SignguinAn email signature template is a ready-made layout you fill in with your own name, job and contact details, then paste into Gmail, Outlook or Apple Mail. Below you'll find 10 copy-and-paste plain-text templates for different jobs, 23 designed HTML templates (3 of them free), a simple HTML template you can edit by hand, and the steps to install any of them. At the end there's a short checklist to test a template before you use it, because the most common problem isn't choosing a template, it's a template that breaks in Outlook.
Looking for inspiration rather than a template to fill in? Our email signature examples show 30 finished signatures by job, with notes on why each works.
The 3 kinds of email signature templates
Every template you'll find online is one of three kinds. They look similar in a screenshot and behave very differently in an inbox.
| Kind | What it is | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plain text | Lines of text, no images or colors | Works everywhere, including phone apps and plain-text emails. Nothing to break. Fast to set up. | No logo, no colors, no clickable buttons. Looks basic next to a branded email. |
| HTML | Text, links and small hosted images laid out with code | Logo, photo, brand colors, social icons and buttons. Text stays real text: readable, copyable, tappable. | Has to be built carefully. Code from web pages or Word often breaks in classic Outlook for Windows. |
| Image-only | The whole signature is one picture (often a PNG exported from a design tool) | Looks exactly like the design, in any font. | Hidden when images are blocked. Nothing can be copied or tapped unless the image is linked. Screen readers can't read it. Can be blurry on sharp screens or huge on phones. |
Our honest take: use HTML if you want a logo or colors, and plain text if you don't. Avoid image-only signatures. Classic Outlook for Windows blocks automatic picture downloads by default (Microsoft's own setting), so an image-only signature arrives as an empty box or a "click here to download pictures" bar. Your phone number and website are gone until the reader clicks. Even when the image does show, the reader can't tap your number to call it or copy your address.
A well-built HTML template gives you the look of the image version with the reliability of text: the logo is the only image, and if it's blocked, everything else still reads.
Copy and paste email signature templates (plain text)
These 10 templates are ready to copy. Replace everything in [square brackets], delete any line you don't need, and paste into your email app's signature box. They work in Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail and every phone app.
Tip: use the same separator throughout (a vertical bar "|" works well) and keep it to four or five lines.
1. Basic professional email signature template
[Full Name]
[Job Title], [Company]
[Phone] | [Website]
The safe default for any office job. Your email address is already in the "From" line, so it's optional here.
2. Business email signature template (small business owner)
[Full Name]
Owner, [Business Name]
[Phone] | [Website]
[Street Address], [City]
Add the address only if customers visit you. A bakery needs it; an online bookkeeper doesn't.
3. Sales email signature template
[Full Name]
[Job Title], [Company]
[Mobile] | [Website]
Book a 15-min call: [your booking link]
One link to your calendar replaces three emails of "does Tuesday work?". Name the length of the call; it makes the ask feel small.
4. Real estate agent email signature template
[Full Name], [Realtor / Real Estate Agent]
[Brokerage Name] | License #[Number]
Mobile: [Mobile]
See my listings: [Website]
Mobile first, because buyers call. Check your state's rules on showing your license number and brokerage. More in our realtor email signature guide.
5. Legal email signature template (with disclaimer)
[Full Name]
[Title], [Firm Name]
T: [Phone] | E: [Email]
[Website]
This email may contain confidential or privileged information.
If you received it by mistake, please tell the sender and delete it.
Keep the disclaimer to two sentences unless your firm or regulator requires specific wording. In that case, use theirs.
6. Healthcare email signature template
[Dr. Full Name], [Credentials]
[Specialty], [Clinic Name]
Appointments: [Clinic Phone]
[Website]
Please do not use email for medical emergencies.
Give the clinic's booking number rather than your own. The last line is common practice for clinics; follow your practice's policy.
7. Freelancer or creative email signature template
[Full Name]
[What you do, e.g. Brand Designer & Illustrator]
Portfolio: [Website]
[Instagram or Behance link]
Lead with what you do, not a company name. Link to your best work, not your home page.
