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Gmail signature is too long

Gmail allows up to 10,000 characters in a signature, and an image you add counts towards that limit. If you see "signature is too long", make the image smaller, remove hidden formatting, and cut the text down. Then click Save Changes again.

Email signature generatorUpdated 3 min read

Here's what uses up the limit and how to fix each part.

What counts towards the limit

Google's help says you can put up to 10,000 characters in your signature, and that your image also counts toward the character limit. Its advice if you get an error is to resize the image.

Three things usually push a signature over:

  • A pasted or uploaded image that's large.
  • Hidden formatting: a signature copied from Word, a website or another email brings lots of code with it.
  • Long text: disclaimers, quotes and lists of links.

1. Shrink the image

Google recommends a signature image 70–100 pixels high by 300–400 pixels wide, and the largest it allows is 100 pixels high by 1,000 wide. To fix a big one:

  • Resize the image on your computer or phone before you add it.
  • Or, after adding it, select the image in the signature editor and choose Small, Medium, Large or Original size.
  • Or delete it and add it again another way. Gmail lets you add a signature image by web address (URL), from your Google Drive, or by uploading a file.

2. Remove hidden formatting

  1. In Gmail, click Settings > See all settings.
  2. In the Signature section, select your signature text.
  3. Click Remove formatting.

Then add back only the bold or colour you need. Google suggests the same step when a signature doesn't display correctly.

3. Cut the text

A signature needs your name, your role, and one or two ways to reach you. Move anything else, like social links, awards or a long legal notice, to a page you link to once.

Start again with a lean signature

If trimming doesn't work, replace it. The generator below writes a compact signature: one table, inline styles and no extra code, far below Gmail's limit. If you add a photo or logo, it's linked by its https address rather than pasted in.

Email signature generator

Open the full tool

To use it, press Copy signature, delete the old signature in Gmail's Signature box, paste, and click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

Still too long?

Check you're editing the right signature: if you have several, each one is listed under Signature in settings. Google's troubleshooting page also suggests deleting and re-adding the image, or trying a different upload method.

For images that won't display, see Gmail signature with image. To check what Gmail accepts as HTML, see HTML email signature in Gmail.

Sources

Questions

Why is Gmail saying my email signature is too long?

A Gmail signature can be up to 10,000 characters, and an image counts towards that limit. Hidden formatting from a signature copied from Word or a web page also adds characters you can't see.

How long can my Gmail signature be?

Up to 10,000 characters, Google says, including any image you add.

Why is my email signature so big on Gmail?

Usually the image is too large. Google recommends 70–100 pixels high by 300–400 pixels wide. Select the image in the signature editor and choose Small or Medium, or resize the file before you add it.

How do I reduce the size of my email signature?

Resize or relink the image, click Remove formatting to drop hidden code, and cut the signature down to your name, role and one or two ways to reach you.