How to Add an Email Signature in Mail on Mac (2026)

A clean email signature makes every message you send look professional — your name, title, phone, and maybe a logo, added automatically so you never retype it. Apple Mail on the Mac has this built in. Here is exactly how to create one, add an image, and set it as your default.

Open the Signatures settings

1. Open the Mail app.
2. In the menu bar, click Mail > Settings (on older macOS it is Mail > Preferences).
3. Click the Signatures tab at the top of the window.

You will see three columns: your email accounts on the left, the list of signatures in the middle, and a preview/edit area on the right.

Create a new signature

1. In the left column, click the account you want the signature for (or click All Signatures to make one you can assign to any account).
2. Click the plus (+) button under the middle column. A new signature appears named “Signature #1.”
3. Double-click that name to rename it something you will recognize, like “Work” or “Personal.”
4. Click into the right-hand editing area and type your signature — name, title, company, phone, website.

Tip: If “All Signatures” is selected, you must drag the new signature onto an account in the left column before it can be used.

Add a logo or photo to your signature

Apple Mail signatures support images — great for a company logo or headshot.

1. Find your image in Finder (a PNG or JPG works best; keep it small, roughly 150–300 px wide).
2. Drag the image file directly from Finder into the signature editing area, right where you want it to appear.
3. To resize it, some versions let you drag its corner; if not, resize the file first in Preview (Tools > Adjust Size) and drag the smaller version in.

Avoid pasting a huge photo — oversized signature images make your emails slow to load and can look unprofessional on the recipient’s phone.

Choose plain text or rich formatting

By default the signature editor uses rich text, so you can bold your name or add a colored link. If you prefer a clean, universally compatible look, uncheck “Always match my default message font” at the bottom to control the font yourself, or keep it simple with plain text. Rich formatting (bold, links, color) survives to most modern mail clients, but very plain signatures are the safest for maximum compatibility.

Set a default signature so it adds automatically

This is the part most people miss — creating a signature does not mean it gets used.

1. Still in Mail > Settings > Signatures, click the account in the left column.
2. At the bottom, open the Choose Signature pop-up menu.
3. Pick the signature you want to use by default. If you have several, choose At Random or In Sequential Order to rotate them, or just pick the single one you want.

Now every new message from that account starts with your signature already in place. You can still change or remove it per-message using the Signature pop-up in the compose window.

Edit or delete a signature later

Return to Mail > Settings > Signatures at any time. Select a signature in the middle column to edit its text in the right pane, or select it and click the minus (–) button to delete it. Changes save automatically — just close the window.

Frequently asked questions

Why isn’t my signature showing up in new emails?

You almost certainly created the signature but never assigned it. Go to Mail > Settings > Signatures, click the account on the left, and set it in the Choose Signature menu at the bottom.

Can I have a different signature for each email account?

Yes. Click each account in the left column and give it its own signature. This is ideal if you run a work address and a personal one from the same Mac.

My signature image looks broken on the other person’s end. Why?

Embedded images can be stripped by some mail servers or shown as attachments. For guaranteed-visible branding, keep key info as text and treat the logo as a nice-to-have, or link to your website instead of embedding a large graphic.

Do signatures sync across my Apple devices?

If you turn on Mail in System Settings > Apple ID > iCloud, signatures can sync across Macs and iOS devices signed into the same Apple ID. If they are not syncing, recreate the signature on each device.

Get more out of Apple Mail

Once your signature is set, learn how to schedule an email to send later in Mail so your messages land at the perfect time. Setting up a new machine for work or school? See our picks for the best Mac for college and everyday work in 2026, and browse all our Mac how-to guides.