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How to set an email signature for all users in Google Workspace

Google Workspace has no single setting for a personal, locked signature in Gmail. There are four ways to get close. This guide says what each can and cannot do, and walks through the two most admins do themselves.

Updated October 25, 2026 · 8 minute read · Checked against Google’s Admin Help and Gmail API documentation

The short answer

Google Workspace has no built-in setting that gives every user a personal Gmail signature. An admin can append one fixed footer per organizational unit in the Admin console, push a signature into each person’s Gmail settings with the Gmail API or GAM, or install a signature manager from the Google Workspace Marketplace. The footer takes ten minutes but carries no names and is invisible while writing; the API gives a real signature but needs a service account and a rerun on every change; a manager does it from the directory.

The rest of this page compares the four ways, walks through the two that admins do themselves, and ends with how to choose. Everything about Google’s own behaviour is taken from Google’s documentation, linked in the sources.

The four ways, compared

“A signature for all users” hides two different wishes: the same block of text under every email, or a real signature with each person’s own name, title and number that they see as they write. The table separates them.

  • People set their own

    Shows while writing
    Yes
    Each person’s name, title, phone
    Yes, typed by hand
    Users can change it
    Yes
    Images and layout
    Whatever they paste
    Internal mail
    Yes
    When someone joins or changes role
    They edit it, or they don’t
    Set-up
    Nothing for IT

  • Admin console footer

    Shows while writing
    No, added after Send
    Each person’s name, title, phone
    No, one text per organizational unit
    Users can change it
    No
    Images and layout
    Formatted text; images from a public web address; no HTML
    Internal mail
    External only, unless you tick a box
    When someone joins or changes role
    Nothing to change
    Set-up
    About ten minutes, Gmail Settings admin

  • Gmail API or GAM

    Shows while writing
    Yes
    Each person’s name, title, phone
    Yes, if your script fills them in
    Users can change it
    Yes, in Gmail settings, until you run it again
    Images and layout
    Full HTML
    Internal mail
    Yes
    When someone joins or changes role
    Run the script again
    Set-up
    Cloud project, service account, domain-wide delegation, a script

  • Signature manager

    Shows while writing
    Yes
    Each person’s name, title, phone
    Yes, from the directory
    Users can change it
    Yes, until the next sync rewrites it
    Images and layout
    Full HTML, images hosted for you
    Internal mail
    Yes
    When someone joins or changes role
    Follows the directory
    Set-up
    An admin connects once; check the vendor’s scopes
People set their ownAdmin console footerGmail API or GAMSignature manager
Shows while writingYesNo, added after SendYesYes
Each person’s name, title, phoneYes, typed by handNo, one text per organizational unitYes, if your script fills them inYes, from the directory
Users can change itYesNoYes, in Gmail settings, until you run it againYes, until the next sync rewrites it
Images and layoutWhatever they pasteFormatted text; images from a public web address; no HTMLFull HTMLFull HTML, images hosted for you
Internal mailYesExternal only, unless you tick a boxYesYes
When someone joins or changes roleThey edit it, or they don’tNothing to changeRun the script againFollows the directory
Set-upNothing for ITAbout ten minutes, Gmail Settings adminCloud project, service account, domain-wide delegation, a scriptAn admin connects once; check the vendor’s scopes

Option 2: push a signature with the Gmail API or GAM

Each Gmail user has a send-as setting per address, and that setting has an HTML signature field. Whatever you write there is what the person sees in Gmail’s own settings and under every new message they write. The Gmail API exposes it, so an admin with some scripting can fill it for everyone.

What it takes

  • The right scopes. Writing the signature needs gmail.settings.basic. Send-as aliases need gmail.settings.sharing as well, which Google limits to “administrative use only” through a service account with domain-wide delegation. Google classes both scopes as restricted.
  • Domain-wide delegation. The API acts as one user at a time, so to change other people’s settings you create a Google Cloud project and a service account, then grant it domain-wide delegation for those scopes in the Admin console under Security → Access and data control → API controls → Manage Domain Wide Delegation. A project used only inside your own organization can be marked Internal, which skips Google’s app verification.
  • Something that calls the API. A script in any language, Apps Script, or GAM, the command-line tool most Workspace admins already have.

