HTML email signature for Gmail

Here's the full method, what HTML survives, and what to do when it doesn't look right.

Step by step

1. Make your signature. Use the generator below, or open your own HTML file in a browser.
2. Copy the formatted signature. In the generator, press Copy signature. From a browser, select the whole signature and copy it.
3. In Gmail on a computer, click Settings, then See all settings.
4. In the Signature section, create a new signature or select an existing one.
5. Click in the box and paste.
6. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

Then send yourself an email to check how it looks, on your computer and on your phone.

What HTML Gmail keeps

Mail apps, Gmail included, are much stricter about HTML than web browsers. Signatures that paste cleanly have:

• a table for the layout, not CSS grid or flexbox;
• styles written on each tag, not in a style sheet;
• common fonts such as Arial, so nothing needs to load;
• images linked by https, publicly viewable, at a small size.

That's exactly what the generator above writes. You can see and copy its code under HTML source.

Keep it short, too. Google allows up to 10,000 characters in a signature, and an image counts towards that limit.

If it doesn't look right

The tags show as text. You pasted the code. Delete it, copy the rendered signature instead and paste again.

Formatting looks broken. Google suggests selecting the signature and clicking Remove formatting, then adding back the formatting you need. A signature image that's too large can cause the same problem; Google recommends 70–100 pixels high by 300–400 wide.

You can't format anything. If Plain Text shows above the signature box, plain text mode is on. Click Compose, open More options at the bottom right and untick Plain text mode.

Odd characters appear. Google says some versions of Gmail don't support bold or italics, and formatted text can then show extra characters. Highlight the signature and click Remove formatting.

The signature is hidden behind three dots. Gmail separates the signature from the message with two dashes and can trim it from view. Click Show trimmed content at the bottom of the email to see it.

For the plain code, see HTML email signature code. If the error says your signature is too long, see Gmail signature is too long.