Issue: Outlook changes my html email signature when replying

Question

Issue: Outlook changes my html email signature when replying

Lionel C 10

Hello, I'm tearing my hair out over a problem with outlook desktop. I wrote in html an email signature for my company: contact details, linked images, etc. Only classic html with standard inline css. The display is perfect when I send a message. But a reply to this message with outlook desktop client changes the HTML and the organization of the images: the sizes and positions are modified, which makes the signature unreadable. Should I add specific CSS for outlook desktop? How to do that ? I have no problem with gmail, outlook webapp, and other webapp mail clients. Upon receipt of the email in outlook:[

](https://filestore.community.support.microsoft.com/api/images/b26f095b-fbfc-48dc-897d-891bed6a1415?upload=true&fud_access=rhYinQu9k%2fQ7lDpdCsGkl3eusmFMeQelfHau4vFjY8lur4WJxfiEK7M3p4%2bs9FkBPy4gjPk1BpzKedTB0Zjh%2bzCRtDd6jCa%2fyokBDwISGOaLz2NNyurtbpNCCvuSAxDElHG%2fn6DLSEvx6me%2bhAe45GHI8%2fN0nBwySUZPZ5DmA2O8lA0v5W%2brWADdn1xyS1YeVNOFRTSkV2tgm%2fKYK3EIEyHgHdiYvb4Rw1veqICuD0oSnjSQky%2f%2bydJ5lLIks7aPVkKE5tyPhV3l%2fDI32rHXjIKVJpC9Lg%2f4QnUnF%2f5jFda3pkeORFoy7p%2bhgFf6vuNjtxLZMjkv%2f253SAzg578ukXHL84nI5C36m1idUdxu7oA%3d) When replying to this email, the signature changes to this: [

](https://filestore.community.support.microsoft.com/api/images/480ee4e5-c11e-4f43-aba4-b1ad1f0f7c6c?upload=true&fud_access=rhYinQu9k%2fQ7lDpdCsGkl3eusmFMeQelfHau4vFjY8lur4WJxfiEK7M3p4%2bs9FkBPy4gjPk1BpzKedTB0Zjh%2bzCRtDd6jCa%2fyokBDwISGOaLz2NNyurtbpNCCvuSAxDElHG%2fn6DLSEvx6me%2bhAe45J1IHdCqidGv2UpK0crrrEl8MpV%2f3RVkfEZ%2f6JR9NmKPsSMh%2bBa0r1Rsqmm7sB0jsMwr%2fHvM20WtBjYE%2baxG036Aa9OqdUyZlIjyCDKVoPKOP4CZyHdXFH0q1Vefy%2bIbmXF8vujcTwnBaewPdqHydNfDIE%2fpjSA%2btFHDF6lMoVcyuz%2bvLUIloS7xd6K22TrLR33RT9OhAiUHGAVuwrG1p0U%3d) As you see, the changes are:

the blue border of the div that encapsulates my photo
the size and position (certainly due to the size) of the company logo (the biggest issue)
the icons in front of the email and phone coordinates,
the margins around certain texts (with blue background) I can't figure out why this appears when people reply to my email. I can also post the html of the signature if necessary. Thank you very much.

41844108 306 Reputation points

2023-04-14T14:25:25.02+00:00

Yeah this is an issue we have too. As someone who once wrote HTML for emails this is a limitation of Outlook. There's simply no reliable way to look professional. At my current job I can use the MS tool to create a basic signature, email a colleague and get a reply and the signature is broken. The email never left the MS ecosystem. This has been a know issue for years.

2 answers

Your answer

41844108 306 Reputation points

2023-04-14T14:25:25.02+00:00

Yeah this is an issue we have too. As someone who once wrote HTML for emails this is a limitation of Outlook. There's simply no reliable way to look professional. At my current job I can use the MS tool to create a basic signature, email a colleague and get a reply and the signature is broken. The email never left the MS ecosystem. This has been a know issue for years.

