Email signature best practices for 2026

Include the six things people actually use

• Full name and the job title people will recognise
• Company name, ideally linked to your homepage
• One phone number — the one you want answered
• A short company address or the office the person works from
• One call to action, such as a booking link
• Legal or regulatory text where your industry requires it

Cut the rest

Quotes, animated images, six social icons and an environmental footer all compete for the same few seconds of attention. Every extra element makes the reply thread heavier and the mobile view longer.

If a link has not been clicked in ninety days, it does not belong in your signature.

Layout rules that survive real mail clients

• Use a table layout, not flexbox or grid — Outlook on Windows ignores both
• Keep the total width under 600px so it does not force horizontal scrolling
• Use web-safe fonts with a sensible fallback stack
• Give images explicit width and height so blocked images do not collapse the layout
• Keep contrast strong enough to read in dark mode, and avoid pure white logos on transparent backgrounds

Test before you roll out

Send a test to Outlook on Windows, Outlook on the web, Gmail on Chrome, Apple Mail on macOS and the Gmail app on a phone. Those five cover the overwhelming majority of business recipients.