8. Student and job seeker email signature template
[Full Name]
[Degree / Program], [University], Class of [Year]
[LinkedIn URL] | [Portfolio URL]
For job seekers, swap the second line for the role you want: "Marketing Graduate, open to coordinator roles". Leave out your home address. More in our email signature for students guide.
9. Teacher email signature template
[Mr./Ms./Mx. Last Name]
[Grade / Subject] Teacher, [School Name]
School office: [School Phone]
[School Website]
Use the school's phone and website, not personal ones. Your school may have its own required format, so check first.
10. Trades and local service email signature template
[Full Name]
[Trade, e.g. Licensed Plumber], [Business Name]
Call or text: [Mobile]
[Website] | Serving [Area]
"Call or text" tells customers exactly what to do. "Serving [Area]" answers the first question most new customers ask.
Want these with your logo and colors? Every plain-text template above becomes a designed signature in a minute: type your work email into Signguin and it pulls your logo, brand colors and contact details from your website.
Works in Gmail, Outlook & Apple Mail
Designed HTML email signature templates (3 free)
These are the 23 designs in Signguin, grouped by what they're best for. Each preview is rendered live from the real template, with sample details. Fill them in with your own details in the generator, and the output is email-safe HTML: tables, inline styles, hosted images with fixed sizes, PNG social icons (SVG icons don't show in classic Outlook for Windows or Outlook for Mac) and buttons built from table cells, so they hold together in Outlook for Windows, Outlook on the web, Gmail, Apple Mail and on Android.
Free: Classic, Simple and Local pro, with your logo, social icons and a small "Made with Signguin" link. No sign-up, no credit card. Premium: all 23 designs, your photo, buttons and banners, no "Made with" link. A one-time payment for one person, not a subscription.
Free email signature templates
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Classic. The all-rounder. Logo on the left, your details on the right, one colored line between. If you only try one template, try this.
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Simple. Everything stacked in one column, so it reads well on narrow phone screens. Looks complete with just a name, title and email.
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Local pro. Your phone number becomes a large button that starts a call when tapped. Made for plumbers, electricians, cleaners and anyone whose customers call rather than write.
Templates for sales, real estate and team roles
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Sales. Photo, details and one button ("Book a call"), with the logo and social icons in a separate column on the right.
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Realtor. A large photo and your mobile number in big type, with the brokerage logo and address below a thin line. See our realtor email signature guide for what to include.
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Split. Two panels: you on the left in your brand color, your details on the right. Bold, and easy to remember.
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Badge. Modern and compact, with contacts in a two-column grid. Works with or without a photo.
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Corporate. A grey bar at the bottom holds the company information (address, social links), with room for a promotional banner below.
Jane Cooper Owner, Cooper Plumbing |
Minimal. No images at all. A bold name, one muted line, contacts on one row. The HTML version of a plain-text signature.
Templates for law, finance and healthcare
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Counsel. Serif type, the firm name in spaced capitals and small "T / E / W" labels instead of icons. Pairs well with a short disclaimer.
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Advisor. A thin bar of brand color on top, photo and logo in one row, contacts in two neat lines.
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Editorial. A big serif name with a short colored rule underneath, like a magazine byline.
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Care. Clinic name and phone up front, with an appointment button and the clinic logo in its own column.
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Glow. Soft tints of your brand color and round icons. Calm and friendly.
Templates for creatives, shops and hospitality
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Bold. Your name in a solid block of brand color. Best with one strong color.
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Studio. A thin vertical accent bar and a large name. Clean, with a portfolio feel.
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Bloom. A script font for the name, a flower ornament and a soft tinted card.
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Atelier. Centered and airy, with your name in widely spaced capitals.
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Bistro. A warm card that feels like a menu, with your address first and room for a "Reserve a table" button.
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Heritage. A double frame and classic serif type for businesses that sell tradition.
Templates for trades, tech and students
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Site crew. A bold condensed name, your phone number in a band of color and a striped bar like site tape.
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Terminal. A dark card styled like a code editor. For readers who will get the joke.
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Graduate. Puts your program and a portfolio link front and center.
