Outlook vs Gmail signatures: what to know before you roll out company-wide

If your team uses both Gmail and Outlook, you already know email signatures are tough to standardize. What looks great in one client might break in the other.

Before you roll out company-wide branding, here’s what you need to know about how each platform handles email signatures, and how to avoid the most common mistakes.

Where Outlook and Gmail differ

Both platforms support HTML, but they interpret it differently.

Here’s how that affects your signatures:

• Outlook uses Microsoft Word’s rendering engine, which can cause layout shifts and spacing issues

• Gmail is more forgiving, but inconsistent HTML or inline styles can still cause problems

• Both have quirks with image hosting, spacing, and fonts

Common issues to expect

• Logos that show up as attachments

• Extra padding or misaligned text in Outlook

• Fonts that don’t match or scale properly in Gmail

• Broken banners or layout collapse on mobile

Without tested HTML, your signature might look fine in one place and fall apart in another.

Why DIY tools don’t solve it

Drag-and-drop signature builders often:

• Export code that breaks in Outlook

• Skip image hosting or optimization for email clients

• Require your team to paste and format manually

The result is more work and worse outcomes.

What to do instead

Use a tested, managed approach:

• Write clean HTML with inline styles and table-based layout

• Host images on secure servers

• QA everything in Gmail, Outlook, and mobile

Or, let a service like Signkit handle it for you.

How we solve it at Signkit

We build and test every signature across platforms.

• No broken logos

• No styling issues

• No Outlook formatting fails

We also manage installation for the team, so you’re not chasing anyone or troubleshooting quirks.

Make it look right everywhere

You don’t need to learn the quirks of Gmail and Outlook. You just need your brand to look good in every inbox.

[Book a free setup call] and we’ll make sure your signature rollout is smooth, consistent, and stress-free.