Configuring the org-wide footers is a five-minute Setup task, but the design decisions before it (which footer goes where, which templates opt out) take real consideration. The checklist below covers both.
- Gather the legal text
Work with legal or compliance to get the exact disclaimer text. Get sign-off in writing on what goes in the General Footer and what goes in the Mass Email Footer; they often differ.
- Navigate to Email Footers
Setup > Email > Email Footers. The page has two text areas: General Footer and Mass Email Footer. Both are plain text.
- Paste the General Footer
Paste the General Footer text. Save. The footer will now append to mail sent through Apex, Workflow, Flow, Quick Send, and Email-to-Case auto-responses.
- Paste the Mass Email Footer
Paste the Mass Email Footer text. Save. This footer will append to List Email and Mass Email sends.
- Test from the composer
Send a test mail from the standard composer to an external address you control. Confirm the footer renders correctly in the receiving mail client. Test plain-text and HTML.
- Test from a List Email send
Run a small List Email to a test segment of internal addresses. Confirm the Mass Email Footer renders. The footer differs from the General Footer, so this test is separate.
- Audit templates for Skip Email Footer
Run a metadata search for templates with Skip Email Footer enabled. Confirm each is intentionally exempt; usually only transactional templates (password reset) should skip the footer.
Plain text up to 32 KB. Appended to Apex, Workflow, Flow, Quick Send, and Email-to-Case auto-responses.
Plain text up to 32 KB. Appended to List Email and Mass Email sends; usually contains marketing-specific disclaimer language.
Per-template flag that suppresses the org-wide footer. Use for transactional templates where a compliance footer is inappropriate.
Org-wide default character encoding for sent mail. Affects how the footer renders for non-ASCII text.
Per-user setting affecting which address mail comes from. Footers apply regardless of From address.
- Footer text is plain text only. There is no HTML editor; complex branded disclaimers must go in email templates instead.
- EmailMessage records store composed body, not the rendered version with footer applied. Auditing the database does not confirm footer compliance.
- Templates with Skip Email Footer enabled bypass the org-wide footer entirely. Audit which templates have this set before relying on the footer for legal compliance.
- There is no per-user override. If a senior leader insists their personal mail should not carry the corporate footer, the only solution is a custom template with Skip Email Footer.
- The General Footer and Mass Email Footer are independent settings. Configuring one does not configure the other; the most common setup mistake is missing the second.