How to Fix HTML Email Signature Not Showing in Gmail

Amy Lockwood
Amy Lockwood
Co-Founder & Head of App and Web Design (15+ Years Experience)
Updated On: Jul 11, 2025
Gmail

Why Your Gmail Signature Isn't Displaying and How to Fix It

How to Fix HTML Email Signature Not Showing in Gmail

Gmail signature problems affect millions of users daily, with the most common issues being complete signature disappearance, partial loading, or formatting destruction. This comprehensive guide addresses every known Gmail signature problem and provides tested solutions.

Related resources:

Common Gmail Signature Problems

Signature completely missing: This typically occurs due to Gmail's character limit (10,000 characters), corrupted signature data, or browser cache issues. Users often discover their signature has vanished after browser updates or Gmail interface changes.

Images showing as attachments: Gmail automatically converts improperly formatted images to attachments when the HTML structure is incorrect or when using base64 encoding. This affects professional appearance and can create confusion for recipients.

Formatting broken on mobile: The Gmail mobile app strips many CSS properties and converts signatures to plain text in certain conditions, causing carefully designed signatures to appear as unformatted text blocks.

Character limit exceeded: Gmail's 10,000 character limit includes all HTML markup, not just visible text. Complex signatures with extensive styling often exceed this limit without users realizing it.

Create, manage and deploy HTML email signatures for your team without any IT setup or tech knowledge!

FLYBY Signature
AUTHOR Signature
RAISE Signature
See Templates
No items found.

Step-by-Step Gmail Signature Troubleshooting

For missing signatures:

  1. Open Gmail settings by clicking the gear icon and selecting "See all settings"
  2. Navigate to the "General" tab and scroll to the signature section
  3. Check if your signature exists but is not selected for new emails or replies
  4. If completely missing, check your browser's saved passwords and autofill data
  5. Clear browser cache and cookies specifically for Gmail
  6. Try accessing Gmail in an incognito window to test without extensions

Professional testing solution: Users of Email Signature Rescue can request comprehensive testing of their email signature across all major email clients, including Gmail's various interfaces (web, mobile app, and different browsers). This testing service helps identify display issues before they affect professional communications.

For character limit issues:

  1. Copy your signature HTML to a character counting tool
  2. Remove unnecessary whitespace and line breaks in the code
  3. Optimize image sizes and use external hosting instead of base64 encoding
  4. Simplify CSS by removing redundant properties
  5. Consider using Gmail's rich text editor instead of HTML for basic signatures

Automated character counting: Email Signature Rescue and SigStudio both include built-in character count features that automatically monitor HTML character usage while designing signatures. This helps ensure Gmail compatibility during the design process rather than discovering character limit issues after creation.

Learn more:

No items found.
Email Signature Template 1
Email Signature Template 2
100+ Professional Templates

Stand Out with Beautiful Email Signatures

Create professional email signatures that make a lasting impression. Easy to customize, easy to install in Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail + 60 more email clients, apps and CRM.

Find Your Email Signature

Prevention and Maintenance

Regular signature backup: Copy your working signature HTML to a text file before making changes. Gmail's undo feature has limitations, and signature data can be lost during updates.

Centralized signature management: For businesses, Email Signature Rescue and SigStudio offer centralized signature management that automatically deploys consistent signatures across all employee Gmail accounts, eliminating individual setup requirements and ensuring brand consistency.

Testing protocol: Always send test emails to multiple email clients before deploying new signatures. Use services like Litmus or Email on Acid for comprehensive testing, or request a test through your Email Signature Rescue or SigStudio account, that checks signature compatibility across 60+ email clients.

Additional resources:

Amy Lockwood is the Co-Founder of Email Signature Rescue with over a decade of experience in HTML email signatures for 60+ email clients, apps and CRM software including Outlook, Gmail, Apple Mail. She is the Head Designer of the Email Signature Rescue apps and website.

📩 Need help with your HTML email signatures? Contact Amy at emailsignaturerescue.com.

Ready to transform your email signatures?

FLYBY Signature
AUTHOR Signature
RAISE Signature
See Templates
OUR AWESOME CLIENTS

We work with
the best clients

Join our community of satisfied clients who trust us to create, host, manage and deploy their HTML email signatures.

4.8
Trustpilot Rating
200k+
Users Rescued
30M+
Hours Saved
10+
Years in the Business
1.1M+
Images Hosted