Exchange email signature management for Exchange Online and hybrid tenants
Exchange can stamp a disclaimer on every message leaving the organization, and for a legal footer that is a reasonable tool. It is not a way to manage a company's signatures. AutoSignature writes a personalized signature onto every Exchange Online mailbox from one template, and this page sets the two side by side, including what happens in a hybrid tenant.
Flat price from $99 a month. Build a signature in the console on this page without an account.
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Mail flow rules
What a transport rule does well
- It applies to every message that leaves the organisation, from every client, including phones and devices nobody manages.
- It cannot be removed by the sender, which is what a compliance team wants from a disclaimer.
- It needs no directory mapping, because it is the same text for everyone in scope.
Where a transport rule falls short as a signature
- The sender never sees it: the compose window and Sent Items show the message without it.
- It appends below the quoted text, so replies collect a column of repeated disclaimers.
- Per-person data is limited to a few directory attributes and the formatting options are basic.
- It is skipped when a message is encrypted, so the mail that most needs the disclaimer often goes without it.
- Images and layout are fragile, because the block is inserted into a message that is already composed.
Keep the rule, add the signature
A common arrangement is to keep one mail flow rule for the legal disclaimer and let AutoSignature own the visible signature. The two do not conflict: AutoSignature writes to the mailbox before the message is composed, and the rule stamps on the way out.
- The sender sees their signature while writing, and so does the recipient, under the message rather than under the thread.
- Directory fields fill per person: name, title, department, phone, office, photo.
- Groups by department, office, country or entity, with a preview before each rollout.
- Disclaimer rules are also available inside the template, per country and entity, on Business and above, if you would rather retire the transport rule.
Hybrid and on-premises
Mailboxes that have not moved yet
A hybrid tenant with part of the company on Exchange Server and part in Exchange Online is common, and it can last years. Mailboxes in Exchange Online are managed the way the Office 365 email signature management page describes. Mailboxes still on premises keep their current arrangement, and the same template set is what you deploy to them as they migrate, so the design decision is made once rather than twice.
What to check before you plan the rollout
- Which mailboxes are already in Exchange Online, and which are pending migration.
- Which mail flow rules exist today, and which of them are disclaimers rather than routing.
- Whether encrypted mail is in scope for the disclaimer requirement, because that is where the rule is skipped.
- Which groups need their own wording, by country or entity.
The compliance side in detail is on the email disclaimer software page.