HTML email signature template (edit by hand)
If you'd rather write the code yourself, here is a basic HTML email signature template that follows the rules Outlook needs: a table for layout, every style inline, a web-safe font, and an image with a fixed width and height loaded from a web address.
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;color:#333333;">
<tr>
<td valign="middle" style="padding-right:16px;border-right:2px solid #1a73e8;">
<img src="https://YOUR-WEBSITE.com/logo.png" width="120" height="40" alt="[Company Name]" style="display:block;border:0;">
</td>
<td valign="middle" style="padding-left:16px;">
<span style="font-size:16px;font-weight:bold;color:#111111;">[Full Name]</span><br>
[Job Title], [Company]<br>
<a href="tel:+15550100" style="color:#333333;text-decoration:none;">[Phone]</a><br>
<a href="https://[your-website.com]" style="color:#1a73e8;text-decoration:none;">[your-website.com]</a>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
How to use it:
- Replace the bracketed text, the logo address and the color (#1a73e8). The logo must be uploaded somewhere public (your website works). An image on your computer can't be shown to anyone else.
- Set
widthandheightto the size you want the logo to appear, keeping its proportions. Without them, some versions of Outlook show the image at its full size. - Save the file as
signature.htmland open it in your browser. - Select everything on the page, copy, and paste into your email app's signature editor. Gmail and Outlook's signature boxes don't accept raw code, so you paste the rendered version, not the HTML.
This is the bare minimum. Social icons, a photo and a button need more code (buttons in particular need a table-cell technique to look right in Outlook). That's the part a generator does for you.
How to use a template in Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail
The steps are the same for any template: copy the finished signature, open your email app's signature settings, paste, save, and choose when it's added. Menu names below are taken from Google, Microsoft and Apple's own help pages as of October 2026.
Gmail (on the web). Click Settings (the gear icon, top right), then See all settings. In the Signature section, add a new signature, paste your template into the box, and choose it as the default for new emails and replies. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page. Gmail allows up to 10,000 characters, and images count toward that limit. With Signguin you can also skip copy and paste: connect Gmail once and the signature is installed for you. Full steps: how to change your Gmail signature.
New Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web. Go to Settings > Accounts > Signatures. Add a new signature, give it a name, paste, then tick whether it's added to new messages and to replies and forwards. Click Save.
Classic Outlook for Windows. Go to File > Options > Mail > Signatures (or, in a new message, Message > Signature > Signatures). Click New, name it, paste into the edit box, then under "Choose default signature" pick it for New messages and Replies/forwards. Click OK.
Outlook for Mac. On the Outlook menu, select Settings, then Signatures. Add a new signature, paste, and set it for new messages and for replies or forwards.
Full Outlook steps for every version: how to add a signature in Outlook.
Apple Mail on Mac. Go to Mail > Settings, then click Signatures. Select your account in the left column, click the add button below the middle column, name the signature, and paste it into the right column.
On your phone. Phone apps keep their own signature settings, and most of them handle plain text better than designed signatures. In the Gmail app, if you don't create a separate mobile signature, mail sent from the app uses the signature you set up on your computer. See iPhone email signature and Outlook mobile signature.
One thing Microsoft notes: signatures saved only "on this device" may not be available when you use Outlook on another computer. If you use Outlook in more than one place, check that your signature shows up on each.
Why Word and Canva templates break in Outlook
Two of the most common places people get templates are a Word document and a design tool like Canva. Both are built for something other than email, and that's where the trouble starts.
Word templates. Microsoft's own method is to find a signature template in Word's template gallery, customize it, copy it and paste it into Outlook's signature editor. Within classic Outlook, that often works, because classic Outlook for Windows uses Word's engine to display email. The trouble begins when the email is opened somewhere else. Pasted Word content brings along Word-specific formatting, and pictures pasted in this way can travel as attachments rather than as linked images. The result: the signature that looked right in your Outlook arrives in Gmail or on an iPhone with odd spacing, a different font, or a logo that shows up as an attachment.
