About signatures in messages

An e-mail signature consists of text and/or pictures that are automatically added to the end of an outgoing e-mail message. You can create custom signatures for different types of audiences. For example, use your first name for messages to friends and family, or your full name and e-mail address for messages to business contacts. You can also use a signature to add "boilerplate" text, such as an explanation of how you want others to respond to your messages. You can have a different signature for each e-mail account.

While you can create signatures in Microsoft Outlook, there are advantages to creating them in Microsoft Word. For example, in Word, you can easily insert pictures and hyperlinks into the signature. (If you need to insert an electronic business card, commonly referred to as a vCard, you must do that in Outlook.)

When you use Word to create a signature, the signature will be available from Outlook and vice versa. Changes you make to the signature will appear whether you use Word or Outlook as your e-mail editor.

Create an official UT-HSC signature

You should have downloaded the HTML file containing the HTML template (outlookSig-UT-HSC.html; right click on that link and SAVE TARGET AS...) to your computer first! Please make sure to save that HTML file to an easy-to-access location on your computer (preferrably your Desktop). You do not need to open this file, but Outlook will ask for this file and you will need to refer Outlook to it. Let's get started:

1. From the main Microsoft Outlook window, on the Tools menu, click Options , and then click the Mail Format tab.
2. In the Compose in this message format list, click on the dropdown list and choose HTML as the selected format.
3. Under Signature , click Signatures , and then click New.
4. In the Enter a name for your new signature box, enter a name.
   
5. Under Choose how to create your signature , select the Use this file as a template option.
6. Click Browse.
7. A dialog box will open asking you for the File to use as a template. Locate the HTML file from the email. If you followed the steps above, this should be on your Desktop.
8. Once you locate the file, click on the file and click the Select button to open this file.
9. You will be returned to the Create New Signature box. The Use this file as a template radio button should now be checked and the textfield should be populated with the path to your HTML file.
   
10. Click Next.
11. You will now see the signature template in the Edit Signature dialog box.
12. Scroll down until you see the text Your Name. You can double-click on Your Name to highlight both words.
    
13. Type your name on the highlighted text Your Name.
14. Repeat steps 12 & 13 to edit Your Title, your email & your phone numbers.
15. When editing your email, make sure to completely highlight the email address and TYPE in your new address completely. Outlook will attempt to automatically update your email address in the source code controlling your emails. This step is important to make sure Outlook gets the address correct, so when someone clicks on your signature's email address, the return address will be entered correctly. There is a step listed later to check to make sure the correct email is in the source code.
16. When you have finished making all of the changes, click Finish.
17. You will now see your new signature highlighted in the Create Signature dialog box. Click OK.
    
18. At the Options dialog box, click on the dropdown box for Signature for new messages:. Select the signature you just created for new messages. If you want to use the same, none or a different signature for reply and forwarded emails, select those from the next dropdown.
    
19. Click OK when you have made all of your selections.
20. Click Ctrl-N to create a new email message with your new signature. You may notice issues with spacing or with lines missing. This is due to having Word vs. Outlook as your default email editor.
21. Please send a message to yourself or someone you know (preferably in the office) so you can check how the email looks when someone receives it BEFORE sending this out to your customers.
22. If you want to add your IM (Instant Messenger) contact information to this card, click on the empty space after IM: and type your info.
23. To remove the IM or any of the phone number entries, highlight the line they are on and either hit Backspace or Delete on your keyboard. Make sure you completely clear the line these were on and Backspace up to the previous line.

Create, add, or remove a generic signature for messages

Do one of the following:

Create a signature

If Microsoft Word is your e-mail editor, see Word Help . Word offers the most customization options for signatures.

• From the main Microsoft Outlook window, on the Tools menu, click Options , and then click the Mail Format tab.
• In the Compose in this message format list, click the message format that you want to use the signature with.
• Under Signature , click Signatures , and then click New.
• In the Enter a name for your new signature box, enter a name.
• Under Choose how to create your signature , select the option you want.
• Click Next.
• In the Signature text box, type the text you want to include in the signature.

You can also paste text to this box from another document.

