Why Outlook needs special care
Outlook for Windows draws email with the same engine that Word uses, and not with a web browser. It ignores some of the styling that other programs understand. Rounded corners are not drawn, margins are unreliable, and fonts and line heights are not passed from a table to the cells inside it. This is why a signature can look fine in Gmail and wrong in Outlook.
What Outlook-safe mode does
- Puts the font, size and color on every cell, because Outlook does not inherit them.
- Fixes the line height, so lines do not drift apart.
- Shows the photo as a square, because Outlook for Windows cannot round it. Other programs would show a circle, so a square gives the same look everywhere.
The mode is on by default on this page. You can switch it off to see the difference in the preview.
Outlook versions at a glance
| Version | Where to paste | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Classic Outlook for Windows | File, Options, Mail, Signatures | Uses the Word engine, so keep the layout simple |
| New Outlook (Windows and Mac) | Settings, Accounts, Signatures | Handles most formatting like a browser |
| Outlook on the web | Settings, Mail, Compose and reply | Browser based |
Images in Outlook
Link to the picture with its https address, and do not embed it in the message. Many people see a placeholder until they choose to download pictures, so keep your name and details as text and not as part of an image. A picture that is stored only on your computer is sent as an attachment, which looks like a paperclip on every email you send, so use a hosted link instead.
Using the .htm file
The Download button saves your signature as an .htm file. Classic Outlook for Windows keeps its signatures as .htm files in the folder %appdata%\Microsoft\Signatures. You can paste the copied signature in the editor, which is the normal way, or restart Outlook after you add a file to that folder and pick it from the list.
Prefer Gmail? Use the Gmail signature generator. For raw code see the HTML signature page, and the main generator has the same layouts with Outlook-safe mode off. The email signature guide explains what to put in a signature, and the image compressor keeps your logo small.