Gmail signatures are how I get my contact info into every email without typing it. Mine has my name, role, website, and a small image. Setting it up takes about 2 minutes once you know where the option lives.
The desktop and mobile setups are different. I'll cover both plus a few tricks for advanced signatures.
Set up a signature on desktop
Open Gmail in your browser. Click the gear icon in the top right, then pick See all settings. Scroll down the General tab until you find the Signature section. Click Create new, name your signature (just something like "Main"), and then type or paste what you want in the editor box.
Below the editor, set your defaults:
- For New Emails Use – pick your new signature
- On Reply/Forward Use – pick the same or a shorter version
- Check the box for Insert signature before quoted text if you want it above the previous reply
Scroll to the bottom and hit Save Changes. Without this, nothing applies. The save button is easy to miss because it's at the very bottom of the settings page.
Add an image to your signature
Inside the signature editor, click the image icon. Gmail lets you upload from your computer, paste a web URL, or pull from Google Drive. The Drive option is most reliable because Google hosts the image and it shows up correctly in every email client.
Keep the image small. Around 150-300 pixels wide is the sweet spot. Anything bigger looks weird in mobile inboxes and adds bloat to every email you send.
Format with HTML basics
Gmail's signature editor has limited formatting. You get bold, italic, underline, font color, links, and basic alignment. That's about it. No tables, no custom HTML.
If you want a fancier signature with a logo, social icons, and aligned text, build it in a separate tool like HubSpot Signature Generator or WiseStamp. They give you HTML you can paste into a draft email, then copy the styled version from the draft into the Gmail signature box.
Change signature on the Gmail mobile app
Mobile signatures are separate from desktop. Yes, really. You set them in two different places. To change the mobile one:
- Open the Gmail app on your phone
- Tap the menu icon (three lines) top left
- Scroll down to Settings
- Pick your email account
- Tap Mobile Signature (or Signature settings on iOS)
- Type your mobile signature and save
Most people make this short. Something like "Sent from my phone" or just initials. The full desktop signature gets messy on a small screen.
Set different signatures per email address
If you have multiple emails in one Gmail account (like a personal and a work one with custom domains), you can set a different signature for each. In the settings, the default dropdown changes to show all your linked addresses.
Pick the address, set the signature for it, repeat for each one. Gmail picks the right signature automatically based on which address you're sending from.
Signature not showing up?
Common reasons your signature is missing:
- You forgot to hit Save Changes at the bottom of settings
- The signature defaults dropdown is set to No signature
- You're replying and didn't check the box to insert it above quoted text
- You're sending from a different account that doesn't have a signature set
- You're using the mobile app which uses a separate setting
Check those one by one. Almost always one of them is the culprit. The mobile/desktop split surprises a lot of people.
Got a signature layout you're trying to nail? Describe what you want and I'll help you build it.