Setting up your email signature in Gmail, you have stumbled over a long and largely unexplained setting? Find out here what ‘Insert signature before quoted text in replies and remove the “–” line that precedes it’ means in Gmail and which setting to choose.
First, Shaken or Slurred
It’s not hard to come across the idea that the milkshake started in the mid-1880s as a kind of egg nog—with whiskey and egg and no milk at all.
These stories are probably best taken with a grain of salty caramel.
As early as 1888, one can find a milk shake described as milk frothed with scraped ice and perhaps aromatized with a dash of syrup.
Now that we have an idea whether “milk” means “whiskey”, let’s turn to a group of terms that first appeared in Gmail settings:
What ‘Insert this signature before quoted text in replies and remove the “–” line that precedes it’ Means in Gmail
The Gmail setting for Insert this signature before quoted text in replies and remove the “–” line that precedes it. changes where your email signature will appear when you compose a reply or forward and whether Gmail will insert the standard signature delimiter in replies.
For new messages, the setting does not change the signature.
Where a Gmail Signature Will Appear…
Where Gmail will place your signature depends on two things:
- whether you are composing a new message or a reply (or forward), and
- the setting for Insert this signature before quoted text in replies and remove the “–” line that precedes it..
…in a New Gmail Email
When you send a new message,
- your signature will appear pre-filled as the only text
- with the signature delimiter before it.
You type above the signature, so it appears at the end of your email.
Signature before quoted text
If insert this signature before quoted… is not checked, Gmail will automatically insert the standard signature delimiter (“– ” on a line of its own) before the signature.
If you have enabled Insert this signature before…, the delimiter line will not appear at all.
It is a good idea, of course, to still add it to your signature manually for email etiquette.
…in a Reply or Forward
When you send a reply or forward and Insert this signature before quoted text… is not checked,
- the signature will be added as the very last thing of the email to the bottom,
- and it will be preceded by “– ” on a separate line.
If Insert this signature before quoted… is checked,
- the signature will be inserted after your reply but before the quoted original email.
- The “– ” delimiter will not be added automatically.
What “Insert signature before quoted text” Means in Gmail: FAQ
Can I add the signature delimiter and have the signature above quoted text?
Yes.
To have the same signature in both new emails and replies appear with the signature delimiter—and atop quoted text in replies:
- Set up two identical signatures.
- Add the standard signature delimiter (
--) manually to the signature to be used for replies. - Make the signature without the delimiter the default for new emails and
the one that does contain the delimiter the default for replies and forwards. - Enable Insert signature before quoted text in replies and remove the “–” line that precedes it.
Signature before Quoted Text Gmail Matrix
| Insert signature before quoted text in replies and remove the “–” line that precedes it | ||
| Checked | Not Checked | |
| New message | Signature at the end of email No “– “ | Signature at the end of email “– ” automatically added |
| Reply or Forward | Signature after your reply Before quoted message No “– “ | Signature at end of email After quoted message “– ” automatically added |
(What ‘Insert signature before quoted text in replies and remove the “–” line that precedes it’ means in Gmail updated March 2024)