Email Signature Image Not Showing? The Causes and the Fix for Each

Rebuild your signatureDownload the signature image checklist (PDF)

Find out whose side the problem is on

Before changing anything, work out who can't see the picture. Send an email to yourself and to one or two people on different email services, and ask what they see.

• Missing for everyone, including you: the picture's address is the problem. You can fix this.
• Missing for some readers, or in one app only: it is probably a setting on their side that holds pictures back. You can't change it, but you can make the signature work without the picture.
• Showing as an attachment: the picture was pasted from your computer, so it travels inside each email rather than being loaded from the web.

It also helps to note which app each reader uses, and whether they opened it on a phone or a computer. A picture that is missing only in one app points to that app's settings or the picture's format; a picture missing everywhere points to its address.

Causes on your side, and the fixes

1. Find out who can't see it

Use the test above. If the picture is missing for you too, carry on with this section.

2. Open the image address on its own

Copy the picture's address and paste it into a private browser window. You should see the picture alone. If you see a web page, a sign-in screen or an error, that is the cause. The commonest mistake is copying the address of the page the picture sits on rather than the picture itself; right-click the picture and choose the option to copy the image address.

3. Move the picture to a public https address

A signature picture has to live on the web, because the reader's email app fetches it from there. Pictures saved on your computer can't be reached. An image already on your website is ideal. For Google Drive, Google's signature troubleshooting page says the image must be shared publicly, that some work and school accounts can't share publicly, and that deleting the file removes the picture from the signature. Use an address that starts with https://; our free signature generator warns you when the address doesn't.

4. Check size and format

Google's same page recommends a signature image 70 to 100 pixels high and 300 to 400 pixels wide, with a maximum of 100 by 1,000, and says an image that is too large can stop the signature displaying correctly. Format matters as well: the email support database Can I email lists SVG and WebP images as not supported in older versions of Outlook for Windows. PNG and JPG work everywhere it tracks.

5. Paste the signature again

Changing the picture file doesn't update a signature that points to the old address. Rebuild or re-copy the signature, paste it into your email app's signature box and save. In Gmail, if the result looks garbled, select it and use Remove formatting before pasting again.

Causes on the reader's side

Some readers won't see your picture however well it is set up.

Pictures held back by a setting. Gmail's help page on turning images on or off explains that people can choose "Ask before displaying external images", in which case they see your picture only after clicking Display images below. Many other email apps and company systems have a similar option.

Messages that look suspicious. The same page says that if Gmail thinks a sender or message is suspicious, it won't show images automatically. A first email to someone new, or one full of links, is more likely to hit this.

Older Outlook versions. As above, older Outlook for Windows can't show SVG or WebP, so a logo in those formats is invisible there even though it works elsewhere.

None of these is something you can switch off for the reader. What you can do is make sure the signature still works without the picture.

Build a signature that works without its picture

6. Make it work without the picture

Treat the picture as decoration. Everything a reader needs should be text:

• Contact details as typed text. A signature made as one image, with the phone number drawn into it, becomes an empty box when pictures are blocked, and the number can't be tapped on a phone.
• Alt text on the picture. When pictures don't load, many apps show the alt text instead. The generator fills it in with your name or business name.
• Social profiles as text links. The generator uses words rather than icon images for social links, so they show even when pictures don't.

Then send yourself one more test with pictures turned off. If you can still tell who sent it and how to reach them, the signature is done.

Where to go next

If the problem is specific to one app, the setup guides go through each screen: adding a signature in Gmail and adding a signature in Outlook. For the right pixel dimensions and file types, see email signature logo sizes.

And if you write to customers all day, Fynl's Starter plan brings your Gmail inbox into the same place as your customer list, bookings and invoices, with a signature for each person on the team added when they write from there. The signature generator stays free either way. More free tools are on the free tools page.

Questions people also ask

Sources

• Gmail Help — Troubleshoot issues with Gmail signatures
• Gmail Help — Turn images on or off in Gmail
• Can I email — SVG image format
• Can I email — WebP image format