which is the most common thing that goes wrong here.
Why the code looks like it is from 2003
Because Outlook for Windows renders email through Microsoft Word.
Modern web layout is not available to you in email. Outlook for Windows uses the Word rendering engine, which has no support for flexbox or grid, unreliable support for float, and its own ideas about spacing. Gmail strips style blocks. Several clients ignore external stylesheets entirely.
What survives all of them is a table with inline styles on every element, using fonts that exist on the recipient's machine. It is the lowest common denominator and it is genuinely the right answer — a signature that looks slightly plainer everywhere beats one that looks beautiful in your client and broken in a third of your recipients'.
This is also why the generator uses a system font stack rather than a web font. A web font in a signature either fails to load and falls back unpredictably, or loads and marks the message as one that fetched a remote resource. Neither is worth the typography.
Why there is no logo option
A deliberate omission, and the reasoning is worth having.
An image in a signature has to be hosted somewhere and fetched when the message is opened. Most mail clients block remote images by default until the recipient clicks to allow them, which means your carefully placed logo shows as a broken placeholder box — arguably worse than no logo at all.
There is a second cost. Remote image requests are one of the signals used to distinguish personal mail from bulk marketing, because tracking pixels work the same way. A signature that fetches an image on every send is a small, permanent nudge in the direction of the promotions tab.
And there is a maintenance cost people discover years later: if the image host goes away, every email you have ever sent now displays a broken image. That is a long tail of small embarrassment for a logo most recipients never saw.
If you want the logo badly enough to accept those trade-offs, add it in your mail client after pasting this in — the option exists and we are not hiding it. We would simply rather not ship a default that breaks for a substantial share of your recipients.
What earns its place, and what does not
Every line appears on every message you send for the rest of your life.
- Your name and how to reach you. Non-negotiable. Phone and email at minimum. On a phone, the number becomes tap-to-call, which is the single most useful thing a signature does.
- Your business and your website. The website link is the quiet workhorse — it is free traffic from every email you send, to people who already know you.
- One credential, if you have a strong one. Licensed and insured, a certification number, a trade body membership. One. A stack of five reads as insecurity.
- A service area, if it is short. Useful for trades whose customers wonder whether they travel. Cut it if it runs past one line.
- Not a quote, a disclaimer, or five social icons. The confidentiality notice on a plumber's email persuades nobody and is legally close to meaningless. Inspirational quotes and a row of platform logos are noise on every message you will ever send.
The test worth applying to each line: would you say this out loud at the end of every phone call? If not, it probably does not belong at the end of every email either.
Getting it into your mail client
The step where the two copy buttons matter.
Gmail, Outlook on the web and Apple Mail all expect you to paste a rendered signature into a rich-text box. Use the first button, which copies the signature as it appears rather than as code. Pasting HTML source into those boxes is the most common thing that goes wrong, and it produces visible angle brackets in every email you send.
Outlook for Windows desktop is different: it stores signatures as HTML files, and some versions let you paste HTML directly into a signature editor. Use the raw HTML button there.
Mobile clients are their own problem. The iOS and Android Gmail apps do not sync your desktop signature and generally cannot handle rich HTML at all. The pragmatic approach is a plain-text version on mobile — your name, business, number and website on four lines — rather than fighting it.
Then send yourself a test, to each account you actually care about. Look at it in dark mode too: several clients invert colours unevenly, and a signature that looks good on white can become unreadable.
FAQ
Questions, answered
The things owners ask before they trust a number like this.
What should a small business email signature include?
Your name, your role, your business name, a phone number, an email address and your website. Optionally one credential — licensed and insured, or a certification — and a short service area if customers wonder whether you travel. That is four or five lines. Every additional line appears on every message you send for the rest of your working life, which is a good reason to be ruthless.
Why does my email signature look broken in Outlook?
Because Outlook for Windows renders email through the Microsoft Word engine, which has no support for flexbox or grid and its own approach to spacing. Signatures built with modern CSS layout fall apart there. The fix is a table-based layout with inline styles on every element and system fonts, which is what this generator produces — plainer everywhere, broken nowhere.
Should I put my logo in my email signature?
Probably not. Remote images are blocked by default in most mail clients, so the logo shows as a broken box until the recipient clicks to allow images. The fetch is also one of the signals used to sort mail into promotions. And if the image host ever disappears, every email you have ever sent displays a broken image. A clean text signature always renders. If you want the logo anyway, add it in your mail client after pasting this in.
How do I add an HTML signature to Gmail?
Use the Copy the signature button here, which copies the rendered version rather than the code. Then open Gmail settings, scroll to Signature, create one, and paste into the box. Pasting raw HTML there gives you visible angle brackets in every email, which is the commonest mistake. Gmail's mobile apps do not sync this signature — set a short plain-text one separately on your phone.
How long should an email signature be?
Four to six lines. It appears on every message you send, including one-word replies, and a ten-line signature under a two-word answer looks absurd. The useful test: would you say this out loud at the end of every phone call? Your name and number, yes. A confidentiality notice and an inspirational quote, no.
Do email disclaimers do anything?
For most small businesses, effectively nothing. The standard confidentiality notice — that if you received this in error you must delete it — is not a contract, is not agreed to by the recipient, and is close to unenforceable. Some regulated professions genuinely are required to include specific text, and if you are in one, your professional body will have told you. Otherwise it is several lines of noise on every message.
Should my signature link to my social media?
Only where a platform is genuinely part of how you do business. A photographer's portfolio account, yes. A row of five platform icons where three are abandoned, no — it invites people to look at accounts you have not updated in two years, which reads worse than not having them. Where you do include one, plain text links are safer than icons, because icons are images and images get blocked.
Will this signature work on mobile?
The HTML renders correctly on mobile clients that support it, and the table layout is narrow enough not to force horizontal scrolling. What you cannot do is sync it: the iOS and Android Gmail apps do not pick up your desktop signature and generally cannot handle rich HTML. The pragmatic answer is a plain-text version on your phone with your name, business, number and website, and the full one on desktop.
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Related
Where to go next
The reading that turns this result into a decision.
The link in your signature needs somewhere worth going.
If it currently points at a Facebook page, a real site with your services and a quote form converts the same click far better. Free to build and publish.