How to disable the Microsoft Outlook Roaming Signatures feature

Scenario

You are using Exclaimer Client-Side to create signatures visible to Microsoft Outlook users and wish to disable the Outlook roaming signatures feature.

Resolution

Exclaimer has released an update to the Exclaimer Signature Update Agent that will automatically set the registry key to prevent Microsoft from updating the mailbox, but you can also manually disable this feature.

Please click below to see how to manually disable the Microsoft Outlook roaming signatures feature:

Globally disable roaming signatures using Powershell (recommended)

To globally disable the Outlook roaming signature feature:

Open a Powershell window.

NOTE: If you haven't already installed it, please install the ExchangeOnlineManagement Powershell module. This requires Powershell 5 or above. Run the following command:
install-module ExchangeOnlineManagement
Connect to Exchange Online by running the following command:

Connect-ExchangeOnline
Run the following commands to disable roaming signatures:

Set-OrganizationConfig -PostponeRoamingSignaturesUntilLater $true
NOTE:
$true: Roaming signatures are temporarily disabled for Outlook on the web and the new Outlook for Windows. When roaming signatures are disabled, Admins can use signature-specific parameters like SignatureHtml, AutoAddSignature, AutoAddSignatureOnReply, etc. on the Set-MailboxMessageConfiguration cmdlet to configure email signatures.

For Windows, the registry setting to disable roaming signatures will continue to work.

Manually disable the Outlook roaming signatures feature

To manually disable the Outlook roaming signatures feature:

Launch the RegEdit (Registry Editor).
Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Setup\
Example:
Right-click anywhere on the right panel, select New, then select DWORD (32-bit) Value.
Example:
Enter the DWORD name as DisableRoamingSignaturesTemporaryToggle and press [Enter].
Example:
To edit the value, you can either right-click the DisableRoamingSignaturesTemporaryToggle and select Modify or double-click DisableRoamingSignaturesTemporaryToggle.

The Edit DWORD (32-bit) Value window is displayed:

- In Value data, enter the value 1.
Select OK to save the changes and close the window.
Restart Outlook for the change to take effect.

Disable the Outlook roaming signatures feature via Group Policy

To disable the Outlook roaming signatures feature via Group Policy:

Log into your Domain Controller.
Open Group Policy Management.
Example:
Right-click the domain organizational unit and select Create a GPO in this domain and Link it here....
Example:

The New GPO window is displayed.
Example:

- In Name, enter the name of the new object as DisableOutlookRoamingSignature.

- Select OK to save the changes made; else select Cancel to close the window without creating the new object.
Right-click the new object and select Edit.
Example:
Now, from the Group Policy Management Editor, select User Configuration, select Preferences, select Windows Settings and then select Registry.
Example:
Right-click Registry, select New, then select Registry Item to create a new Registry.
Example:
Enter the following settings:
Action: Update
Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Key Path: Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Setup\
Value Name: DisableRoamingSignaturesTemporaryToggle
Value Type: REG_DWORD
Value Data:1
Example:

- Select Apply, then select OK to save the changes and close the window.

- Select Cancel to close the window without saving the changes.

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