signature appears in "reply" and "forward" but not in new message

[jmg]

I've set up a signature for emails, but when I start a new email, it does
not show up. I've tested it with replies and forwarding and the email
signature shows on those pages, but not on new messages. What's wrong?

 

[DAVE]

Hi,
Open Word
Options
General tap
E-mail options
Enter your signature in the "Signature for new messages" field and OK.
Rgrds,

 

[jmg]

Hi Dave. Thanks for the reply. Howeverl thqat's what I've done and stil
doesn't show up. I created an alternative signature in the same manner, and
when I select it, it does show up on alal three"new" "replies" and "forward"
messages. But when I toggle back to the former, it shows up only on
"replies" and "forwards."
Then I deleted it and reset it up, following the same as I did for the
alternative, and it STILL won't aattch to "new" emails. Any other
suggestions? Thanks for the reply - and Merry Christmas!

 

[DAVE]

Hi,
Try the Detect and Repair tool.
Exit all running programs.
Open Outlook
Enter you Office set up disk
Click Help < Detect and repair and see if this will find and fix the problem.
Rgrds,

 

[SR7133]

I have exactly the same problem and have tried the solutions offered but
without success. I see that there are other threads with the same problem.
Is there a solution?

 

[tcarp]

Have you found the answer to this problem? I have the same situation. To be
specific, I get the appropriate signature block when doing a reply to a
message, but have different results when authoring a new message.

In my case I use multiple accounts. I've run some tests and this is the
pattern that seems to be there for new emails and possibly a wierd workaround.

I was getting no signature block when I generated a new email. On a lark I
decided to add a signature block to the first account on the list (it didn't
have one when I started i.e. signature block for new emails was NONE.) A
funny thing happened. I suddently got the signature block when I selected
that account. The other funny thing was that if I selected another account
that had a signature block I got the correct one inserted! However, the
minute I selected an account with NONE in the signature block for new
accounts option I no longer got a signature block inserted for ANY of the
accounts including those that had worked earlier.

Here's my theory. When creating a new email, the first time Outlook
encounters and account with no signature block it loses it and can't retrieve
signature blocks for any of the accounts. Since my first account in the list
didn't have a signature block I could never get the signature block to insert.

I haven't done much of the actual work, but it appears that the workaround
is to make sure that the first account in your account list has some sort of
signature block and then make sure you don't select an account by mistake
that doesn't have a signature block before selecting one that does.

Did that make sense?

In other words, it appears that if you select an account for the new message
that has no signature block, Outlook doesn't retrieve the signature blocks
for any account properly. Since the first account is the default, if it
doesn't have a signature block you will never see the signature block for any
accounts when creating a new email.

If someone has seen a different pattern or knows why this might be
happening, I'd sure like the input.

In the mean time, I may have a workaround.

Tom

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

You've apparently discovered the basics: If you want Outlook to be able to switch signatures when you change accounts in an email message, then you need to have an automatic signature set up for every account and be using WordMail as the editor.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[SR7133]

What I did was to create a "signature" for my default email account with
nothing in it - I just hit "Return" & named it "Empty" - After that I created
a proper signature for the other email account and since then everything has
worked perfectly.

 

[tcarp]

With all due respect, Sue, what you wrote is not consistent with the problem
being addressed here.

I can switch back and forth between accounts with signatures just fine.
However, the first time an account that has NONE in the signature selection
block, Outlook will no longer successfully switch to accounts with a
signature block. As was mentioned by SR7133 in their latest posts, since the
default account is used first (before the sending account is switched) it
cannot contain NONE in the signature block selection. If it does Outlook
will not pick up the signature blocks when a different account is selected.

The workaround is to 1) assure that the default email account has a
signature block (even if it is just a carriage return) and 2) not to select
an account that has NONE in the signature selection if you intend to switch
again to an account that has a signature block BEFORE sending the email.