Answer 1

ChristyZhang-MSFT 26,126 Microsoft External Staff

Hi @Lionel C ,

Welcome to our forum!

Only classic html with standard inline css.

What do you mean about this?

But a reply to this message with outlook desktop client changes the HTML and the organization of the images: the sizes and positions are modified, which makes the signature unreadable.

Have you tried to reply to yourself?

In order to further confirm if the issue is related to the current Outlook client, it's suggested that you could test on another computer and try to send the email with the same signature and check the signature in the reply email is displayed correct.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Lionel C 10 Reputation points

2023-04-13T11:46:56.71+00:00
Hi @ChristyZhang-MSFT , Thank you for your reply. Yes I did several tests on different environments. The problem is only under outlook desktop, whatever the computer used. When I reply to myself or when a person replies to me, my signature is transformed as shown in the photos above. I don't have this problem with gmail, outlook web client, etc. When I say standard CSS only, I mean that I don't use any type properties: -o- , -moz- , -webkit- , -ms- For example here is the html / css code involved in the display of the logo which changes size and especially position during an answer under outlook desktop. To work around this problem, I will end up using an image of my signature, which is an old and cumbersome method.

<td width="510px" valign="top" style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, sans-serif;height: 73px;"> <div style="display:inline-block; padding-top: 10px;"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 17pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, sans-serif; color: #037edd;"><strong>Lionel Cxxxx</strong></span> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: #000000;font-weight: bold;"><br>Director</span> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: #000000;font-weight: bold;">| Expert RGPD</span> </div> <div style="display: inline-block; padding-left: 16px;"> <span><img style="max-width: 110px;margin-top: 7px;" src="https://hogosolutions.com/email-signature/hogosolutions-logo-bleu.png"> </span> </div> </td>
41844108 306 Reputation points

2023-04-14T14:31:10.7333333+00:00

Also lets get our terms correct. Outlook ignores all CSS and is the only email client that backwards. This is why you can only use inline styles. Once I built a style-system using ruby/node/sass so I could use CSS and have the tool write the inline styles for me. Sort of a crazy workaround, but truthfully all email clients are pretty bad, Like Gmail can't get fonts correct. It's just Outlook is totally unpredictable. The thing is people expect to see broken styles in Outlook so you probably don't need to worry about it.
41844108 306 Reputation points

2023-04-14T14:33:15.2566667+00:00

this comment symbolizes a deleted comment

Answer 2

ChristyZhang-MSFT 26,126 Microsoft External Staff

Hi @Lionel C ,

Glad to hear you have found the workaround! And thanks for the sharing.

However, due to a recent update in forum policy, the question author now is not able to accept their own answers.

So I have written a brief summary of the solution this issue. Please feel free to accept it as the answer, which would benefit others who also has similar issues in forum.

Issue:

Outlook changes OP's html email signature when replying

Solution:

To work around this problem, OP will end up using an image of his signature.

Lionel C 10 Reputation points

2023-04-14T13:39:46.5733333+00:00

Hi @ChristyZhang-MSFT , Sorry, I misspoke. Of course this circumvention is possible. But it's an inelegant, cumbersome solution that I thought of from another time. I am happy to take advice to correct this code if possible. Why and how does Outlook desktop change the css/html of my signature when replying? It's very strange. Can you help me with this issue?
41844108 306 Reputation points

2023-04-14T14:36:09.92+00:00

I would love to know why MS can't retain an image when an email never even leaves Outlook. Of course having an image not break ever would be better, but maybe looking into not breaking signatures internally is a start.
ChristyZhang-MSFT 26,126 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2023-05-05T08:21:10.0266667+00:00

Hi @Lionel C ,

Thanks for your reply!

Looks like your issue is more related to the HTML code about your signature, please kindly understand that the Outlook tag here we mainly focus on general issues about Outlook desktop client and i know little about html design and development. I couldn't give you more advices about your signature itself. As a suggestion, you could try to search for any methods to change your signature html encoding to manage the size and margin of picture or switch other way to create your signature.

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Issue: Outlook changes my html email signature when replying

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