MS Outlook signatures disappeared or missing after Office update

Hi, Nedda,

I did not get that error message, but I'm thinking that if your signature is relatively easy to re-do (or maybe to copy-off and re-add), then getting rid of the old signature and re-adding one is not such a bad option.

I would ask you to check to see if you selected (highlighted) the specific signature name for the account to which you were assigning it. It may have given that message if none of the signatures in the list are selected.

Hi Nedda,

I agree that renaming a file is safer than editing the registry since you can just change the name back or you can even make a copy of the file/folder first. I did not get this error, but I did not rename any folders and I did not rename any files that had a folder with the same name. None of my signatures had a folder and Outlook created the folders for each signature after renaming the files and getting them back in Outlook.

What you should do next can be tricky depending on your level of Windows experience. There are different approaches to backing up your signatures (e.g., create a system restore point, make a copy of the Signature folder with a copy/paste, make a copy of the signature files/folders you're renaming using copy/paste) before you continue with renaming. It could also be that you do not need to rename your signature files that have a matching folder (do these show up in Outlook already?). I haven't had a chance to research what is happening with the Outlook update and the new Outlook preview for a good solid solution.

If you do nothing to try to fix this issue:

If your signatures are missing after an Outlook update, worst case is you go to the Insert tab > Signature > and select the signature to use. If your signatures are missing after upgrading to the new Outlook, I haven't been able to figure out how to get the missing signatures back in Outlook.

I have not tested the following and I cannot confirm that this will work. I cannot not confirm you won't lose all of your signatures if something goes wrong. Do the following at your risk. If the matching folders for your signature files do not contain "(YourEmailAddress)" in the folder name, you could try renaming the folders so they match the updated file names with the added email address. Presumably you could just rename the files and folders back or replace them with the backed up copies if you did that.

I wish I had better information for you. Good luck.

I think I agree with your suggestion to redo and edit signatures as needed, and be sure to assign an email address to each one. All but 3 of my signatures have no email address assigned, and those are the only ones I can see in the Outlook window when I try to edit my signatures. At least with this approach I don't have to edit the registry, which is a bit terrifying an idea, especially without specific instructions on how to do it in this instance.

I also want to comment here that I agree with all the people who are furious with Microsoft's high-handed attitude towards customers who use their products both for personal and business purposes. I'm rather furious with them on a regular basis for making changes without giving notice or options, and this one is a mega-monster. Having turned off all updates for Office, I don't think I'll turn it back on. I realize there can be other problems by doing this, but I'm fed up. I'm a one-person business and do all the computer/technical stuff myself, with a few exceptions, and I really don't have time to clean up messes that Microsoft makes, but I have no choice.

I'm also furious that the disk reorder takes place at some random time when the computer thinks I'm not using it. This is a big pet peeve of mine because my computer can become unavailable for hours at a time, and often when I really need it. What Microsoft thinks is "user friendly" is often very unfriendly for anyone with any technical knowledge. Taking control away from individuals to be "automated" eats up our time.

So many thanks to everyone who has used this forum to express their anger, frustration, and rage. I'm with you 1000%

Hi, Justin,

I can certainly backup the directory and then make whatever mess I choose in trying to fix things. The folders contain files that seem to be in code - .xml and other file types which I'm not qualified to edit.

Part of my problem is that many of my signatures contain specific links that are no longer valid because I just went live on a completely new website with new page urls, so they nearly all have to be edited to have new links. That's how I discovered this problem.

The only good news is that all the signatures are there while I edit an email, so I can at least see what's in each signature and make changes when writing emails until I get around to fixing everything.

Choosing new names for new versions is somewhat problematic, but I'll figure out a way to make it work, or I can delete the old files before creating a new one once I have a copy of the content. However, I have 30+ signatures, created to save me time. (Hahaha!)

Thanks for all your suggestions.

Same issue for me. Opening the link to signatures gives blank form. Also, default signature is not added automatically to new emails and to replies. Please restore this facility