The rule appears to be: if you want to use signature blocks for new messages
make sure the default account does NOT specify <none> in its Signature for
New Messages option -or- that you select an account that has <none> in its
Signature for New Messages option before selecting the final send account.

I find it hard to believe that this is Outlook Basics.

Tom

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

However hard it is to believe, it is Outlook 101.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, tcarp asked:

| With all due respect, Sue, what you wrote is not consistent with the
| problem being addressed here.
|
| I can switch back and forth between accounts with signatures just
| fine. However, the first time an account that has NONE in the
| signature selection block, Outlook will no longer successfully switch
| to accounts with a signature block. As was mentioned by SR7133 in
| their latest posts, since the default account is used first (before
| the sending account is switched) it cannot contain NONE in the
| signature block selection. If it does Outlook will not pick up the
| signature blocks when a different account is selected.
|
| The workaround is to 1) assure that the default email account has a
| signature block (even if it is just a carriage return) and 2) not to
| select an account that has NONE in the signature selection if you
| intend to switch again to an account that has a signature block
| BEFORE sending the email.
|
| The rule appears to be: if you want to use signature blocks for new
| messages make sure the default account does NOT specify <none> in its
| Signature for New Messages option -or- that you select an account
| that has <none> in its Signature for New Messages option before
| selecting the final send account.
|
| I find it hard to believe that this is Outlook Basics.
|
| Tom
|
| "Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:
|
|| You've apparently discovered the basics: If you want Outlook to be
|| able to switch signatures when you change accounts in an email
|| message, then you need to have an automatic signature set up for
|| every account and be using WordMail as the editor.
||
|| --
|| Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
|| Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
||
|| and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
|| Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
||
||
|| ||| Have you found the answer to this problem? I have the same
||| situation. To be specific, I get the appropriate signature block
||| when doing a reply to a message, but have different results when
||| authoring a new message.
|||
||| In my case I use multiple accounts. I've run some tests and this
||| is the pattern that seems to be there for new emails and possibly a
||| wierd workaround.
|||
||| I was getting no signature block when I generated a new email. On
||| a lark I decided to add a signature block to the first account on
||| the list (it didn't have one when I started i.e. signature block
||| for new emails was NONE.) A funny thing happened. I suddently got
||| the signature block when I selected that account. The other funny
||| thing was that if I selected another account that had a signature
||| block I got the correct one inserted! However, the minute I
||| selected an account with NONE in the signature block for new
||| accounts option I no longer got a signature block inserted for ANY
||| of the accounts including those that had worked earlier.
|||
||| Here's my theory. When creating a new email, the first time Outlook
||| encounters and account with no signature block it loses it and
||| can't retrieve signature blocks for any of the accounts. Since my
||| first account in the list didn't have a signature block I could
||| never get the signature block to insert.

 

[tcarp]

Hi Milly

I'm not sure how much your note is tonge-in-cheek, and certainly not to
belabor this, or express any disrespect, my point simply was that the
behavior of Outlook in this situation does not seem basic at all. In fact,
its inconsistant with any of the help files or documentation I've seen
regarding what to expect when working with signatures.

Thanks

Tom

However hard it is to believe, it is Outlook 101.

--Â
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, tcarp asked:

