--- title: "Fixing missing or duplicate Outlook signatures (roaming signatures)" slug: "how-to-troubleshoot-outlook-roaming-signatures-missing-or-duplicate-signatures" description: "Fix missing, outdated, or duplicate signatures in Outlook for Windows caused by roaming signatures: turn the feature off, then recreate your signatures." updated: 2026-10-14T00:00:00.000Z canonical: "https://help.opensense.com/docs/how-to-troubleshoot-outlook-roaming-signatures-missing-or-duplicate-signatures" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.opensense.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Fixing missing or duplicate Outlook signatures (roaming signatures) ## Overview Missing, outdated, or duplicate signatures in Outlook for Windows are most likely caused by Outlook roaming signatures. This Microsoft feature stores signatures in the mailbox instead of on the device, so they're available on every device where the account is set up. It applies to Outlook for Windows (build 2303 or later) with Microsoft 365 mailboxes, and it directly affects the signature settings in Outlook for Windows. To fix the problem and restore missing signatures, [turn off roaming signatures](#disable-outlook-roaming-signatures), and then [recreate the missing signatures](#recreate-missing-signatures-by-copying-their-contents) by copying their contents. :::tip[Avoid this with Opensense] You can avoid similar problems with [Opensense Email Signatures](https://www.opensense.com). You manage your signatures centrally, to keep them 100% consistent across all end users, and get many additional features that Outlook doesn't offer natively. ::: ## Symptoms You see at least one of these issues with email signatures in Outlook for Windows: - Your email signatures have suddenly disappeared. - You see signatures you set up long ago, instead of your current ones. - Other users' signatures are synced, and set as the default for a mailbox that you use. This most often affects shared mailboxes. - Your signatures are listed under **Signatures on this device**, but you can't use them with any email account, or apply them to new emails, replies, or forwards as usual. In some cases, the signatures are duplicated. ![The Signatures and Stationery window with E-mail account set to Signatures on this device, duplicated signatures in the list, and empty default signature boxes](https://help.opensense.com/media/troubleshootoutlook1-fcb617c1e4b5.png) ## How to fix it ### Disable Outlook roaming signatures You turn off roaming signatures in the Windows registry, by creating a DWORD value named `DisableRoamingSignatures` and setting it to `1`. Where you create it depends on who you are:
Users, on their own PC
In the registry, under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Setup.
IT admins, for many PCs
Remotely and centrally, with a Group Policy Object (GPO), under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Setup.
For Microsoft's instructions, see [Outlook roaming signatures](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/outlook-roaming-signatures-420c2995-1f57-4291-9004-8f6f97c54d15). After you turn off the feature, restart Outlook for Windows to restore the missing signatures. Then go on to the next step. ### Recreate missing signatures by copying their contents You recreate missing signatures from the signature files on your PC, which you open in File Explorer. 1. In Outlook for Windows, go to **File** > **Options**. 2. In the **Outlook Options** window, go to the **Mail** tab, hold down **Ctrl**, and select **Signatures**. The folder with your signatures opens in File Explorer. ![Outlook Options with the Mail tab and the Signatures button highlighted](https://help.opensense.com/media/troubleshootoutlook2-3af823f71a57.png) 3. Open either the RTF or the HTML file of one of your signatures. Either one works. ![The Signatures folder in File Explorer, with the HTML and RTF files of one signature highlighted](https://help.opensense.com/media/troubleshootoutlook3-6ddeddc77988.png) 4. In the file that opens, select all of the signature content (**Ctrl + A**), and copy it (**Ctrl + C**). 5. Go back to Outlook for Windows, and select **Signatures** again, this time without holding down **Ctrl**. If you closed Outlook, repeat steps 1 and 2, without holding down **Ctrl** when you select **Signatures**. 6. Choose your email account (if you use multiple accounts in Outlook), select **New**, name the signature, and select **OK**. You can't give two signatures the same name, so name the new signature differently from the old (missing) one. ![The Signatures and Stationery window with an email account selected, and the New Signature dialog with a name entered](https://help.opensense.com/media/troubleshootoutlook4-317bbd8f3fc9.png) 7. In the **Edit signature** box, paste the signature content you copied in step 4 (**Ctrl + V**), and then select **Save**, just below the box. 8. Set the signature as the default for new messages, replies and forwards, or both, as you prefer (at the bottom of the window). ![The recreated signature in the Edit signature box, set as the default for new messages](https://help.opensense.com/media/troubleshootoutlook5-e5f6efd5a22b.png) 9. Repeat steps 3 to 8 to recreate your other missing signatures. 10. Select **OK** to close the **Signatures and Stationery** window and apply your changes. You can now use your email signatures as usual, just as you did before Outlook roaming signatures. ## What's next - [Disable existing Microsoft Outlook signatures using a Group Policy (GPO)](https://help.opensense.com/docs/disable-existing-microsoft-outlook-signatures-using-a-group-policy-gpo) - [Disable email signatures in Outlook for Windows using Intune](https://help.opensense.com/docs/how-to-disable-email-signatures-in-outlook-for-windows-using-intune) - [How does Opensense work with Microsoft 365?](https://help.opensense.com/docs/how-does-opensense-work-with-office-365)