Professional email signature templates

A professional signature is the one you'd be comfortable sending to a new client, your CEO and a stranger on the same day. It leads with your name, says what you do and where, and gives the reader exactly one obvious way to call you and one way to find you online. This template keeps to five lines with a thin separator, so it reads as deliberate in plain text rather than unfinished.

Template;sig-work

Full name Job title, Company — Phone · Website

Then type ;sig-work in any app.

Variations

The same message for a different channel or tone. Copy the one that fits.

For replies deep in a thread, or apps where a four-line block feels heavy.

Compact (one line)

Full name · Job title, Company · Phone

For first emails to clients, or roles where people visit your office.

Full with address

Full name Job title Company Office address T Phone W Website

When to use it

Setting up a signature for a new job before your first week of email.
Replacing a signature generator's HTML block that keeps breaking in replies.
Making one default you can use in Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail without rebuilding it three times.

What to avoid

Don't list your email address. The reader already has it in the From line.
Skip the inspirational quote. It's the first thing people remember, for the wrong reason.
Don't add every social profile. Pick the single link that helps someone work with you.

The fields in this template

Retext fills these in when the snippet expands. In plain text they become [brackets] to replace by hand.

Full name{fill:Full name}: The name you want people to use, as it appears on your business card.
Job title{fill:Job title}: Your title as your company writes it. Shorter is better: "Head of Finance" over "Senior Vice President, Global Finance Operations".
Company{fill:Company}: Your company's public name, not its legal entity name.
Phone{fill:Phone}: The number you actually answer. Mobile is fine if that's how people reach you.
Website{fill:Website}: Your company site or your profile page. Leave off https://, most mail apps still link it.
Office address{fill:Office address}: One line, street and city. Only include it if people visit.

More about dynamic fields

Tips

•Use the middle dot (·) or a slash between items on one line. It reads cleaner than a pipe in most fonts.
•Write your phone number in international format (+1 415 555 0100) if any of your contacts are abroad.
•Set ;sig-work as a per-app snippet so it expands to the compact version in Slack and the full one in Mail.

Works in Mail, Outlook, Gmail, Slack and every other app

Retext types the snippet wherever your cursor is. To use a different version in one app, give it the same trigger and limit it to that app with per-app snippets. They go by app, not website, so every tab in your browser counts as one app.

Use it with your team

Make this the team's default layout. An admin keeps the company name and website in a team snippet you create, such as ;sig-company, and each person's signature has their own name, title and phone plus {snippet:sig-company}. Change the shared line once and it reaches everyone on the next sync.

See Retext for Teams

Questions

What should a professional email signature include?

Your full name, job title, company, and one or two contact details, usually a phone number and website. An address only if people visit you. Everything else is optional.

Should I include my email address in my signature?

Usually not. It's already in the From line. The exception is when you send from a shared address and want replies to go to you directly.

How long should a professional signature be?

Four to six lines. Long signatures push the message off screen on phones and get skimmed past on desktop.