This explains how you add one or more signatures to your account settings in Microsoft Outlook 2010 for Windows, the e-mail client that is part of MS Office.
If you have earlier or later versions of Outlook, or if you have a different operating system, details of the signature settings in the program may vary.
Create a Signature
- Open Outlook and click on the "File" tab
- Click on "Options" in the File menu
- A new window "Outlook Options" opens
- Select the item "Mail" in the left-hand side menu
- Click on the button "Signatures" in the panel to the right
- A new window "Signatures and Stationery" opens; if this is the first time you work with signatures, the fields in this dialog should all be empty
- Now click the "New" button
- A small dialog window opens, where you can fill in the name of this signatureso that you can easily distinguish it from other signatures you create later
- Confirm the name by cklicking the "OK" button
At the bottom of the window "Signatures and Stationery" there is an editing field "Edit signature". Here you can either type in your new signature yourself, or you can copy-paste it from some other source. To use a Nordita signature, let's say a text-only signature (graphical signatures will be described below), proceed as follows:
- Open a web browser and go to the signature creation page on the Nordita intranet
- After selecting your name in the menu you get a page with several signature templates; scroll down to a text signature template that you want to use
- Select the whole signature text within the box (click-and-drag with the mouse pointer from top-left to bottom-right within the box)
- Right-click on the selection, and select "Copy" from the drop-down menu (or use Ctrl-C)
- Now switch back to Outlook
- Right-click inside the big rectangular editing field in the "Edit signature" section
- From the drop-down menu, under "Paste Options", select the right-most icon with the big letter A, "Keep Text Only" (or press "T")
- The text signature should now be visible in the editing field
- You can now edit the text, if you are not satisfied with the template signature
- Click the "Save" button to save your signature
- If you don't want to add more signatures, click "OK", and then close the "Outlook Options" windows with "OK"
Create Alternative Signatures
If you want to add more signatures, so that you can choose between them when writing mails to different kinds of recipients, just proceed as follows. This time let's create a graphical signature from the Nordita template page.
- Go back to the "Signatures and Stationery" options window in Outlook as described above
- Click "New", fill in the name of the new signature in the dialog window, and confirm with "OK"
- Open a browser and go to the signature creation page on the Nordita intranet, select your name and scroll down to the graphical signatures on the templates page
- Select the entire graphical signature inside the box
- Right-click, and select Copy from the drop-down menu
- Switch back to Outlook
- Right-click in the editing field
- From the drop-down menu, under "Paste Options", select the left-most icon with the paint brush, "Keep Source Formatting" (or press "K")
- The graphical signature should now be visible in the editing field
- You can edit the signature; use the tools over the editing field for simple formatting
- Click the "Save" button to save your signature
- If you don't want to add more signatures, click "OK", and then close the "Outlook Options" windows with "OK"
Specify Which Signature Should be the Default
If you have defined several signatures you might decide to use one of them as your default choice, and use the others only for special occasions (see below how to make the switch when writing a new message). Here is how you specify which of your signatures should be the default:
- Go back to the "Signatures and Stationery" options window in Outlook as described above
- In the "Choose Default Signature" section to the right, click on the "New Messages" drop-down menu and select the signature you want to use as default for all new mails, or select "(none)" to use no signature
- Repeat with the "Replies/Forwards" drop-down menu (here the "none" option is recommended)
- Confirm by clicking "OK", and then close the "Outlook Options" windows with "OK"
Use a Signature in a New E-Mail
Let's see if the signatures you have defined really show up in your new messages!
- In the main window of Outlook, click the "New E-Mail" button in the top menu (or press Ctrl-N)
- A new window with an empty message opens; if everything is as expected, you should see your default signature at the bottom of the message editing field
- You can edit the signature if you want, and If you decide you don't want the signature after all, you can just erase it as any message text. This does not change the signature(s) you created in the options section of Outlook earlier.
- Proceed as usual to write and send your message
Switch Between Signatures in a New E-Mail
If you have opened a new message for editing, but don't want to use the default signature, proceed as follows:
- In the message editing window, make sure you have selected the "Message" tab at the top
- In the "Include" section over the message field, click the "Signature" icon and select the signature you want from the list
- The default signature should now have been replaced by your new choice in the message editing field
- Continue to write your message as usual
Remember that to remove a signature you can just select and delete it as any ordinary text or image in your message. This does not change the signature(s) you created in the options section of Outlook earlier.