| With all due respect, Sue, what you wrote is not consistent with the
| problem being addressed here.
|
| I can switch back and forth between accounts with signatures just
| fine. However, the first time an account that has NONE in the
| signature selection block, Outlook will no longer successfully switch
| to accounts with a signature block. As was mentioned by SR7133 in
| their latest posts, since the default account is used first (before
| the sending account is switched) it cannot contain NONE in the
| signature block selection. If it does Outlook will not pick up the
| signature blocks when a different account is selected.
|
| The workaround is to 1) assure that the default email account has a
| signature block (even if it is just a carriage return) and 2) not to
| select an account that has NONE in the signature selection if you
| intend to switch again to an account that has a signature block
| BEFORE sending the email.
|
| The rule appears to be: if you want to use signature blocks for new
| messages make sure the default account does NOT specify <none> in its
| Signature for New Messages option -or- that you select an account
| that has <none> in its Signature for New Messages option before
| selecting the final send account.
|
| I find it hard to believe that this is Outlook Basics.
|
| Tom
|
| "Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:
|
|| You've apparently discovered the basics: If you want Outlook to be
|| able to switch signatures when you change accounts in an email
|| message, then you need to have an automatic signature set up for
|| every account and be using WordMail as the editor.
||
|| --
|| Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
|| Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
||
|| and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
|| Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
||
||
|| ||| Have you found the answer to this problem? I have the same
||| situation. To be specific, I get the appropriate signature block
||| when doing a reply to a message, but have different results when
||| authoring a new message.
|||
||| In my case I use multiple accounts. I've run some tests and this
||| is the pattern that seems to be there for new emails and possibly a
||| wierd workaround.
|||
||| I was getting no signature block when I generated a new email. On
||| a lark I decided to add a signature block to the first account on
||| the list (it didn't have one when I started i.e. signature block
||| for new emails was NONE.) A funny thing happened. I suddently got
||| the signature block when I selected that account. The other funny
||| thing was that if I selected another account that had a signature
||| block I got the correct one inserted! However, the minute I
||| selected an account with NONE in the signature block for new
||| accounts option I no longer got a signature block inserted for ANY
||| of the accounts including those that had worked earlier.
|||
||| Here's my theory. When creating a new email, the first time Outlook
||| encounters and account with no signature block it loses it and
||| can't retrieve signature blocks for any of the accounts. Since my
||| first account in the list didn't have a signature block I could
||| never get the signature block to insert.

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

Not tongue-in-cheek at all.

Think about it. How would Outlook know, with a default signature of None
for an account, that you want to use a per account signature and have it
automatically switch accounts when you change signatures?

It is like expecting your car to take you to the gas station when it is low
on gas but you have not started the car. (I really hate car analogies but
this one seems to fit.) The car ain't going nowhere until you start it. In
Outlook, inserting a default signature is like turning on the engine. NOW
you can steer it where you want. If you don't put in the signature, your
key is not even in the ignition.


--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, tcarp asked:

| Hi Milly
|
| I'm not sure how much your note is tonge-in-cheek, and certainly not
| to belabor this, or express any disrespect, my point simply was that
| the behavior of Outlook in this situation does not seem basic at all.
| In fact, its inconsistant with any of the help files or documentation
| I've seen regarding what to expect when working with signatures.
|
| Thanks
|
| Tom
|
| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|
|| However hard it is to believe, it is Outlook 101.
||
|| --Â
|| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||
|| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
|| unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
|| reading.
||
|| After furious head scratching, tcarp asked:
||
||| With all due respect, Sue, what you wrote is not consistent with the
||| problem being addressed here.
|||
||| I can switch back and forth between accounts with signatures just
||| fine. However, the first time an account that has NONE in the
||| signature selection block, Outlook will no longer successfully
||| switch to accounts with a signature block. As was mentioned by
||| SR7133 in their latest posts, since the default account is used
||| first (before the sending account is switched) it cannot contain
||| NONE in the signature block selection. If it does Outlook will not
||| pick up the signature blocks when a different account is selected.
|||
||| The workaround is to 1) assure that the default email account has a
||| signature block (even if it is just a carriage return) and 2) not to
||| select an account that has NONE in the signature selection if you
||| intend to switch again to an account that has a signature block
||| BEFORE sending the email.
|||
||| The rule appears to be: if you want to use signature blocks for new
||| messages make sure the default account does NOT specify <none> in
||| its Signature for New Messages option -or- that you select an
||| account that has <none> in its Signature for New Messages option
||| before selecting the final send account.
|||
||| I find it hard to believe that this is Outlook Basics.
|||
||| Tom
|||
||| "Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:
|||
|||| You've apparently discovered the basics: If you want Outlook to be
|||| able to switch signatures when you change accounts in an email
|||| message, then you need to have an automatic signature set up for
|||| every account and be using WordMail as the editor.
||||
|||| --
|||| Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
|||| Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
||||
|||| and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
|||| Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
||||
||||
|||| ||||| Have you found the answer to this problem? I have the same
||||| situation. To be specific, I get the appropriate signature block
||||| when doing a reply to a message, but have different results when
||||| authoring a new message.
|||||
||||| In my case I use multiple accounts. I've run some tests and this
||||| is the pattern that seems to be there for new emails and possibly
||||| a wierd workaround.
|||||
||||| I was getting no signature block when I generated a new email. On
||||| a lark I decided to add a signature block to the first account on
||||| the list (it didn't have one when I started i.e. signature block
||||| for new emails was NONE.) A funny thing happened. I suddently
||||| got the signature block when I selected that account. The other
||||| funny thing was that if I selected another account that had a
||||| signature block I got the correct one inserted! However, the
||||| minute I selected an account with NONE in the signature block for
||||| new accounts option I no longer got a signature block inserted
||||| for ANY of the accounts including those that had worked earlier.
|||||
||||| Here's my theory. When creating a new email, the first time
||||| Outlook encounters and account with no signature block it loses
||||| it and can't retrieve signature blocks for any of the accounts.
||||| Since my first account in the list didn't have a signature block
||||| I could never get the signature block to insert.

