How do I back up my signatures?

People often ask how to copy Outlook signatures between multiple computers. In this post, I’ll describe how to accomplish that task using a little known keyboard shortcut.

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and select the Mail Format tab

2. Hold down <ctrl> key while clicking the Signatures… button

3. The folder containing your signatures will open

4. Copy all of the files and folders in the Signatures folder to the location where you back up your files (e.g. flash drive, external hard drive, another computer)

5. Now open the Signatures folder on your other computer by repeating the first three steps and then copy the files you just backed up to that folder

6. The next time you use Outlook on the other computer, your signatures will show up in the E-mail Signatures tab of the Signatures and Stationery dialog box and on the Insert tab in the inspector

7. If you’d like any of those signatures to be automatically applied to new messages or replies/forwards when using the other computer, open the E-mail Signatures tab of the Signatures and Stationery dialog box to configure a default signature for either type of message

Ellen Adams, Microsoft Office Outlook Program Manager