Details in the signature are missing or wrong

The signature is built for each message from the sender's details as Footer365 holds them at that moment. When a detail is wrong or missing, the cause is almost always in those details rather than in the template. Work down this list.

Footer365 makes the Detail changes and Sources pages available to organisations gradually, so they may not be in your portal yet. See Early access pages and features.

1. The change has not synced yet

Footer365 copies your users from Microsoft 365. A change made in Microsoft 365, such as a new job title, reaches Footer365 at the next directory sync, which runs every 4 hours.

Check: go to Directory, then Users and groups (open it), and compare Last sync with when the change was made. Search for the person and select them: the panel beside the list shows every value their signature fills in, with Not set for a field that is empty.

Fix: select Sync now, wait for Last sync to update, then send a new test message.

2. The detail is wrong or empty in Microsoft 365 itself

Footer365 shows a value exactly as your directory holds it, and writes to your directory only if you turned on write-back to Entra ID for staff self-service. If Microsoft 365 has the old job title, or no mobile number, so will the signature.

Fix: correct the person's details in the Microsoft 365 admin centre or the Entra admin centre, then Sync now. If you cannot change it there, select the person on Users and groups, select Edit details, and enter the right value for signatures; set the field to Replaces the directory value on User details so it is used in place of what Microsoft 365 holds. Fix wrong or missing details

3. A line is missing because the field is empty

This is by design. When a field is empty for a person, the template leaves that line out rather than showing a label with nothing beside it or a stray comma. Someone with no mobile number simply has no mobile line. Merge fields and empty fields

Fix: fill in the field in Microsoft 365. If it cannot be set there, as is often the case for a distribution group, enter it with Edit details on Users and groups or fill it in under User details (next item).

4. A value entered in Footer365 is out of date, or is not used

A value can be entered in Footer365 for one person with Edit details on Users and groups, or for many from a spreadsheet on User details. Whether it is used depends on the field's setting under When a value is entered here on User details: a field that Fills an empty value only uses it only while Microsoft 365 holds nothing, and one that Replaces the directory value uses it in place of what Microsoft 365 holds.

Check: on Users and groups, select the person. A value in use that was entered in Footer365 is marked Set here or Imported in the panel beside the list; point at the mark to see who set it, when, and what Microsoft 365 holds. Select Edit details to see a value that is kept but not used, with the reason beneath it.

Fix: correct the value with Edit details, or select Use the directory value beneath it to go back to what Microsoft 365 holds. To use a value that is kept but not used, change the field to Replaces the directory value on User details (open it). Fix wrong or missing details

5. The person changed it themselves

If your organisation has Staff self-service on, people can change the fields you opened up to them, in Outlook or on their own page. Depending on the field's policy, their value fills a field Microsoft 365 leaves empty or replaces the value it holds. A value they set is marked Staff in the panel on Users and groups.

Check: go to Detail changes under Directory (open it) and look at History for the person. A change still waiting for approval is not in the signature yet.

Fix: select Undo to put the earlier value back, change the field's policy on Staff self-service, or enter a different value with Edit details: the latest value is used. Let staff edit their own details

6. A source set the value, or has stopped updating it

If your organisation uses a source on Directory > Sources (open it), it applies a file from your HR system or database at every run, and a value it set is marked From and the source's name in the panel on Users and groups. A different value in the file replaces one entered by hand, because the latest value wins.

Check: on Sources, look at the source's status. Failed means its last run could not read the file, and the page says why; the values it set stay as they were. Waiting for Run now means the last scheduled run would have changed more than half the people, so it changed nothing. Off means it is not being read. Then check the file for the person: a row for their address, with a value in the column for that detail. A value the source set that is empty in the file is removed at the next run, and a value that does not fit its detail is not used.

Fix: correct the value in the file, or on the source's page select See what would change and then Run now to apply the file straight away. Keep details up to date from a file

7. A social link or custom field is not showing

Social links and other per-person values come from Exchange custom attributes through Attribute mapping.

Check: on Attribute mapping (open it), check the field is switched on with Show in signatures, and that the attribute is filled in on the person's mailbox. Attribute mapping

Your own fields from Custom fields come from a value entered in Footer365, an Exchange custom attribute, or the field's default.

Check: select the person on Users and groups and look under Custom fields in the panel. With no value of their own and no default on Custom fields (open it), the field is left out. A Link value is used only when it starts https://, a field read from Exchange or an Entra ID directory extension shows nothing until the next sync after the value is filled in, and a field marked Extension not found on Custom fields reads no value until its extension is back in Entra ID. Add your own signature fields

8. Someone else's details, or no personal details, appear

• Sent from a shared mailbox or a group address: the signature belongs to the mailbox or group being sent from, not to the person typing. A group has no job title or phone number, so those lines drop out. Signatures on shared mailboxes
• The wrong rule applies: check with Test a rule on the Signature rules page which template the person gets. How rules work

9. The template is showing sample details

In the editor, the preview fills fields with sample details until you turn on My details, which shows your own. The editor note reads Profile photo and QR show as placeholders; the real image is inserted when the email is sent. A sample name or placeholder photo in the editor is therefore not what recipients see.

If a real email shows a field name or a placeholder, check the template in the editor for text typed where a field should be, then Save. Using the editor

10. The photo is missing

The photo comes from the person's Microsoft 365 account, unless one has been uploaded for them in Footer365. If they have neither, the photo space is left out. Add the photo in Microsoft 365 and Sync now, or upload one on their panel in Users and groups. If nobody's photo shows, check the Photos setting, under More on Users and groups: with No photos chosen, every photo is left out. See Upload signature photos.

11. The draft was started before the change

With the Outlook add-in, the signature is put into the message when writing starts. A draft begun before you corrected the details keeps the older signature. Start a new message to see the change.

12. The person is not in the list, or their details entered here are gone

If your organisation chose who is synced under Sync settings, someone the sync scope leaves out is not in the list of users, is not signed, and is not offered in pickers. Their mail goes out without a signature.

Check: on Users and groups, select the outside the sync scope figure above the list to see who left the scope in the last 30 days, since when, and when each is deleted from Footer365. Check which groups the scope includes and leaves out under Sync settings: a person counts as a member only of the groups they are directly in.

Fix: add the person to a group the scope includes, or widen the scope, then Sync now. Within 30 days of leaving the scope they come back as they were. After that Footer365 has deleted them with everything it held for them, such as an uploaded photo, values set with Edit details and their detail changes, and they come back as a new person with their Microsoft 365 details only, so enter those values again and add them again to any rule that named them. A new starter shown as Waiting gets no signature until someone approves them. How directory sync works

13. Footer365 has lost access to Microsoft 365

If the portal shows the reconnect banner, directory changes are no longer reaching Footer365 and signatures keep the details from the last successful sync. The reconnect banner

Related

• How directory sync works
• Keep details up to date from a file
• The signature was not added
• I changed the signature but people still send the old one