Someone has the wrong signature
Almost always a rule, occasionally a cache. Here is how to tell which in under a minute.
- Last updated
- 6 minute read
- Troubleshooting
- Rules
Signed always uses the same logic, so a wrong signature has a definite cause. The fastest route to it is the person's own preview, which names the rule that decided.
Start with the person
- Find them in Users and preview their signature.
- Read which signature and which rule produced it. That single line turns a mystery into a specific rule.
- If the named rule is not the one you expected, go to Rules and look at its priority.
User A
Details from your directory, last synced today.
Display name
User AJob title
Head of OperationsDepartment
OperationsMobile
+44 7700 900123Her signature today
User A
Head of Operations, Your Company
- +44 20 7946 0321
- user.a@domain.com
- domain.com
Open evening
Come and see us on 16 October
Built from Leadership, chosen by the rule Person: User A.
The usual causes
| Symptom | Usual cause |
|---|---|
| A whole team gets another team's signature | A domain rule sits above the department rules and matches everyone |
| One person is the odd one out | A named-person rule for them sits above the team rule, or should |
| Someone matched nothing and got the default | Their department in Signed does not match the spelling in the rule |
| Everyone's signature changed overnight | Someone swapped the default, or edited the design the default points at |
| It was right yesterday | Check the audit log. It will name the person and the change |
Watch out: A department renamed in Microsoft 365 arrives as a new department. Any rule still matching the old name quietly stops matching, and those people fall back to the default.
If it is only wrong in Outlook
The add-in fetches the signature when a message is opened, so a message that was open before your change keeps the old one. If Signed couldn't be reached, the add-in uses its last saved copy, which can also be out of date.
- The deploy page preview is always current. If that is right and Outlook is wrong, it's an older message or a saved copy.
- A fresh message shows the new signature.
- Check for changes in the Signed pane asks for it again straight away.
Fixing it without breaking something else
- Change one rule's priority, or repoint one rule, and nothing else.
- Preview the person who was wrong.
- Preview someone else who matched the rule you just changed, to confirm they still get what they should.
- Check the reach counts on both signatures. They tell you the change landed where you meant it to.
Tip: Renumbering every rule at once is how a small fix turns into a large incident. Move one number, check two people, and stop.
Related articles
- How Signed decides who gets which signatureThe one decision Signed makes on every email: which signature to use. Here is the logic, in order.
- Test your rules before you rely on themFour checks that catch a rule pointing at the wrong signature before anyone notices in Outlook.
- The audit logEvery change, who made it and when, including changes made through the API.
Something here out of date, or a step that did not work? Tell us and we will fix the article. Every page is checked against the running product, so corrections are welcome.