 

[tcarp]

Good car analogy but I don't think I can extend it very well and I'm not sure
I can come up with a better one.

The way you wrote your first sentence isn't what in fact is happening.

Not tongue-in-cheek at all.

Think about it. How would Outlook know, with a default signature of None
for an account, that you want to use a per account signature and have it
automatically switch accounts when you change signatures?

This issue is not trying to have Outlook switch email accounts when a
signature is changed. In fact, it's just the opposite. When you switch the
sending account from one that doesn't have a signature to one that does,
Outlook doesn't recognize that there is a signature associated with the
switched-to account.

In fact it gets worse. If you set up the default account to have a
signature you will then get the signatures associated with the other accounts
just fine. But if you select an account that does not have a signature and
then change you mind and select an account that does have a signature, the
signature is not included in the outgoing mail.

Because of the way Outlook is behaving once an account is selected that
doesn't have a signature, if the default account does not have an email
signature, you will never be able to get an account with a signature to
successfully use the signature.

Since this seems to be confusing, here's how to recreate the issue:

Set up 4 email accounts making account 1 the default. Set accounts 1 and 3
up so they specify <none> in the new email signature setting and set up
accounts 2 and 4 so that they have a signature set up and assigned to the
account. Make the signatures different for each of the 2 accounts.

Now try to create a new account with a signature. Since Outlook encounters
account 1 first and <none> is specified switching to account 2 or 4 for
sending the account will NOT pick up the signature for the account.

Now change account 1 so that it has a signature assigned to it (different
from the other 2). Now try to create a new message and it will in fact pick
up the signature for account 1. Now, before sending the message, switch to
account 2 or 4 (the ones with signatures) and everything works fine. Outlook
picks up the signature associated with the proper account perfectly.

Now, again before sending the email, select account 3 (the only one
remaining with <none> specified for signature) and then change the from
account once more to 1, 2, 4 and the signature no longer gets picked up.

What appears to be happening is that if you ever select an account without a
signature block before selecting an account with a signature block (again,
before the message is sent), Outlook ignores all signatures. Since you
always will encounter the default account when creating a message, if that
account has <none> specifiec, forget getting a signature on any account.

That's why the workaround is to make sure the default account has a
signature assigned to it (as was mentioned, even if it's just a carriage
return) otherwise you will never be able to select an email account with a
signature associated with it and pick up the signature.

Tom

It is like expecting your car to take you to the gas station when it is low
on gas but you have not started the car. (I really hate car analogies but
this one seems to fit.) The car ain't going nowhere until you start it. In
Outlook, inserting a default signature is like turning on the engine. NOW
you can steer it where you want. If you don't put in the signature, your
key is not even in the ignition.


