Team Signatures
How to fully automate email signatures
A fully automated signature setup is three things: your directory connected under Integrations, Auto install turned on for that connection, and a template whose per person fields fill themselves from directory data. With those in place, new hires, promotions, rebrands, and scheduled banners reach inboxes without anyone opening SyncSignature. It is close to set it and forget it, with a short list of jobs that still need a person. The biggest one: on Microsoft 365 an admin still assigns each new hire to a group, because organizational unit to group sync is Google Workspace only.
What runs itself and what needs a person
The automation is not identical on both platforms.
| Job | Google Workspace | Microsoft 365 |
|---|---|---|
| A new hire gets a signature | Automatic. Their organizational unit syncs as a group, and a default group catches the rest | Manual. An admin assigns the teammate to a group |
| A template edit reaches inboxes | Automatic with Auto install on | Automatic. The Outlook add-in picks up the current signature at compose time |
| Newly synced users get the signature installed | Automatic with Auto install on | Automatic with Auto install on |
| A directory field changes | Automatic on the next sync | Automatic on the next sync |
| A banner starts and stops | Automatic on the dates you set | Automatic on the dates you set |
Auto install is off by default on both platforms, and it is set once per integration rather than per group. Until you turn it on, signatures still generate and directory changes still sync, but somebody has to open the group and click Install signature to get a new or updated signature into Gmail. On Microsoft 365 the add-in keeps stamping the current signature at compose time either way.
Before you start
| Requirement | Where it lives | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Owner or Manager role | Your SyncSignature workspace | A Teammate cannot connect an integration or edit a template |
| Google Workspace super admin, or a Microsoft 365 Global Administrator | Your admin console | Needed once, at connection time |
| At least one saved template | TEMPLATES | 100 to start from, or save an existing signature |
| A group for each way your signatures differ | GROUPS | Plus one to act as the default |
| The SyncSignature Outlook add-in, Microsoft 365 only | Microsoft 365 admin center | Approved through Centralized Deployment. Microsoft takes 6 to 12 hours to push it |
Set it up once, in this order
- Connect the directory under Integrations. Google Workspace needs the Marketplace app connected by a super admin. Microsoft 365 needs Microsoft Graph consent plus the Outlook add-in, a second and separate grant. Full steps: install email signatures to Google Workspace and install email signatures to Microsoft 365.
- Select the organizational units or groups you want to sync. On Google Workspace this selection decides where a new hire lands later, so scope it deliberately.
- Turn on Auto install. An option on the integration under Integrations, set once per integration rather than per group. It covers both halves: template edits install themselves, and newly synced users install themselves. Nobody clicks Install signature again.
- Build the template with merge tags. In TEMPLATES, lock what must stay identical company wide and leave per person fields dynamic so directory data fills them:
{{name}},{{title}},{{department}},{{phone}}, and{{photo}}. - Assign a template to each group. The template to group link is what generates signatures.
- Set a default group. The step people skip, and the one that makes new hires reliable. A user whose organizational unit is not one you selected still gets a signature.
What happens on its own afterwards
A new hire on Google Workspace. The account is created, the next sync picks it up, and the teammate lands in the group matching their organizational unit, or in the default group. The signature generates and, with Auto install on, installs into Gmail. No re-import, no manual group add. This is a directory read, not SCIM provisioning: it creates the signature, not a login, so invite them separately if they need to edit their own details. See directory sync for email signatures.
A promotion or a title change. Change the job title in Google Workspace or Entra ID. The merge tag resolves to the new value on the next sync and the signature regenerates.
A rebrand. Edit the template once. Every signature in every linked group rebuilds, and with Auto install on it reaches Gmail without anyone opening a group. Microsoft 365 users get it at their next compose.
A scheduled banner campaign. Set a start date and an end date. The banner activates and deactivates itself, so a seasonal promotion does not need anyone to remember to take it down. Adding a banner to your signature covers the build.
A departure. Disable the account in your directory. A disabled user stops producing signatures.
Everything lands within 5 to 10 minutes on the SyncSignature side, plus whatever delay Google or Microsoft adds.
What still needs a person
These jobs stay manual.
- Microsoft 365 group assignment for new hires. Organizational unit to group auto-sync is Google Workspace only. On Entra ID a new hire imports with their profile fields, but an admin assigns the group before a signature exists.
- Deciding which fields stay locked. No automation can tell you whether the office phone number is a brand decision or a personal one. That call is yours, per field.
- Anything only the teammate knows. A personal booking link or direct mobile has to come from the person who has it, which means inviting them to log in.
- Reviewing what teammates change. SyncSignature has no approval queue. A field you leave dynamic goes live the moment a teammate edits it. If a wrong value would be a brand or legal problem, lock the field instead.
- Removing a leaver's teammate record. Disabling the account in your directory stops the signature, but the teammate record stays in TEAMMATES until you delete it, and that record is what counts against your seats.
Common issues and fixes
| Issue | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| A new hire on Google Workspace has no signature | Their OU is not selected, and no default group is set | Select the OU on the connection under Integrations, or set a default group |
| A new hire on Microsoft 365 has no signature | Entra ID group membership does not auto-assign a SyncSignature group | Add them to a group in GROUPS. The signature generates on assignment, then turn on Auto install, or install that teammate from inside the group |
| A template edit has not reached Gmail | Auto install is off, the default | Turn on Auto install under Integrations. To push the current edit now, open the group, select all users, and click Install signature |
| Auto install is on but a Microsoft 365 user has no signature in Outlook | The add-in was never deployed, or Microsoft is still pushing it | Approve it through Centralized Deployment, then allow the 6 to 12 hour window |
| A banner is still showing after its end date | Normal propagation delay | Allow 5 to 10 minutes, plus your provider's own delay |
| A teammate changed a field you wanted fixed | The field is dynamic, and there is no approval queue | Open the template, set that field to static, and save |
Related articles
- Install email signatures to Google Workspace covers the connection, the scopes, and Auto install.
- Install email signatures to Microsoft 365 covers the two grants and the add-in window.
- Invite a teammate using Google Directory explains how organizational units sync as groups.
- What are dynamic variables covers merge tags and when to lock a field.
Still stuck? Email support@syncsignature.com and include your directory provider and the email address of one new hire whose signature did not generate.