Add an animated signature to Outlook

“Outlook” is several different apps that handle signatures and GIFs differently. Find yours below. The short version: every current Outlook animates a GIF when reading; only older desktop versions show a still frame.

New Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web

1. Design your signature on BylineSig, then click Copy for Gmail to copy the formatted signature.
2. In Outlook, click the Settings cog, then Accounts, then Signatures.
3. Click Add signature and give it a name.
4. Click into the editing box and paste with Ctrl + V or ⌘ + V.
5. Tick the boxes to use it for new messages and for replies and forwards, then Save.

Send yourself a test email. Some people report on Microsoft’s forums that a GIF pasted into this editor shows as a still image. If yours does, tell us at [email protected]; we are collecting cases.

Classic Outlook for Windows

1. Copy the formatted signature from BylineSig with Copy for Gmail.
2. Open a new email, then Message → Signature → Signatures. (Or File → Options → Mail → Signatures.)
3. Click New, name the signature, and paste into the Edit signature box.
4. Under Choose default signature, select it for new messages and for replies and forwards, then click OK.

Outlook for Mac

1. Copy the formatted signature from BylineSig with Copy for Gmail.
2. In Outlook, open the Outlook menu → Settings → Signatures.
3. Add a signature, paste into the editor, then save and close.
4. Choose it under For new messages and For replies or forwards.

Which versions of Outlook animate a GIF

• Outlook on the web, new Outlook for Windows, Outlook for Mac, Outlook mobile: animate.
• Classic Outlook with Microsoft 365, Outlook 2021 and 2024: animate. Looping GIFs are reported to play three times and then pause. It also follows the reader’s Windows animation setting.
• Outlook 2019 and earlier (one-time purchase versions): show the first frame only.

That is why every BylineSig signature starts on a frame that already shows the finished design. A reader whose Outlook does not animate sees a complete, still signature rather than an empty box.

Troubleshooting

Classic Outlook blocks automatic picture downloads by default, so a recipient may need to click Download Pictures before any image shows. Your contact details and links are ordinary text outside the image, so they are visible either way.

The mobile Outlook apps keep their own separate signature. On Android it takes text only.

Menu paths follow Microsoft’s signature documentation, last checked October 2026. Animation support follows Microsoft, Litmus and Can I email.