Your email signature — that text you choose to use as your name and sign-off at the end of a message — is an important part of your personal digital branding. It provides the email recipient with vital information about you, like your job title and further contact information, or whatever else you choose to include.
With the Gmail email system in particular, you can create multiple email signatures, like one for your work messages and one for your personal emails, and choose when they appear at the footer of each message.
We're taking a look at how to set up, change, and use different Gmail signatures via a browser and on your mobile devices.
Accessing your Gmail signature settings
To find your Gmail signature settings through a desktop browser, once you're in Gmail, click on the cog-shaped icon at the top right of your screen. Then click on "See all settings" in the pop-up window that appears.
Once in settings, stay in the default "General" tab that will open. Scroll down until you see the signature settings section.
If you haven't previously set up a Gmail signature, you'll see a "Create new" box.
Creating a new Gmail signature
Click on the "Create new" box, and you'll generate a pop-up window that asks you to give your new signature a name. (The name can be anything you want to call it; no one besides you will ever see it.)
Once you've done that, you'll see a new box appear in the signature section of your settings page.
This is the box you're going to create your signature in. Simply click in the box and add whatever text you'd like to appear as your signature.
You can choose to change the size of the text by clicking on the two "Ts" icon along the bottom of the compose box. You can change the font by clicking on the font option, and you can change all or parts of your signature to bold or italic using the edit tools.
You can put up to 10,000 characters in your signature. (A standard typed A4 page is around 2,000 characters, so it's unlikely you'll need to use that many.)
Adding a weblink into your Gmail signature
Chances are, you'll want to add clickable weblinks into your Gmail signature, whether they’re to the company you work for or links to your social media profiles or personal website. This is simple. Land where you want the hyperlink to appear, then click the paperclip-shaped link icon on the bottom of the box.
A pop-up window will appear in which you can enter the link address and the text you want to anchor that link to. You can add as many links as you like, as long as you don't go over the character limit.
Adding an image to your Gmail signature
If you'd like to insert an image, such as a logo, to appear in your Gmail signature, simply click the "Insert image" icon.
A pop-up window will allow you to choose an image from your Google Drive, a web address, or see the option to upload a file from your computer. You can add as many images as you need to.
Changing your Gmail signature default settings
In order for your signature to be automatically generated when you compose a new email, you need to ensure the settings are set to do this. Below the signature compose box, you'll see your "Signature defaults" options.
If you use the drop-down menu for the "For new emails use," you'll see your newly created signature appear on the list. Click on it to select it. You can also choose to add your signature to emails you reply to or forward in the same way.
Now, it's crucial you scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "Save changes."
Changing your Gmail signature
To make any changes to your Gmail signature, you just need to head back into settings and carry out the required edits. Don't forget to hit up "Save changes" at the bottom of the page when you've done so.
Adding multiple Gmail signatures
You can add different Gmail signatures. Go to the signature settings section and click on the "Create new" option. Add the new signature the same way as your first one.
Now you'll see the different signature options appear in a list. You can change which one is used as the default signature by clicking on the drop-down menu.
Switching between signatures when composing an email
It's possible to swap out your default signature for an alternative signature while you're composing an email. Simply click on the pen-shaped signature icon at the bottom of your compose window.
This now gives you the choice to switch to a different signature.
How to add a signature in the Gmail app on iOS devices
You can add a signature to any emails you send from the Gmail app on iPhone and iPad. In the app, tap on the three lines menu at the top left of your screen. Scroll down to see the "Settings" option and tap that.
Click on your Gmail account at the top of your screen. Within the next settings menu that appears click on "Signature settings."
Now toggle "Mobile signature" to on and compose what you'd like to appear in the text box below.
You can edit your mobile signature or turn it off by following the same process.
How to add a signature in the Gmail app on Android devices
It's also straightforward to add a signature in the Android version of the Gmail app. From within the app, tap the three lines menu. Scroll to the bottom and tap on "Settings." Select your Google account, then tap "Mobile Signature." Add the text and hit "OK."
There you go, you're properly signed off.
