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Updates:

• 04/10/2008 - By saving this registry key it is possible to export your Outlook settings to a new computer. It also works if you are going from Outlook 2003 to Outlook 2007, however after you export the key and reimport it on the new computer, you have to tweak it a little. On the new computer after you’ve merged the exported .reg file, go into the Control Panel, click on Mail, then Show Profiles. There should be a profile there with the same name as the profile on the old computer. In order for Outlook to work correctly, you have to copy the profile with the Copy Profile button and give it a new name. Outlook will give an error when receiving email if you don’t do this.
• 12/07/2007 - It looks like this registry entry is also used by Outlook 2007. I have not tried copying my settings, but when i do I will report back.
• 09/20/2007 - I successfully transfered my email accounts to another computer by exporting this registry entry from one computer and importing it on the new computer. It’s so much faster than having to go through and configure all the accounts I have. I will save the details for a later post!

Original Post:

I was looking for a way to programmatically change the signature used by a specific account in Outlook. What I discovered is that you need to change some registry entries.

Here is the registry key that holds all this information:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles\Outlook\9375CFF0413111d3B88A00104B2A6676

(This works for Outlook 2003, but I’m not sure about earlier or newer versions.)

Please note that the actual signature file is not in the registry, but in a specific folder in your profile’s folder (Drive:\Documents and Settings\Username\Application Data\Microsoft\Signatures). This entry is used to select that signature to be used for a particular account. This can be useful for system administrators that want to install a signature for a user without having the user intervene.

Also, I have not tested this, but it looks like this would be the registry entry to keep if you want to backup your account information, so you don’t have to manually setup all accounts in a new install of Outlook.

For more information please see this link: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287070