Plain Text Email Signature

A plain text email signature is a signature composed only of plain text characters with no HTML, images, or formatting. Plain text signatures are required in two contexts: the plain-text part of multipart/alternative email (which most well-formed emails include as a fallback for clients that cannot render HTML, including some accessibility tools and command-line mail clients), and as the entire signature when the sender prefers minimal presentation or sends through systems that strip HTML. Plain text signatures use ASCII characters only, typically the RFC 3676 dash-dash-space delimiter at the top, then name, title, contact details, and optionally an unbranded URL or plain-text disclaimer. They cannot include logos, photos, or styled typography. Senior engineers in some open-source communities and academics in certain disciplines prefer plain text signatures as a cultural marker of technical minimalism. Most professional signature platforms generate both HTML and plain text versions of every signature in parallel so the multipart/alternative email is well-formed.