What Is Email Encryption?
Email encryption protects the contents of your message from being read by anyone other than the intended recipient. Microsoft 365 offers built-in encryption options like:
- Encrypt-Only
- Do Not Forward
- Confidential / Highly Confidential (Sensitivity Labels)
Sending Encrypted Email in Outlook Desktop
Step 1: Compose a New Email
- Open Outlook.
- Click New Email.
Step 2: Access Encryption Options
- In the message window, go to the File tab.
- Click Encrypt or Permissions.
Step 3: Choose an Encryption Level
- Click the Encryptdropdown to choose:
- Encrypt-Only
- Do Not Forward
- Confidential (if using sensitivity labels)
Step 4: Verify and Send the Email
- Fill in the recipient, subject, and message.
- Now that your email is Encrypted you will see a message on top of your email.
- Click Send. The recipient will receive a secure message with instructions to view it.
From the Receiver’s point-of-view it will look like this.
When you click read message a new tab in your browser will open and you will be asked for an OTP as below
Click the Sign in with a One-time passcode, you will be prompted for a one time passcode which will be sent to your email in a new message
A sample message for the one time passcode is below
Enter this passcode in the previous tab and you should be able to access the encrypted message
Optionally if receiving more than one message from the same sender and this is a private computer , check the checkbox to allow you to open messages from the same sender for 12 hours.
The encrypted email will be accessible and replies can be sent from the same interface ensuring two way encryption
