How to Backup and Move Outlook Signatures between computers

A friend called me yesterday and asked:

“Where are my signatures in Outlook saved and how do I move them to my new machine”

Surprisingly the Outlook signatures are not saved with the rest of the Outlook data so I’m sure there are others out there who are unable to locate them as well…

After helping my friend and having an awesome lunch (my friends treat for helping him), I thought I should do a quick post on this to help our readers who might be in search for their signatures.

Here’s a super easy way to copy or backup your signatures in Outlook…

Microsoft has built in a hidden way to jump straight to the folder that has your signatures saved.

NOTE: This works in all versions of outlook… from 2000 to 2013, but the instructions below are specifically for Outlook 2010 and 2013

To Backup your Outlook Signatures

• Open Outlook
• Click File > Options and then select the Mail tab from the left pane

• Now hold down the CTRL key and click on the Signatures button. Outlook will open the folder on your computer that contains all your signatures.

Copy all the files and folders in the open folder to your backup device (USB Drive, External Drive, DVD etc)

To Copy backed up Outlook Signatures to your new computer

• Open Outlook on your new computer
• Click File > Options and then select the Mail tab from the left pane
• Hold down the CTRL key and click on the Signatures button.
• Copy the files from your backup device over to the opened folder.

The next time you try and insert a Signature in Outlook, they will all be there.

I hope you find this tip useful.

OPTIONAL RELATED OUTLOOK ADDIN: If you use Signatures as an essential part of your business you may also want to look at our Outlook addin Signature Switch for Outlook.

Feel free to share this post with your friends, family or colleagues who might be searching for their signatures, you might just earn a free lunch or dinner like me…