How to Backup and Restore Signatures in Outlook 2013?

If you are using Outlook 2013 and sending multiple e-mails on a daily basis, then you must be using email signatures as a personal stamp to your mails. At a professional front, maintaining signatures in your e-mail is a very important virtual gesture in order to keep your recipient comfortable and informed about your identity.

You tend to make many signatures in Outlook to be used in different types of e-mails. But if you switch to a new machine and have got your outlook configured on it then you don’t get your signatures as pst-file. In Outlook, signatures are not saved in the.pst file, rather these get stored in C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Signatures if you are using Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8. But if you are using Windows XP then the signatures get stored in C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Microsoft\Signatures.

Hence, you have to create backup for all your signatures and then restore them on your new machine, once the Outlook has been configured on it. It is very simple and easy to preserve your Outlook signatures and restore those on your new machine.

The following tutorial will guide you on how to create backup for signatures and restore those in Outlook 2013.

How to Create Backup for Signatures in Outlook 2013?

To create backup of the signatures you need to perform the following steps:

• Launch your Outlook 2013
• Click on ‘File’ and then select ‘Options’
• Under ‘Options’ select ‘Mail’ and then press the ‘Ctrl’ button in the keyboard and simultaneously click the ‘Signatures’ button
• This will take you through the path: \Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Signatures, and the Signatures folder will open in the Windows Explorer.
• Now copy all the files under this location and save it in a new location to keep the backup for your signatures. Don’t forget to properly name the backup folder.
• Note that each signature that you have created in Outlook 2013 exists in three formats: Plain Text (.txt), HTML (.htm), and Rich Text (.rtf). When you need to create backup, you need to copy and save all the three formats for each signature.

How to Restore Signatures in Outlook 2013?

Once you get your Outlook configured on your new system and you want to restore the signatures from the backup folders then perform the following steps.

• Import the backup folder of the Outlook signatures in your new system either through a USB device or web mail or any other means.
• Now, launch the Outlook on your new system
• Click on ‘File’ and then on ‘Options’
• Under ‘Options’ select Mail’ and then press the ‘Ctrl’ button in the keyboard and simultaneously click the ‘Signatures’ button.
• This will take you through the path: \Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Signatures, and the Signatures folder will open in the Windows Explorer.
• Now copy all the signature files from the backup folders and paste these on the location under \Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Signatures.
• Note that each signature in the backup folder will exist in three formats: Plain Text (.txt), HTML (.htm), and Rich Text (.rtf). So, while transforming the signature files from backup folder to the Outlook folder, remember to copy and save all the three formats for each signature.
• Next time when you will open Outlook, your saved signatures will be available for use.

Once you learn these tips and tricks, you never have to lose any of the signatures you have created, as now you properly know and understand where these signatures get saved, how you can create backup for those and how you can restore those in your new machine.

About the Author: Brooke M. Perry is an ardent technician associated with Qresolve computer virus removal with wide experience of fixing issues with PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones. With a strong track record of devising effective ways of internet security and system security, she has so far helped thousands of users across the globe.

Brooke M. Perry is an ardent technician associated with Qresolve computer security, with wide experience of fixing issues with PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones.