You followed a tutorial, opened a new message, and the Business Card button isn't where it said it would be. If you're using Outlook for Windows, check the upper right corner first. If you're on the web or a Mac, use the matching route below.
Check for the Settings gear first
If you see a Settings gear at the upper right, you're in new Outlook for Windows. If the gear is missing, Microsoft says you're in classic Outlook for Windows.
That matters because Microsoft's feature comparison marks the Business card feature available in classic Outlook and not supported in new Outlook, while ordinary signatures remain available in both. So new Outlook can hold a signature with a link in it, but not the native card.
If new Outlook is what you have and classic is still installed, use the toggle and choose Use classic Outlook this time. Microsoft notes the toggle may be absent when classic Outlook isn't installed. In that case, skip ahead to the signature link route below.
Build the card from a contact in classic Outlook
The card is a view of a contact, so start there.
- Select People, then New Contact, and enter the details you want someone to be able to save. An existing contact works too.
- Double click the card shown in the contact form.
- Under Edit Business Card, pick a layout. Choose Text Only if you don't want an image, since that layout removes the default one. Otherwise add a background or image.
- In the Fields list, double click a field to add it, select a field to remove it, and use the Up or Down arrows to reorder it. To open up space between two fields, select the field above the gap, choose Add, then Blank Line.
- Select OK, then Save & Close.
Only put on the visual card what you'd be comfortable having the recipient see. If you tinker your way into a mess, Reset Card returns the default design and the default fields from the contact form. Microsoft documents all of this on its Electronic Business Card page.
Send it once, or keep it in every email
Both routes start from the saved contact. Attach it to one message for a .vcf contact file, or place the card in a signature for recurring emails.
Attached to one message. Open a new email and choose Attach Item, then Business Card, then the contact's name. If the name isn't in the short list, choose Other Business Cards, pick the contact by its Filed As name, and select OK. Per Microsoft's Electronic Business Card guide, this sends the contact as a .vcf file, and the recipient can add it to their own contacts. Microsoft also says Outlook drops a picture of the card into the message body. You can delete that picture without removing the attached file.
Inside a signature. Go to Message, then Signature, then Signatures. Select an existing signature or create one, put the cursor where the card should go, and choose Business Card. Select the contact under Filed As, then OK. Per Microsoft's signature guide, recipients can right click the card in the signature, or use the .vcf attachment, to save your information.
The rule of thumb: a one time introduction deserves the attachment, and anyone who will see your name weekly is better served by the signature.
Make the signature appear when you expect it
Setting a signature up and then not seeing it is the usual letdown. Classic Outlook picks defaults per email account, and it lets you choose one signature for new messages and a different one for replies and forwards. Microsoft's signature instructions add two warnings. A signature made while a message is already open may not show up in that message, so insert it by hand from Message, then Signature. And signatures saved on one device may not be there on another.
Open a fresh compose window and look before you rely on it.
When the native card isn't available
Not every Outlook has the designed card editor, and a few have a reasonable stand-in.
New Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web. Both support ordinary signatures with links. In either, go to Settings, then Accounts, then Signatures. You can apply the signature to new messages, to replies and forwards, or neither, and insert it by hand with Signature on the Message tab. If you use a Microsoft account with both Outlook and Outlook on the web, you may need a signature in each.
Outlook for Mac. Microsoft's Electronic Business Card page doesn't list Outlook for Mac or Outlook on the web among the apps it applies to, so treat the designed card editor as a Windows feature. There are two Mac routes. For a reusable profile, go to Outlook, then Settings, then Mail, then Signatures, and choose Link to add display text and an address. For a file, select People, pick the contact, and choose Home, then Forward. A blank message opens with the vCard attached. You can't add a vCard to a message you've already started, and the recipient's email program has to support vCards.
Using a web card link in a signature
A link in a signature opens a web profile. It doesn't send a .vcf contact file, and it isn't Outlook's designed card.
Zapped is one example of where such a link can come from. In Zapped, edits stay a private draft until you publish, and a published card has a public card URL, as our Zapped help guide explains. Publish, open that URL to check it, then paste it into a normal signature using the steps above.
If someone sends you a .vcf, our guide to importing a vCard file into Outlook covers saving it. If you need to share digital cards across a team, see digital business cards for teams. And for layout and design of the signature itself, see everything about digital email signatures.
