Apps
Basics
macOS
Apple

How to Create an Email Signature in Mac Mail (2026)

How to create, format and assign an email signature in Apple Mail on Mac, add a logo and fix common problems.

By:
Dev
Sanghani
Published:
January 1, 2024
Modified:
October 16, 2026
Short answer: To create an email signature in Mail on a Mac, choose Mail > Settings > Signatures, select the account in the left column, click the + button below the middle column and name the signature. Type it in the right column, use the Format menu for fonts and colors, and drag in an image for a logo. Then pick it in the Choose Signature menu so Mail adds it to every new message from that account.

Steps are for macOS 27 and are the same on macOS Tahoe 26, Sequoia 15 and Sonoma 14. On macOS Monterey 12 and earlier, Settings was called Preferences.

How to create a signature in Mac Mail

  1. In Mail, choose Mail > Settings and click Signatures.
  2. In the left column, select the email account the signature is for. If you select All Signatures instead, you'll need to drag the new signature onto an account before you can use it.
  3. Click the + button below the middle column and type a name, such as Work or Short. Only you see the name; it's what appears in the Signature menu when you write.
  4. Click in the right column and replace the placeholder with your signature: name, title, company, phone and website.
  5. Use the Format menu to change the font, size, color and alignment, and Edit > Add Link to turn text into a link.
  6. Close the window. Mail saves as you type.

Shortcut: drag your own card from the Contacts app into the right column to drop in your contact details in one go.

Set the default signature for each account

With an account selected in the left column, open the Choose Signature menu at the bottom of the window and pick the signature to add automatically to new messages. If you have several, Mail can also rotate through them At Random or In Sequential Order. To use one signature on two accounts, select All Signatures and drag it onto the second account.

Two more options sit next to it:

  • Always match my default message font makes the signature use the font from Mail > Settings > Fonts & Colors. Deselect it if you formatted the signature yourself.
  • Place signature above quoted text puts your signature right under your reply instead of at the bottom of the whole thread.

While writing a message, you can switch signatures with the Signature menu in the message header, or remove it for that one email.

How to add an image or logo to your signature

  1. Resize the logo before you start. A small PNG or JPEG, roughly the height of two or three lines of text, looks right in most inboxes and keeps your emails light.
  2. In Mail > Settings > Signatures, select the signature.
  3. Drag the image file from the Finder into the right column, where you want it.
  4. Send a test email to yourself and to an address on another service, such as Gmail or Outlook, to check how it looks.

Images only go out in rich text mail. If your message format is Plain Text (Mail > Settings > Composing), recipients get the text of your signature without the logo. Some email apps also show signature images as attachments or hide them until the reader allows images, so put your key details in text, not only in the image.

Can you use an HTML signature in Apple Mail?

Mail has no HTML editor for signatures. The common workaround is to build the signature in a signature generator or as a web page, open it in Safari, select it, copy it and paste it into the right column of a new Mail signature, with Always match my default message font deselected. Check the result with a test email, because complex layouts don't always survive the paste.

Signatures on iPhone, iPad and your other Macs

If you use iCloud Drive with Mail turned on in its options, your Mac signatures sync to your other Macs. They don't sync to iPhone or iPad. There, go to Settings > Apps > Mail > Signature and type it again; tap Per Account to use a different one for each account. Mail on iPhone only supports text in signatures, so a logo won't carry over. For Gmail on the web, see how to add a signature in Gmail.

Signature not showing up in Mac Mail?

  • Choose Signature is set to None for that account. Pick a signature in Mail > Settings > Signatures.
  • The signature is only under All Signatures. Drag it onto the account you send from.
  • You're sending from another account. Each account has its own default; check the From field.
  • The logo is missing for recipients. Switch the message to rich text with Format > Make Rich Text and make the image smaller.
  • The font looks wrong. Turn Always match my default message font on or off, depending on which font you want.

Looking to sign a PDF instead? Use Markup on the attachment in Mail, or the Preview app, to add a handwritten signature to the document.

Spend less time on every email

Disclosure: we make Canary Mail. A good signature saves you typing your details. AI can save you typing the rest. Canary Mail is an email app for Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows and Android that works with Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, Yahoo, Exchange and other IMAP accounts. The free plan covers unlimited accounts on 2 devices with AI inbox sorting. The Growth plan ($36 a year) adds AI writing and summaries, read receipts, send later and a calendar on up to 5 devices. There's a 7-day trial, and paid plans are yearly or lifetime. More than 2 million people use it, and Apple has featured it on the App Store and the Mac App Store.

Frequently asked questions

How do I add a signature in Mac Mail?

Choose Mail > Settings > Signatures, select an account, click +, name the signature and type it in the right column. Then choose it in the Choose Signature menu.

How do I add a logo to my Apple Mail signature?

Drag a small image file into the right column of the signature in Mail > Settings > Signatures, and send mail as rich text.

Why isn't my signature showing up in Mac Mail?

Usually Choose Signature is set to None, or the signature was created under All Signatures and never dragged to your account.

Does my Mac Mail signature sync to my iPhone?

No. Mac signatures sync to other Macs through iCloud Drive, but on iPhone you set a text signature in Settings > Apps > Mail > Signature.

How do I sign a PDF on a Mac?

Use Markup on the PDF attached to your email, or open it in Preview, and add a handwritten signature.

More Mac Mail how-tos

Other Mac Mail fixes

Sources

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