Outlook Email Signature Formatting Problems: How to Fix Spacing, Images, and Layout

Identify where the problem appears first: Outlook desktop compose, Outlook desktop received email, Outlook Web compose, Outlook Web received email, mobile Outlook, or only the recipient inbox.

Then send a new test email to one Gmail inbox and one Outlook inbox. If the signature only breaks in Outlook desktop, the issue is usually Outlook rendering. If it breaks everywhere, the issue may be the source HTML, image hosting, or the paste process.

Outlook desktop does not render signatures like a modern browser. It uses the Microsoft Word rendering engine, which can ignore some CSS, change spacing, resize images, and treat pasted HTML differently from Gmail or Apple Mail.

The safest fix is usually to simplify the signature and reinstall from an approved, email-safe source rather than patching a broken copy repeatedly.

Unexpected spacing often comes from paragraph tags, copied formatting, or CSS that Outlook does not handle consistently. Use table cells for structure, keep line-height simple, and prefer cell padding over margin-based spacing.

If the signature has a large gap above or below it, Outlook may have added paragraph spacing around the block. Removing the broken version and reinstalling from a clean source often fixes this faster than editing inside Outlook.

If logos, profile photos, or social icons are missing in Outlook, test the image URL in a browser first. The image should load without login and use an https URL.

If images appear at the wrong size, the HTML may be missing explicit image dimensions. Email signatures should set width and height through both HTML attributes and inline styles.

Avoid pasting images directly from a desktop into Outlook. That can create references that work locally but fail for recipients.

Outlook desktop and Outlook Web do not always behave the same way. A signature can look correct in Outlook Web and still shift in Outlook desktop.

If your team uses both, test both before approving a rollout. Build for Outlook desktop first, because a signature that survives desktop is more likely to stay stable elsewhere.

Delete the broken signature from Outlook, close Outlook completely, then create a new signature entry and paste directly from the original Mysignature output or approved source.

Review the received email, not only the compose preview. Do not copy a signature from an old email thread and reuse it as the source, because reply chains often alter the HTML.