With GAM

GAM’s signature command takes an HTML file and a list of replacements. With a CSV of your people, one line fills everyone’s signature from a template:

gam csv Users.csv gam user "~email" signature htmlfile SimpleSig.html replace FirstName "~first" replace Phone "~phone"

Here Users.csv has columns email, first and phone, and SimpleSig.html contains {FirstName} and {Phone} where the values go. The same command with all users in place of the CSV gives everyone an identical signature. The exact syntax is in the GAM wiki in the sources.

Option 3: let people set their own

For a team of ten this is reasonable: write one signature in Gmail, send everyone the text and a screenshot, and ask them to paste it under Settings → General → Signature. It costs IT nothing and it shows while writing.

Two things go wrong. The first is images: a logo stored in Google Drive only shows to recipients if the file is shared publicly, and sharing outside the organization has to be allowed in the Admin console first, so most people end up with a broken image icon or no logo at all. The second is time: within a few months the titles are old, the fonts have multiplied, and someone has added a quote.

Option 4: use a signature manager

Google’s own help page says that for organizations with many signatures, you can use apps from the Google Workspace Marketplace. A signature manager is option 2 with the script written for you and run for you: it reads names, titles and phone numbers from your Workspace directory, fills one approved template for each person, and writes the result to their Gmail settings. When the directory changes, the signature follows. Marketing gets banners and click counts on top.

What to check before you connect one

  • The exact scopes. A manager needs to read the directory and write Gmail signature settings. It does not need to read anyone’s mail; if it asks to, ask why.
  • Google’s verification. Because the Gmail settings scopes are restricted, the vendor should have passed Google’s OAuth verification and security assessment, or tell you plainly where they are in that process.
  • Where the data lives, how long it is kept after you disconnect, and how you revoke access from your side.
  • Who can change the template. The point is that only the people you choose can.

Where Signifier fits

Signifier is this kind of tool, built for Google Workspace only. An admin connects it once; it reads the directory, keeps every Gmail signature on the company template, and lets marketing schedule banners without a ticket. The security page lists exactly what it can and cannot reach and where it stands with Google’s verification, and there is a free plan for small teams. Get started if that is the problem you have.

Which one to use

  • You need a legal line under every email, and nothing personal: the Admin console footer. Ten minutes, done.
  • Up to about ten people and no one minds a little drift: send a template and let them paste it.
  • You are comfortable with GAM and the team changes rarely: the Gmail API route, on a schedule, with a CSV you keep current.
  • The team is growing, titles change, and the brand matters, or marketing wants banners: a signature manager, after checking its scopes and verification.

Whichever you pick, send one test message to an outside address and open it in Gmail, Outlook and on a phone before you tell the company it is done.

Questions admins ask

Can the Admin console footer include each person's name or job title?
No. The Append footer setting holds one block of text per organizational unit and has no fields for the sender's name, title or phone number. Everyone in the unit sends the same footer. For a signature with personal details you need the Gmail API, GAM or a signature manager.
Why don't people see the footer while they write an email?
Google adds the footer on its servers after the message is sent, so it is not part of the draft. Google's help page says users don't see the footer while writing and can't change or remove it.
Does the footer go on internal email too?
By default the footer is added only to messages sent to recipients outside your organization. The setting has a checkbox to append it to internal messages as well.
Can I stop users from editing their Gmail signature?
There is no Admin console setting that locks the Gmail signature field. A footer cannot be edited by users, but it is not a signature. A signature written through the Gmail API or GAM can be edited in Gmail settings and stays edited until you write it again; most signature managers write it again on their next sync.
Will a signature set through the Gmail API show in the Gmail app on phones?
The Gmail API describes the signature as the one used for messages composed in the Gmail web UI. The Gmail apps for Android and iPhone have their own signature settings. Send a test from a phone before you tell everyone it is done.
How long does a footer change take to appear?
Google says changes can take up to 24 hours but typically happen sooner. Test by sending a message to an address outside your domain.

Sources

Read on October 25, 2026. If Google’s pages have changed since, they win.

The fourth way, without the script

If you read this far for the GAM route, Signifier does the same job from one template: filled from the directory, assigned by org unit and group, written into every Gmail account, and rewritten when someone edits a locked part.

Start freeWhat it can reach

Free for up to 5 people. Keep the footer or the script for as long as you need to compare.