Home » Outlook » Troubleshoot the Outlook Signature Not Working Issue

Outlook gives its users a signature functionality wherein they can add signatures below their mail. Adding a signature below your mail certainly makes it look more professional. However, this feature regularly runs into errors. Users often find Outlook signature not working. The problem is common in various Outlook versions such as Outlook 2013, 2016, 2019, and even Microsoft 365 apps. Often, it happens when the user has a Microsoft Office Desktop app along with another version of Office on their system. There are various causes behind this problem. In this article, you’ll find out what might be causing this error and ways to fix it.

Why Is Outlook Signature Not Working?

Before starting the troubleshooting process, you might benefit from knowing about the reasons. Listed below are some major causes of the signature feature malfunctioning in Outlook.

• The new update of Office has a bug in the code.
• The OWA policy is blocking the feature to sign in to your email.
• Your signature is in an HTML format, which is why the receiver cannot see it.
• There is a problem with your Office application, which needs to be repaired.

Fixing Outlook Insert Signature Not Working

After knowing about the reasons, you can try out these effective fixes. They will help you insert your signature in your Outlook email quickly.

If you want to know more about how to add a custom signature in Outlook you can read this post.

Uninstall the previously installed Office Apps.

Often, users find that their Outlook closes or hangs when they select the ‘Signatures’ button. It hinders them from adding the signature. This problem is likely to happen if you’ve installed an Office app on a system with preinstalled Office desktop apps. The workaround is to uninstall these preinstalled desktop apps.

1. Choose ‘Settings’ by right-tapping the Windows Start button.
2. Select ‘Apps’ followed by ‘Apps and Features.’
3. Choose the ‘Microsoft Office Desktop Apps’ option.
4. Now tap ‘Uninstall.’
5. Start your system again.
6. Now perform a repair of Office to ensure that it works smoothly.

Repair Office 365

As mentioned previously, you need to repair Outlook to fully eliminate the Outlook signature not working problem. Use these guidelines to run a repair via the built-in repair utility in Windows.

1. Go to ‘Control Panel’ by inputing its name on the search bar and hitting enter.
2. Head to ‘Programs’ and then tap ‘Programs and Features.’
3. Tap ‘MS Office 365’ and choose ‘Change.’
4. In the dialog box that displays, choose the ‘Quick Repair’ option.
5. Now tap ‘Repair.’

Use the Outlook Web App to insert signatures.

You can use the Outlook Web App when you can’t add signatures through the installed Outlook app. Use these instructions when you find the insert signature not working Outlook issue.

1. Head to the Outlook web server.
2. Once there, sign into your account.
3. From the top-right part, choose ‘Settings.’
4. Tap the option ‘View all Outlook settings’ followed by ‘Compose and Reply.’
5. Click ‘+ New Signatures.’
6. Now, input your signature name.
7. After doing that, go down and choose the default signatures for new emails and replies.
8. Save the changes you’ve made by tapping the button for it.
9. Now hit ‘Send’ on your email.
10. You will see your signature at the end of the message.

Disable the NTFS compression

It is yet another good technique to implement when you find Outlook not adding signature. You can check if you have disabled NTFS compression on the directory.

1. Examine if the NTFS compression is turned off on the ‘%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Signatures’ directory.
2. If the signature button is greyed out, ensure that your system administrator has not switched on the policy ‘Do not allow signatures for email messages.’
3. You must look at it under the following GPO section, ‘Microsoft Outlook 2016>Outlook Options>Mail Format.’

Modify the HTML signature into plain text

If you have a device with an Exchange Service before MS Exchange Service 2007, it can only read plain text. So, you must change the HTML format to plain text. Follow these steps to modify the format when you encounter Outlook signature formatting issues.

1. Use a browser to open your Outlook account.
2. Now, hit ‘Settings.’
3. After that, choose the option ‘View All Outlook Settings.’
4. Go below the ‘Mail’ option.
5. Here, click ‘Compose and Reply.’
6. Tap on your signature.
7. Go to ‘Message Format.’
8. Tap on HTML.
9. A drop down menu will appear. Here, select ‘Plain Text.’
10. Tap ‘Save’ after that.

Switch to HTML format

This method is for those who find images not being shown in their Outlook signature. Image does not appear in signatures with a rich or plain text format. So, you need to switch to HTML to allow images to appear.

1. Head to Outlook and choose ‘File.’
2. Now choose ‘Options.’
3. Follow it up by tapping on ‘Mail.’
4. Now modify ‘Rich Text or Plain Text’ to ‘HTML below Compose Messages.
5. Lastly, click ‘OK.’
6. Now the format of your signature is changed to HTML. You’ll be able to view the image signature.

Some Other Outlook Signature Problems in Office 365

Many people face other issues also when it comes to MS Office 365 signatures. Given below are some of the common complaints and their resolutions.

If you want to how to add a signature in Yahoo Mail you can read this post.

Images showing as attachments in Outlook 365 signature

The disclaimer function of Office 365 doesn’t allow you to embed company logos and social media symbols. It cannot identify them as distinct elements. Users generally see a square with a red cross on it. Sometimes, they find that an attachment instead of their company image is added to the message.

You can resolve this problem by hosting your email signature images online. It can be done by using either the web server or by using a hosting website such as Flickr. After you host the images, you will receive a URL. Copy this into the HTML code of your Outlook signature.

Cannot edit Office 365 signature

Many people face problems while updating email signature in Outlook. You may find that the signature button is missing below the layout menu. It happens due to the OWA policy obstructing this functionality. Fix it by following these points.

1. Go to ‘Exchange admin center.’
2. Next, head to the ‘Permissions’ area.
3. Now, choose the ‘Outlook Web App Policies’ section in the menu.
4. Select the policy in action and edit it.
5. Tap on ‘More Options’ in the ‘Features’ tab.
6. Now, go below the ‘User Experience’ section.
7. Here, choose a checkbox of ‘Email Signature.’

Outlook signature not showing while you write an email.

You may certainly be pleasantly surprised to know that this is not actually a problem. Keep in mind that signatures are only inserted after you send an email. It implies that you cannot view your signature in your email inbox.

The signature images aren’t clear.

Sometimes, you may find the images in your Outlook signature quite blurry or unclear. In this case, there are some things that you should check.

1. Check whether the photo is of high resolution. High-resolution images look clear and crisp, especially on mobile devices.
2. Examine your display scaling. Ensure that it is configured to 100 percent and that your images are configured to 96 DPI.
3. For Apple Mail, the images should be set to 72 DPI.

Final Thoughts

Use these measures whenever you notice the Outlook signature not working. These will come in handy no matter the kind of signature issue you encounter. If you require additional troubleshooting guidance, contact expert email technical support experts. The professionals will fix the technical glitch speedily for you.