Where apps hide your files

Finding Mail's signature files

Updated 2026-10-28 · 5 min read

Mail stores each signature as its own file in a hidden Library folder, so neither Spotlight nor a look through Documents will find them. Below: the folder, what is in it, and how to carry signatures to a new Mac.

The folder

Mail keeps each signature as a file in this folder. That is the path on macOS Sequoia 15, where this post was checked, and user reports show the same V10 folder on Tahoe 26:

~/Library/Mail/V10/MailData/Signatures/

V10 is Mail's data version, not a macOS version. Ventura already used V10, and older releases used lower numbers. A later release could raise it again, so if V10 is missing, list the Mail folder and use the highest V number you see:

ls ~/Library/Mail

To open the folder, press ⇧⌘G in Finder (Go > Go to Folder), paste the path and press Return. In Terminal, open ~/Library/Mail/V10/MailData/Signatures does the same. macOS protects ~/Library/Mail, so Terminal can list inside it only once it has Full Disk Access (System Settings > Privacy & Security). Finder needs no extra permission.

When there is no Signatures folder

Mail creates the folder only when you add a signature. On the Mac checked for this post, which has no signatures, MailData held Envelope Index, SmartMailboxesLocalProperties.plist, VIPMailboxes.plist and similar files, but no Signatures folder. Add a signature in Mail and it appears.

If Mail shows signatures and you still cannot find the folder, there are two likely reasons:

• You are in the wrong V folder. If ls ~/Library/Mail shows more than one, the highest number is the one Mail uses.
• iCloud Drive sync. Apple's Mail guide says that if you use iCloud Drive and have Mail selected in the iCloud Drive options, your signatures are updated and available on your other devices. Apple does not say where the synced copies are kept, and some guides place them in iCloud Drive's hidden app folder instead. Check it with this read-only command:

ls ~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/com~apple~mail/Data

On the Mac checked here that folder held only a V4 folder with smart mailbox settings, as expected with no signatures. If yours has a Signatures folder inside its V folder, look there too.

What is inside

Item	What it is
*.mailsignature	One file per signature. The name is a long ID, not the signature's name, so you cannot tell them apart by name.
AllSignatures.plist	The list of signatures and their order, according to third-party guides.
AccountsMap.plist	Which signature belongs to which account, same source.

The two property list names come from published guides, not from Apple, and the Mac used for this post had no signatures to confirm them, so check your own folder. The guides agree on the practical point: the folder works as a set, and the .mailsignature files alone are not enough without the lists beside them.

Change signatures in Mail, not in these files, and quit Mail before you copy or replace anything here.

Reusing a signature without the files

Often you do not need the files at all:

1. Open a message you sent with the signature from the Sent mailbox, select the signature text and copy it.
2. In Mail, choose Mail > Settings, then click Signatures (the menu says Preferences on macOS 12 and earlier). Select an account in the left column, click + below the middle column, name the signature and paste into the right-hand pane.

This keeps the text and links and works for any mail client that accepts pasted formatting. If the pasted text changes font, the Signatures pane has an Always match my default message font checkbox that controls this.

Moving signatures to a new Mac

If both Macs use iCloud Drive with Mail selected, open Mail > Settings > Signatures on the new Mac first. Apple says the signatures should already be there, and then there is nothing to copy. Migration Assistant also brings them across, because it moves your whole user Library.

To copy them by hand:

1. Quit Mail on both Macs.
2. Copy the whole Signatures folder, not single files, to a USB drive, a shared folder or iCloud Drive.
3. On the new Mac, open Mail once so it sets up its MailData folder, then quit it.
4. Put your copy inside ~/Library/Mail/V10/MailData/, replacing any Signatures folder already there, then open Mail and check Settings > Signatures.

Send yourself a test message to confirm images and links survived. Expect to choose the default signature for each account again. Readers of one guide report that Mail sometimes overwrites the two property lists with its cached copy, so the restored signatures revert. If that happens, quit Mail, repeat the copy, and open Mail only once the folder is in place.

.mailsignature is Mail's own format. Other mail apps and Mail on iPhone do not import these files.

Backing up and cleaning up

Before you reinstall macOS or reset Mail, copy the Signatures folder somewhere safe. It is tiny, normally a few kilobytes per signature unless you embed large images, so it never matters for disk space.

Never delete V10 or MailData to "reset" signatures. MailData also holds the index of all your mail, and rebuilding it can take a long time on a large mailbox. To remove one signature, select it in Settings > Signatures and click -. Apple notes that deleting a signature from All Signatures removes it from every account that uses it.

Finding the files next time

Spotlight does not show files inside ~/Library, which is why a search for a signature file turns up nothing. Everywhere indexes ~/Library, and once you give it Full Disk Access (macOS guards Mail's folder) typing mailsignature lists every signature file by name in milliseconds, and ⌘↵ reveals the one you pick in Finder. It matches file names only, so it will not search the wording of a signature.

Common questions

Where are Apple Mail signatures stored on a Mac?

In ~/Library/Mail/V10/MailData/Signatures/ on macOS Sequoia, and by user reports on Tahoe too, as one .mailsignature file per signature plus two property lists. Older macOS versions use a lower V number.

Why is there no Signatures folder on my Mac?

Mail creates it only once a signature exists. Add one under Mail > Settings > Signatures and the folder appears. Also check that you are looking in the highest V folder under ~/Library/Mail.

Do Mail signatures sync between Macs?

Yes, according to Apple: if you use iCloud Drive and have Mail selected in its iCloud Drive options, your signatures are updated on your other devices. Without that, copy the Signatures folder with Mail quit, or paste the signature from a sent email.

Can I move Mail signatures to Outlook or an iPhone?

Not as files, because only Apple Mail reads .mailsignature files. Copy the formatted signature from a sent message and paste it into the other app's signature setting.