Communicating by e-mail has developed its own style and format, which tend to be fairly informal. This informal communication can be very different from written or printed letters, especially business letters. Adding a salutation to a message is not always necessary or expected in e-mail messages. However, you can still include traditional salutations if you want. Salutations, such as greetings, and courtesy titles, such as Sir, Mrs., or Mr., can be included in the body of any message.

On the other hand, perhaps you are thinking of salutations in ways that don't have direct parallels in e-mail. Do you want recipients to see what the message is about before they open it? Do you want to have a specific closing included automatically in your messages? Maybe you want to use traditional letter salutations and page formatting in e-mail messages? If so, see if any of the following can help:

Add introductory text to the Subject line

Include a signature automatically in outgoing messages

     Create and insert a signature for outgoing messages

     How can I tell if Word is my e-mail editor?

     Create a signature by using Word as your e-mail editor

     Create a signature by using Outlook as your e-mail editor

Insert a signature in a message

     Automatically insert a signature in all new messages or in all messages that you reply to or forward

     Manually insert a signature in an individual message by using Word as your e-mail editor

Use a letter template in an Outlook message

Add introductory text to the Subject line

You can add introductory text to the Subject line of a message. This information is generally visible in a recipient's Inbox before the message is opened, giving the recipient an idea of what the message is about. When you create a new message, you can type whatever information you want as the Subject line.

• In Outlook, open a new message, and in the Subject line, type the text that you want.

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Include a signature automatically in outgoing messages

An e-mail signature consists of text and or pictures, or both, that are automatically added at the end of an outgoing message.

You can include any text that you want, such as personal or business contact information, in a custom signature that you create. You choose the text, formatting, and style of the information.

Create and insert a signature for outgoing messages

The way that you create and insert a signature depends on which e-mail editor you are using, Outlook or Word.

 Note   Microsoft Office Word 2003, the default e-mail editor for Outlook 2003, offers more formatting and style options than does Outlook. When you use Word as your e-mail editor, e-mail names and Internet addresses are automatically converted to hyperlinks.

How can I tell if Word is my e-mail editor?

1. In the main Outlook window, on the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Mail Format tab.
2. If Word is your e-mail editor, the Use Microsoft Office Word 2003 to edit e-mail messages check box is selected.

Word not only offers more as an e-mail editor, it also offers more capabilities for creating signatures, such as adding pictures or additional formatting. And if you create a signature in Word, the signature is automatically added to your outgoing messages, just as the signatures created in Outlook are.

Create a signature by using Word as your e-mail editor

1. In Outlook, in a new message, on the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the General tab.
2. Click E-mail Options, and then click the E-mail Signature tab.
3. In the Type the title of your e-mail signature or choose from the list box, type a name for your signature.
4. Under Create your e-mail signature, insert the text or pictures, or both, that you want to use for a signature. Use the formatting tools to apply formatting to your text.
5. Click Add.

Create a signature by using Outlook as your e-mail editor

1. In the main Outlook window, on the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Mail Format tab.
2. In the Compose in this message format list, click the message format that you want to use the signature with.
3. Under Signatures, click Signatures, and then click New.
4. In the Enter a name for your new signature box, type a name.
5. Under Choose how to create your signature, select the option that you want.
6. Click Next.
7. In the Signature text box, type the text that you want to include in the signature.
8. To change the paragraph or font format, select the text, click Font or Paragraph, and then select the options that you want.

    Note   These options are not available if you use plain text as your message format.

9. Click Finish when you are done editing the new signature.

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Insert a signature in a message

After you create a signature, you need to set up Outlook to insert the signature into your outgoing messages.

Automatically insert a signature in all new messages or in all messages that you reply to or forward

1. In the main Outlook window, on the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Mail Format tab.
2. In the Compose in this message format list, click the message format that you want to use the signature with.
3. Under Signatures, select an e-mail account, and then choose the signatures that you want to use for new messages and for replies and forwards. You can use a different signature for each.

Manually insert a signature in an individual message by using Word as your e-mail editor

1. In the open message, click where you want to insert the signature in the message body.
2. On the Insert menu, point to AutoText, point to Signature, and then click the signature that you want to use.

 Notes 

• When you use Word as your e-mail editor, the signature that you can insert manually is AutoText that comes from the name and information that you typed when you installed Microsoft Office. To view the information in Word, on the Tools menu, click Options, and then click User Information.
• When you use Word as your e-mail editor and you have Outlook automatically apply your signature to messages that you send, forward, or reply to, the signature comes from the e-mail signature that you created in one of the following places:
  • In Word, on the Tools menu, click Options, click General, and then click E-mail Options.
  • In Outlook, on the Tools menu, click Options, click Mail Format, and then click Signatures.

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Use a letter template in an Outlook message

If you want to create an e-mail message with a more traditional business (or other) type of formatting, you can either type it yourself or use a template. Word has many downloadable templates that can be conveniently used in the body of Outlook messages.

Using Word letter templates, you can build on and customize a variety of standard, classic, and cutting-edge letter formats and subjects.

 Note   To use the Word templates, you must be using Word as your e-mail editor. Word 2003 is the default e-mail editor in Outlook 2003.

How can I tell if Word is my e-mail editor?

1. In the main Outlook window, on the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Mail Format tab.
2. If Word is your e-mail editor, the Use Microsoft Office Word 2003 to edit e-mail messages check box is selected.

Find out more about using Word templates in Outlook messages.

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