--Â
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, tcarp asked:

| Hi Milly
|
| I'm not sure how much your note is tonge-in-cheek, and certainly not
| to belabor this, or express any disrespect, my point simply was that
| the behavior of Outlook in this situation does not seem basic at all.
| In fact, its inconsistant with any of the help files or documentation
| I've seen regarding what to expect when working with signatures.
|
| Thanks
|
| Tom
|
| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|
|| However hard it is to believe, it is Outlook 101.
||
|| --ÂÂ
|| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||
|| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
|| unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
|| reading.
||
|| After furious head scratching, tcarp asked:
||
||| With all due respect, Sue, what you wrote is not consistent with the
||| problem being addressed here.
|||
||| I can switch back and forth between accounts with signatures just
||| fine. However, the first time an account that has NONE in the
||| signature selection block, Outlook will no longer successfully
||| switch to accounts with a signature block. As was mentioned by
||| SR7133 in their latest posts, since the default account is used
||| first (before the sending account is switched) it cannot contain
||| NONE in the signature block selection. If it does Outlook will not
||| pick up the signature blocks when a different account is selected.
|||
||| The workaround is to 1) assure that the default email account has a
||| signature block (even if it is just a carriage return) and 2) not to
||| select an account that has NONE in the signature selection if you
||| intend to switch again to an account that has a signature block
||| BEFORE sending the email.
|||
||| The rule appears to be: if you want to use signature blocks for new
||| messages make sure the default account does NOT specify <none> in
||| its Signature for New Messages option -or- that you select an
||| account that has <none> in its Signature for New Messages option
||| before selecting the final send account.
|||
||| I find it hard to believe that this is Outlook Basics.
|||
||| Tom
|||
||| "Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:
|||
|||| You've apparently discovered the basics: If you want Outlook to be
|||| able to switch signatures when you change accounts in an email
|||| message, then you need to have an automatic signature set up for
|||| every account and be using WordMail as the editor.
||||
|||| --
|||| Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
|||| Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
||||
|||| and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
|||| Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
||||
||||
|||| ||||| Have you found the answer to this problem? I have the same
||||| situation. To be specific, I get the appropriate signature block
||||| when doing a reply to a message, but have different results when
||||| authoring a new message.
|||||
||||| In my case I use multiple accounts. I've run some tests and this
||||| is the pattern that seems to be there for new emails and possibly
||||| a wierd workaround.
|||||
||||| I was getting no signature block when I generated a new email. On
||||| a lark I decided to add a signature block to the first account on
||||| the list (it didn't have one when I started i.e. signature block
||||| for new emails was NONE.) A funny thing happened. I suddently
||||| got the signature block when I selected that account. The other
||||| funny thing was that if I selected another account that had a
||||| signature block I got the correct one inserted! However, the
||||| minute I selected an account with NONE in the signature block for
||||| new accounts option I no longer got a signature block inserted
||||| for ANY of the accounts including those that had worked earlier.
|||||
||||| Here's my theory. When creating a new email, the first time
||||| Outlook encounters and account with no signature block it loses
||||| it and can't retrieve signature blocks for any of the accounts.
||||| Since my first account in the list didn't have a signature block
||||| I could never get the signature block to insert.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Exactly, and entirely consistent with what I described. If the account has no signature, then there's no signature to be switched *from* when you switch to another account.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[tcarp]

I surrender. You win.

No Outlook document or book that I've read or online help I've used explains
this well enough to recognize that, if you're going to use signatures, you
better make darn sure your default email account has one or none will be
available.

Good design...

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

That's because most books are written for people who don't care about *why* things work the way they do. In this case, the mechanism that makes the signatures work is a hidden Word bookmark. If there's no signature text, then the bookmark is not set and thus there is no marker for Outlook to know where to insert the signature for the next chosen account. You can see the bookmark, though, in an item that does have signature text.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers