How to Encrypt Emails in Microsoft 365

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Encrypted emails provide another layer of security when working with confidential information. The following will show you how to send an encrypted email from Outlook and what the receiving party will see if they are using another email client.

Encryption in Outlook requires certain licensing, if you do not have access to encryption and need it, please contact support.

How to Send Encrypted Email in Outlook

Compose an email. Add your recipient, subject and body and any attachments as you would on a typical email.
After creating a new email, go to the “Options” tab (1) at the top and then select “Encrypt” (2)

The Encrypt option may also appear on the default Message tab and may be used if it so. There is no difference between the two other than menu location.

Depending on your version of Outlook it may say “Permissions” instead of “Encrypt.”

You can now select the option that best suits your needs by clicking the dropdown next to Encrypt.
- Encrypt Only – This will encrypt the message and only allow the intended receiver to view it.
- Do Not Forward – This will encrypt the message but also deny the receiver from saving/forwarding the contents of the email.

Verify your email shows the encryption notice above the address field and you can now send your message.

Please note: There must be a banner saying your message is encrypted, as shown in the image above. If there is no banner then your message will not be encrypted.

Viewing Encrypted Emails

If the recipient is using a Microsoft 365 email account, they should not have to do anything to read the message.

Additional information may be available from Microsoft: How do I open a protected message?

If the recipient of your encrypted email does not have Microsoft 365, they will see the subject and instructions on how to access the message.

The party receiving your encrypted message will see your email subject (1), Your name and email address (2), and a button to allow them to read the message (3).