WD2002: E-mail Signatures in Word Mail Messages Behave Differently in Word 2002 (275967)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Word 2002
This article was previously published under Q275967

SYMPTOMS

When you use Microsoft Word 2002 as your e-mail editor with Microsoft Outlook 2002, you experience the following symptoms:
  • When you type the title of the e-mail signature, you do not see a ToolTip displaying the signature.

    -and-

  • When you press ENTER after you type the e-mail signature title, the signature is not automatically inserted into your message.

    -and-

  • When you right-click the e-mail signature, you do not see a shortcut menu that gives you the option of selecting either a different signature or the E-mail Signature command that opens the E-mail Options dialog box.

    -and-

  • The signature does not automatically appear in your e-mail message when you click the E-mail button on the Standard toolbar in Word. Note that the e-mail signature automatically appears in messages that you create from Outlook.
This behavior occurs with e-mail signatures created in Word 2002. It does not occur with signatures that were created in an earlier version of Word that was upgraded to Word 2002.

CAUSE

E-mail signatures that you create in Word 2002 are stored in Outlook, not in Word. In Word 2000, e-mail signatures are stored as AutoText entries in Word. When you upgrade Word 2000 to Word 2002, the AutoText entries retain the characteristics they have in the earlier version of Word.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem in part, you can create your e-mail signatures as AutoText entries in Word. To see the ToolTip and have the signature automatically expand when you press ENTER, follow these steps:
  1. Type the signature that you want to use.
  2. Select the signature.
  3. On the Insert menu, point to AutoText, and then click New.
  4. In the Create AutoText dialog box, type the unique name that you want to use for your AutoText entry, and then click OK.
To have the e-mail signature automatically appear in your message when you create a new message, create the message by using Outlook rather than Word. To create a default signature that Outlook uses, follow these steps:
  1. Start Word.
  2. On the Tools menu, click Options.
  3. Click the General tab.
  4. Click E-mail Options.
  5. Click the E-mail Signature tab, and then follow these steps:
    1. In the Type the title of your e-mail signature or choose from the list box, type a unique name for the signature that you want to create.
    2. In the Create your e-mail signature box, type the signature that you want to appear on your e-mail messages.
    3. Apply any formatting options that you want.
    4. Click Add.
    5. When you are prompted whether you want to set this as your default signature, click Yes.
    6. Click OK.
  6. Click OK.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:7/27/2006
Keywords:kbbug kbnofix KB275967
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