• To change the paragraph or font format, select the text, click Font or Paragraph , and then select the options you want. These options are not available if you use plain text as your message format.
• To add an electronic business card— vCard— to the signature, under vCard options , select a vCard from the list, or click New vCard from Contact.
• Click Finish when you are done editing the new signature.

Add or remove signatures

Once you've created a signature, you can insert it in all new messages, in all messages you reply to or forward, or just in a specific message. You can also have different signatures for each e-mail account.

Do one of the following:

Automatically insert a signature in all new messages, or in all messages you reply to or forward

• From the main Microsoft Outlook window, on the Tools menu, click Options , and then click the Mail Format tab.
• In the Compose in this message format list, click the message format that you want to use the signature with.
• Under Signature , select an e-mail account, and then choose the signatures that you want to use for new messages and for replies and forwards.

Manually insert a signature in an individual message

This feature is only available when using Microsoft Outlook as your e-mail editor.

• Create or open the message.
• In the message body, click where you want to insert the signature.
• On the Insert menu, point to Signature , and then click the signature you want.

If the signature you want is not listed, click More , and in the Signature box, select the one you want to use.

Change a signature

If Microsoft Word is your e-mail editor, see Word Help . Word offers the most customization options for signatures.

1. From the main Microsoft Outlook window, on the Tools menu, click Options , and then click the Mail Format tab.
2. In the Compose in this message format list, click the message format that the signature is used with.
3. Under Signature , click Signatures .
4. Click the signature you want to change, and then click Edit .
5. In the Signature text box, type the text you want to include in the signature.

   You can also paste text to this box from another document.

6. To change the paragraph or font format, select the text, click Font or Paragraph , and then select the options you want. These options are not available if you use plain text as your message format.

Note   To change a signature for a single message only, make your changes directly to the signature in the message.

Insert a signature in a message

Do one of the following:

Automatically insert a signature in all new messages or in all messages that you reply to or forward

1. From the main Microsoft Outlook window, on the Tools menu, click Options , and then click the Mail Format tab.
2. In the Compose in this message format list, click the message format that you want to use the signature with.
3. Under Signatures , select an e-mail account, and then choose the signatures that you want to use for new messages and for replies and forwards. You can use a different signature for each.

Manually insert a signature in an individual message

Using Microsoft Word as your e-mail editor

1. In the open message, click where you want to insert the signature in the message body.
2. On the Insert menu, point to AutoText , point to Signature , and then click the signature that you want to use.

Notes

• When you use Word as your e-mail editor, the signature that you can manually insert is AutoText that comes from the name and information that you typed when you installed Microsoft Office. To view the information in Word, on the Tools menu, click Options , and then click User Information .
• When you use Word as your e-mail editor and you have Outlook automatically apply your signature to messages that you send, forward, or reply to, the signature comes from the e-mail signature that you created in one of the following places:
  • In Word, on the Tools menu, click Options , click General , and then click E-mail Options .
  • In Outlook, on the Tools menu, click Options , click Mail Format , and then click Signatures .

Using Microsoft Outlook as your e-mail editor

1. In the open message, click where you want to insert the signature in the message body.
2. On the Insert menu, point to Signature , and then click the signature that you want.

   If the signature that you want is not listed, click More , and in the Signature box, select the signature that you want to use.

Stop using an automatic signature

Do one of the following:

Stop using an automatic signature for all new messages or for those you reply to or forward

This procedure stops signatures for messages that use either the Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft Word e-mail editor.

1. From the main Outlook window, on the Tools menu, click Options , and then click the Mail Format tab.
2. Do one of the following:

   Stop signatures for all new messages

   1. Under Signature , select the e-mail account you want to change the signature setting for.
   2. In the Signature for new messages list, click <None>.

   Stop signatures for messages you reply to or forward

   1. Under Signature , select the e-mail account you want to change the signature setting for.
   2. In the Signature for replies and forwards list, click <None>.

Note   If Word is your e-mail editor, you can turn off signatures in Word, too. For more information, see Word Help .

Leave the automatic signature off of a new message you create

• After creating the message, select the signature, and then press DELETE.

Delete a signature from the list of those available

1. On the Tools menu, click Options , and then click the Mail Format tab.
2. Under Signature , click Signatures.
3. Select the signature you want to delete, and then click Remove.