How to Set Up Email Signatures Across Your Organisation: A Step-by-Step Guide

A well-crafted email signature is a small but powerful tool for building trust, reinforcing your brand, and maintaining a professional presence in every interaction. Whether you're reaching out to a prospective client, following up with a supplier, or responding to internal teams, your signature acts as a digital business card that reflects your organisation’s credibility and attention to detail.

With over 4.48 billion email users globally, email remains the most widely used communication tool in business. Outlook continues to be a major player, with over 400 million active users worldwide as of late 2024, holding 4.38% of the email platform market.

Its popularity among businesses stems from its enterprise-grade functionality and robust security features, making it an ideal platform for standardised, organisation-wide signature management.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to design, manage, and deploy professional email signatures in Outlook using Microsoft tools and supported platforms like CodeTwo, so your entire business communicates clearly, securely, and on brand.

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Step 1: Design a Signature Template

Start by defining what your signature should include and how it aligns with your business needs. The design can be simple and minimal for internal communications or more visually branded for client-facing teams. Consider whether to include elements like promotional banners, social icons, or department-specific information. A well-structured template sets the foundation for consistency and can be easily adapted for different roles or use cases across the organisation.

A typical layout might feature:

• Full name and job title
• Company name and logo
• Direct phone number and email address
• Website and social media icons
• Legal disclaimer (if applicable)
• Optional banner or campaign CTA

Tools to Design Your Signature:

Depending on content and complexity of your email signature, you may find that templates or third-party design tools help with the process.

We recommend using:

• Microsoft 365 Design Templates: This is where you can use Microsoft’s built-in templates, or alternatively design one directly on Outlook.
• Canva: An intuitive drag-and-drop platform that offers customisation and exports suitable for Outlook use.
• CodeTwo Email Signatures for Microsoft 365: A powerful tool for centralised design, testing, and deployment across your Microsoft tenant.

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Step 2: Get Stakeholder Sign-Off

Before rolling out a new signature, it’s important to involve key departments to ensure the design is accurate, compliant, and technically sound. Marketing can help align the layout with your brand, while IT ensures it works correctly across Outlook and devices. Legal or compliance teams should review disclaimers and required notices to meet regulatory standards. Once everyone’s aligned, lock in the approved versions, including any needed variations for leadership or specific teams.

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Step 3: Test Across Devices and Clients

Thorough testing is essential to ensure your email signatures display correctly and consistently, no matter where or how they're viewed. Differences in devices, email clients, and user settings can cause formatting issues or prevent images and disclaimers from rendering properly. By testing before rollout, you can avoid branding inconsistencies, broken layouts, or missing legal content, protecting your business’s professionalism and compliance. Before going live, test signatures:

• On Windows, macOS, and mobile devices
• In Outlook, Gmail (if applicable), and cross-client delivery
• For formatting issues, image loading, and disclaimer placement

For businesses looking to streamline this process, Superior IT offers expert guidance in designing, deploying, and testing organisation-wide changes like email signatures to ensure smooth implementation.

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Step 4: Deploy Signatures via Microsoft 365

If your organisation uses Microsoft 365 and Outlook, you have multiple deployment options depending on your size, structure, and need for central control.

Option A: Use Microsoft Exchange Admin Center (EAC)

Ideal for businesses that want to manage email signatures without extra software.

• Set up a mail flow rule in EAC to apply signatures server-side
• Apply rules by user groups, departments, or domains
• Signatures will be appended after sending, ensuring uniformity across devices

This method is cost-effective and works well for basic needs, but it doesn’t allow users to see the signature while composing their emails.

Option B: Deploy via CodeTwo for Advanced Control

CodeTwo is a trusted third-party tool designed specifically for managing email signatures at scale.

• Centrally manage and update signatures without needing user input
• Add dynamic fields (e.g. names, job titles) pulled from Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD)
• Schedule or rotate banners for marketing campaigns

It offers greater flexibility, marketing features, and lets users see their signature as they write—but it does require separate licensing and setup.

Option C: Manual Setup (for Small Teams)

Best for small businesses or teams without central IT control.

• Provide users with a pre-designed signature to copy and paste into Outlook (Desktop and Web)
• Include instructions on where to paste and how to adjust formatting

Pros: No additional tools needed.

Cons: Time-consuming, prone to user error, and hard to maintain consistency.

While simple to roll out, this approach relies on employees to get it right and can lead to inconsistent branding if not carefully managed.

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Step 5: Train Staff and Distribute Setup Instructions

Even with a well-designed signature, adoption can fall short without clear internal communication. It’s important to guide staff through the process, especially if they need to apply the signature manually or verify personal details. Providing concise instructions and support options helps avoid confusion and ensures consistency. If using a centralised method, staff should still be informed of the update and know where to manage their contact information.

• Step-by-step guides for Outlook Web and Desktop
• Troubleshooting tips for image or format issues
• Contact point for support or updates

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Step 6: Maintain and Update Regularly

Email signatures are not a one-off task, they should be maintained like any other brand asset. As your business grows or marketing messages change, your signatures should reflect that. Assigning responsibility to a team or individual ensures updates are timely and nothing gets overlooked. Regular reviews also help maintain compliance with legal disclaimers and evolving standards.

• Refresh banners or CTAs for new campaigns
• Ensure new staff are onboarded with the correct signature
• Periodically review for compliance and consistency

Ensure your updates are streamlined and centrally managed, making ongoing maintenance easy across your Microsoft 365 environment with DefenderSuite.

Want a quick visual walkthrough?

Watch Microsoft’s step-by-step video guide to see how to create and apply email signatures in Outlook using Microsoft 365. It’s a helpful reference if you're setting things up manually or want to better understand how signature settings work across platforms.

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Need Help Setting Up Outlook Signatures in Microsoft 365?

At Superior IT, we help businesses streamline and manage professional email signatures across Microsoft 365. Whether you need a custom design, centralised policy setup, or integration with tools like CodeTwo, we make sure your signatures stay consistent, compliant, and on brand.

Call Us: 1300 93 77 49

Email Us: info@superiorit.com.au

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