Canva and other design tools. These are made for images. If you export your design as a PNG and insert it into your signature, you have an image-only signature, with every problem from the table above: blocked by default in classic Outlook, nothing tappable, nothing readable by screen readers. Our Canva email signature guide shows how to keep the design and still have real text.
HTML copied from a website or a web page builder. Web pages use layout tools (flexible boxes, background images, web fonts, SVG icons) that many email apps ignore. Classic Outlook for Windows ignores most of them. The signature looks perfect in your browser and falls apart in the inbox.
A template built for email avoids all three: a table for layout, styles written inline on each element, hosted images with fixed sizes, PNG icons and fonts that are already installed on most devices.
How to check a template before you use it
Don't trust the preview. Send yourself a test, and check these before you send a signature to clients. This takes about five minutes and catches nearly every problem.
- Send a test email to a Gmail address and open it on the web. Is the layout intact? Is the logo there and the right size?
- Open the same email in Outlook for Windows (classic, if anyone you email uses it). Look for extra spacing, a wrong font or a logo shown as an attachment.
- Open it on your phone. Is anything cut off on the right? Can you tap the phone number to call it and the website to open it?
- Turn on dark mode on your phone or in your email app and open it again. Does your logo disappear into a dark background? Is the text still readable?
- Reply to the test email. Does the signature appear in the reply, above the quoted text, not below a long thread?
- Forward it. Do images still load, or do they turn into attachments?
- Click every link. Website, social icons, booking button. One dead link undoes the rest.
- Check for typos in your phone number. It sounds obvious. It's also the most common error we see.
If something fails, the fix is almost always in how the template was built, not in your email app settings. If your signature doesn't appear at all, see Outlook signature not showing.
Signguin shows every design in a realistic email preview with phone/desktop and light/dark toggles before you install, so you can catch most of these before the first send. Still send yourself one test; nothing beats the real inbox.
Works in Gmail, Outlook & Apple Mail
What to put in any template
Whichever template you pick, fill it in the same way:
- Name as you want to be addressed.
- Job title and company. Skip internal titles nobody outside understands.
- One phone number, with the country code if you work across borders (+1 555 0100).
- Website without "https://" in the visible text.
- Optional: logo (about 120 to 150 pixels wide), photo (about 80 to 100 pixels), up to three social icons, one button, a short legal note.
For sizes in detail, see email signature size. For what to leave out, see professional email signature.
FAQ
Are these email signature templates really free?
Yes. The 10 plain-text templates and the HTML template are free to copy and use however you like. Of the designed templates, Classic, Simple and Local pro are free in Signguin with no sign-up and no credit card, with a small "Made with Signguin" link at the bottom. The other designs, photos and buttons are part of Premium, a one-time payment for one person.
Which email signature template works best in Outlook?
One built with tables and inline styles, with images loaded from a web address at a fixed size and a web-safe font such as Arial or Georgia. Classic Outlook for Windows uses Word's engine to display email and ignores much of modern web layout, so templates made from web code or Word documents often break. Always send yourself a test before you use one.
Can I use the same template in Gmail and Outlook?
Yes, if it's an HTML template built for email. Copy the finished signature and paste it into each app's signature settings. You'll need to set it up separately in each app and on each phone, since they keep their own signature settings. Gmail also has a 10,000-character limit, which well-built signatures stay far below.
What is an HTML email signature?
A signature written in the same code as web pages, so it can show a logo, colors, links and buttons. The difference from web pages is that it has to follow stricter rules: tables for layout, styles inline, images hosted online with fixed sizes, and no SVG icons or web fonts. Email apps don't let you paste the code itself, so you copy the rendered signature into your app.
Should I use an image as my email signature?
No. An image-only signature disappears when the reader's email app blocks images (classic Outlook does this by default), and nobody can tap your phone number or copy your address. Use real text with a small logo image instead. If your design was made in a graphics tool, recreate the text part as real text and keep only the logo as an image.
Where can I find more email signature ideas?
Our email signature examples page shows 30 finished signatures by job (sales, real estate, legal, healthcare, trades, students and more), with notes on what makes each one work. If you want to compare tools that make signatures, see our best email signature generators comparison.