What is an email signature generator?
An email signature generator is a tool that turns your name, job title, contact details and links into a formatted signature block you can paste into Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail or another email app. A good professional email signature tells the reader who you are and how to reach you in two or three lines, and it looks the same in every inbox.
Getting that last part right is harder than it looks, because email apps support far less HTML and CSS than browsers. This generator builds every layout with tables and inline styles, the techniques email clients handle best, so the signature survives being pasted and forwarded.
How to make your email signature, step by step
- Fill in your details. Full name, title, company, phone, email and website. Phone becomes a tap-to-call link and email a mailto link. Website and social URLs can be typed without
https://; it is added for you. - Add your link in bio URL. It appears as a bold arrow link, a single place for your portfolio, booking page and socials.
- Add a photo or logo (optional). Paste a public https image URL into Photo or logo URL. It is used by the Photo left and Photo top layouts; without one, those layouts show your initials.
- Add social profiles: LinkedIn, Instagram, X and YouTube. Filled ones become round icons in your accent colour.
- Pick a layout. 13 options: Minimal, Classic, Compact, Banner, Bold name, Photo left, Photo top, Two column, Monospace, Minimal caps, Social row, Gradient card and Handwritten. The preview updates live.
- Choose an accent colour for links, icons and the accent bar.
- Copy. Copy signature puts formatted content on your clipboard (with a plain-text fallback), ready to paste into a signature editor. Copy HTML gives the raw code for apps and tools that ask for HTML.
How to add your signature in Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail
Menu names below are correct at the time of writing; email apps move settings around now and then.
Gmail (web)
- Click the gear icon, then See all settings.
- On the General tab, scroll to Signature and click Create new. Give it a name.
- Click in the editor box and paste (Ctrl+V or Cmd+V).
- Under Signature defaults, choose it for new emails and, if you like, for replies and forwards.
- Scroll to the bottom and click Save Changes.
The Gmail mobile app has its own mobile signature setting that is plain text only. Signatures set on the web are used by the app in many cases, but check by sending yourself a test.
Outlook (new Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web)
- Open Settings (gear icon), then Account, then Signatures.
- Click New signature, name it and paste into the editor.
- Pick it as the default for new messages and for replies/forwards, then Save.
Classic Outlook for Windows
- Go to File, Options, Mail, then Signatures.
- Click New, name the signature, and paste into the Edit signature box.
- Set the defaults for new messages and replies on the right, then click OK.
On Outlook for Mac, the path is Outlook, Settings, Signatures. If formatting looks wrong after pasting in any Outlook version, try Copy HTML in a tool or add-in that accepts HTML signatures.
Apple Mail (Mac)
- Open Mail, then Settings (Preferences on older macOS), then the Signatures tab.
- Select the account on the left and click + to add a signature.
- Untick "Always match my default message font", otherwise Mail restyles your text.
- Paste into the right-hand box. Choose the signature for that account in the Choose Signature menu.
On iPhone and iPad, the signature is set under Settings, Mail, Signature (on newer iOS: Settings, Apps, Mail). It is mainly meant for plain text, so a short version of your signature works best there.
Email signature size and image guidelines
| Element | Recommendation | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Overall width | Under about 600 px | Fits email reading panes and phone screens without sideways scrolling |
| Photo in this tool | Displayed at 76 px (Photo left) or 88 px (Photo top) | Upload a square image at about 2x (around 180 x 180 px) so it stays sharp on high-density screens |
| Logo | Square or near-square, a few hundred px at most | The photo slot is square and cropped to fit |
| Image file size | Keep it small, ideally well under 100 KB | Loads quickly on mobile data and in every reply |
| Format | JPG or PNG | Supported by every email client; SVG and WebP are not reliable in email |
| Text | Name, title, 2-3 contact lines, 1 link in bio | Anything longer gets skipped |
| Gmail limit | 10,000 characters | Gmail's signature size limit, including HTML code |
To make a square, small, correctly sized photo, use the image cropper before hosting it.
Image hosting: the caveat most guides skip
Email signatures do not contain the image itself; they contain a link to it. Every time someone opens your email, their app loads the image from that URL. That has consequences:
- The URL must be public, direct and https. It should end in the image itself (often
.jpgor.png), not a page that shows the image. Google Drive and Dropbox share links usually point to a preview page, so they break in email. - The URL must be permanent. If the file is deleted or moved, the image breaks in every email you have already sent. Host it on your own website, your link-in-bio or profile image URL, or a stable image host.
- Some recipients will not see it. Outlook desktop and many company mail servers block external images until the reader allows them. Your signature must still make sense as text, which is why every layout here keeps name and links as real text.
- Pasted or embedded images are unreliable. Images dragged straight into a signature editor are sometimes attached as files to every email, or stripped. A hosted URL is the most predictable option.
- Gmail strips inline SVG. The social icons are SVG, so Gmail recipients see the links without icons (the links still work).
Professional email signature examples
- Freelance designer: Photo left layout, name, "Brand & web designer", website, link in bio to the portfolio, Instagram and LinkedIn icons.
- Real estate agent in Pune: Bold name layout, phone first (tap-to-call matters on mobile), agency name, link in bio to current listings.
- Creator handling brand deals: Banner layout, "Partnerships: email", link in bio to the media kit, YouTube and Instagram icons.
- Café owner: Compact layout on one line with phone, website and a link in bio that leads to the menu and opening hours.
- Developer: Monospace layout with GitHub as the website and X for updates.
Email signature best practices and mistakes to avoid
- Send a test to a Gmail and an Outlook address, and open it on your phone, before using it with clients.
- One call to action. A single link in bio beats eight links nobody clicks.
- Do not put the whole signature in an image. It is invisible when images are blocked, cannot be tapped and is not readable by screen readers.
- Use an international phone format (+91 98765 43210) so tap-to-call works from abroad.
- Skip quotes, long legal text and many colours. Keep one accent colour.
- The Handwritten layout uses the Caveat font when the reader has it, and falls back to a script or serif font when not, so the name may look a little different in some inboxes.
How the generator handles your details
The signature is built in your browser and copied straight to your clipboard. Your name, phone and email are not sent to Biolinko or stored. The only outside requests are your own photo URL, which the preview loads like any image, and the Caveat web font when you pick the Handwritten layout.
Why a link in bio belongs in your signature
Your signature has room for one or two links before it gets cluttered. A Biolinko page such as biolinko.me/yourname holds everything else: portfolio, booking, shop, socials and contact, and you can update it without touching your signature again. Pair it with a digital business card for in-person meetings. Read what a link in bio is or create your free page.
Updated October 8, 2026