Add an email signature in Apple Mail
Paste a formatted signature into Apple Mail on Mac, handle the plain text setting that strips formatting, and set what happens on iPhone and iPad.
· · 3 min read
Step 1: Build and copy it
Open the Email Signature Generator, fill in your details, pick a template, and copy the signature. The generator has an Apple Mail tab in its setup panel.
Paste, don't retype. Signature editors accept formatted content pasted in. Typing it out by hand loses the layout, the links and the spacing.
Step 2: Open signature settings on Mac
In Mail, go to Mail → Settings → Signatures.
Pick the account in the left column first. If you select All Signatures instead, the signature isn't attached to any account and won't appear automatically.
Click + to create one and give it a name.
Step 3: Turn off the plain text option
This is the step that catches everyone.
Underneath the signature editing area there's a checkbox: Always match my default message font. If it's ticked, Mail strips your formatting and shows plain text.
Untick it before pasting. If you've already pasted and it looks plain, untick the box, delete what's there, and paste again.
Step 4: Paste and assign it
Paste into the right-hand editing pane.
Then, at the bottom of the window, use Choose Signature to set the default for that account. If you have several signatures, you can also pick At Random or In Sequential Order, which is rarely what anyone wants.
iPhone and iPad
Go to Settings → Apps → Mail → Signature.
This field is plain text only. You can't paste a formatted signature into it and there's no workaround inside the Mail app.
Set something short here, and keep the full version on your Mac.
A note on the default: iOS ships with "Sent from my iPhone" and most people never change it. Two minutes here is the highest-return signature edit available to anyone.
Troubleshooting
It's plain text no matter what. The Always match my default message font box is still ticked, or it was ticked when you pasted. Untick, clear, paste again.
The signature isn't attached to messages. You created it under All Signatures without assigning it to an account, or you didn't set it in Choose Signature.
The photo doesn't load for recipients. It needs a public URL, and many mail clients block remote images by default. Never put your only contact details inside an image.