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How to add a digital business card to your email signature

Add it as a text link rather than an image. Signature images are blocked by default in most email clients, so a QR code pasted into a signature is frequently invisible to the person receiving it.

Takes: Five minutes

Use a Link, Not a QR Code

This is the whole decision, and most guides get it backwards. A QR code in an email signature asks the reader to pick up a second device and point it at the first, which nobody does. Worse, it is an image, and Outlook and Gmail both block remote images by default until the reader clicks to show them, so the code is often not there at all. A text link is always visible, works on the device the email is already open on, and is one tap.

Gmail

  1. 1

    Open Settings, then See all settings

    The gear icon at the top right. The signature editor is on the General tab.

  2. 2

    Select the text you want to link

    Something plain: your name, or a short phrase. Avoid writing out the address in full, which ages badly in a signature.

  3. 3

    Insert the link

    Use the link button in the signature toolbar and paste your card address.

  4. 4

    Save changes at the bottom of the page

    Gmail does not save the signature automatically, and this is the step people miss.

Outlook

  1. 5

    Open signature settings

    In new Outlook and on the web: Settings, then Compose and reply. In classic Outlook: File, Options, Mail, Signatures.

  2. 6

    Add the link to your chosen text

    The link button is in the signature editing toolbar.

  3. 7

    Check which signature applies to replies

    Outlook sets new messages and replies separately, so a signature can appear on one and not the other.

Apple Mail

  1. 8

    Open Mail, then Settings, then Signatures

    On iPhone it is in the Mail section of the system Settings app instead.

  2. 9

    Paste the address and let it link itself

    Apple Mail turns a pasted web address into a link automatically.

  3. 10

    Turn off Always match my default message font if the formatting breaks

    That setting is a frequent cause of a signature that looks wrong only in sent mail.

Why This Is Worth Doing at All

A signature is the one piece of contact information you hand out dozens of times a week without thinking about it, and it is also the one that goes stale soonest. Pointing it at a card you can edit means a change of number or title fixes every future email at once, and the link already sitting in hundreds of old threads keeps resolving to the current version.

Common questions

Should I put a QR code in my email signature?

Generally no. It is an image, and most email clients block images by default, so it is often invisible. A text link is always visible and works on the device the email is open on.

Will the link still work in old emails after I change my details?

Yes, as long as the link points at a card rather than at the details themselves. The address stays the same and the card behind it is what changes.

Does adding a link to my signature affect deliverability?

A single ordinary link does not. Several links, tracking pixels and large images in a signature together can, which is a reason to keep a signature short.

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