How To Set Up Encrypted Email Outlook

When you need to send emails with sensitive information in Outlook, you might desire to encrypt it. Encrypted emails ship from Outlook or Office 365 tin can only be read by the recipient that has the individual key, preventing others from reading the content of the mail. It also can protect your email from being forwarded.

If you lot accept Office 365 then sending encrypted mail is really easy. You can practice this without installing any certificates from both Outlook as Outlook Online to whatsoever recipient (Gmail, iCloud, Outlook).

Other options to secure your email in Outlook are to use Cerficiates or a third-party add-in for Outlook.

In this article, we are going to take a await at the different options, how to utilize them and what the pros and cons are from each of them.

Email Encryption Options

As mentioned in the start there are three ways to basically secure your email from Outlook. Each of them has in that location own advantages, but some are harder to fix upwards. We have the following options when it comes to email encryption:

Office 365 Message Encryption – Part of Office 365. Like shooting fish in a barrel to use, does not require to install certificates. You lot can transport emails to whatsoever email client. Requires a couple of handlings to open up the email when not using Outlook though.
Certificate-based Encryption – Both sender and recipient need to have public certificates to encrypt and decrypt the email. Harder to install, but in the terminate easier to use if yous are sending a lot of encrypted emails.
Outlook Add together-ins – If y'all don't have Office 365 then you can easily send encrypted emails using a third-party add together-in.

Office 365 Encrypted E-mail

Microsoft Office 365 Message Encryption (OME) allows you to hands send encrypted emails to your recipient. The advantage of OME is that you and the recipient don't need to install whatsoever certificate to encrypt or open the email.

When you send an email with Part 365 Message Encryption, the recipient receives an electronic mail with only the discipline. Depending on the post client of the recipients, they can either simply open the email (verification is done in the groundwork) or the recipient tin can read the email and attachments in an online environment after an extra verification step.

Yous will need to send the electronic mail from Outlook or Outlook Online, but the recipient doesn't need to accept Outlook or an Role 365 subscription. Encrypted emails can exist opened with any email customer.

To use Office 365 Message Encryption you will need to take i the following Microsoft 365 Plans:

Microsoft 365 Personal or Family
Office 365 Enterprise E3 or E5
Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3 or E5
Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Office 365 A1, A3, or A5

How-to Send Encrypted Electronic mail Outlook

To send an encrypted e-mail from Outlook you don't need to fix anything. You tin can only compose a new email and encrypt information technology:

Etch a new email

Open up Outlook and compose a new email. Simply add the recipient, subject, and body. You lot can also add attachments to the email, just like you normally do:
Encrypt E-mail

The next step is to encrypt the e-mail:
– Select Options
– Click on Encrypt

You can also select other options nether encrypt which I will explain later.
It'due south possible to move the Encrypt push to the starting time tab "Message". This will save yous one extra click to encrypt emails.
Send the email

After you lot have applied the encryption y'all will see a small notation to a higher place the accost fields that the email is encrypted.

Click on Transport to send the electronic mail to the recipient(s).
Opening the Encrypted Email in Outlook

If the recipient is using Outlook then they receive the secure email with the original subject and a lock icon.

Outlook volition verify the recipient in the background afterwards you double-click on the email. It will then open up merely similar a normal e-mail.

Opening a Secure Email in other Mail Clients

The recipient does non demand to have Outlook or Part 365 to open the encrypted email. When yous transport a secure email to Gmail for example the recipient will see but the subject field and a button to the read the message.

When you click on Read the message you will be sent to Outlook Online where you lot need to verify your account. Depending on the client, this can exist done with a Sometime passcode which will be sent to the intended recipient or by signing with the identity provider of your postal service client (Gmail, Yahoo ID, Personal Microsoft Account)

Afterward verification, you can read the electronic mail and attachment in the Outlook Online environment. The recipient tin answer or forrard (when allowed) the electronic mail while keeping the encryption in place.

Send Encrypted E-mail from Office 365

Function 365 secure emails tin can be send using Outlook Online. The principal and technique are the aforementioned as with Outlook, only the menu looks a flake different.

Compose a new electronic mail in Outlook Online
Select Encrypt in the toolbar
Click Change Permissions if you also desire to prevent forwarding of the email
Click Send when washed.

If you don't come across the encrypt push, then click on the 3 dots. You can likewise add together the encrypt button to the bottom toolbar:

Select the gear icon and choose All Outlook Settings
Select Mail
Choose Customize Actions
Enable Encrypt.

Prevent forwarding of emails in Outlook

You lot tin not merely encrypt emails in Outlook but too forestall them from beingness forwarded. This fashion you can ensure that the email will on be read by the person you have to ship it to.

When y'all apply the encryption on a new message in Outlook you get a couple of options:

Encrypt
Do Non Forward
Confidential
Highly Confidential

When selecting Practice Non Forward the email will be encrypted and can't be forwarded, printed, and you tin can't copy the content. This way yous can exist sure that only the intended recipient can read the content of the email.

Move the Encrypt push in Outlook

A minor tip that will make encrypting letters a little bit easier in Outlook is to motion the encrypt button from the Options tab to the Message tab. This mode, when you are typing a new email, y'all can encrypt information technology with one click.

Open a new mail
Right-click on the toolbar
Choose Customize the ribbon
Aggrandize Options in the right column
Select Encrypt
Employ the upward arrow to motion it to New Mail Message

Remove encryption from send emails

In Outlook it is possible to remove the encryption of the email afterward you have sent it. Later you have removed the encryption recipient can read the electronic mail without verification.

Become to your transport items in Outlook
Open up the encrypted mail that you have sent
Select File and select Unrestricted Access under Encrypt.

Office 365 Message Encryption Branding

With the help of PowerShell, you can employ custom branding to OME messages. Custom branding helps your recipient with regonizing your emails and makes them more trustworty.

We can customize the following items in both the e-mail and online portal:

Add a logo
Background and button color
Introduction text
Button Text
Clarification text
Disclaimer

To customize the template you volition need to have the Substitution Online module installed for PowerShell. Too, we need to know the proper noun of the current template that is being used. Most probable information technology is "OME Configuration"

We are first going to cheque the electric current configuration:

# Connect to Exchange Online Connect-ExchangeOnline -UserPrincipalName [email protected]  # Go the current configuation Get-OMEConfiguration | fl

Adding a logo and background color

You can add your company logo to the OME bulletin and portal. The optimal size of the logo is 170×70 pixels, less than 40KB and supported formats are png, jpg, BMP, and tiff. Transparency is supported with png.

The Identity is proper name of the default template that nosotros accept just looked up. Y'all can upload the image with Go-Content from whatever location on your computer.

# Set your own logo Set-OMEConfiguration -Identity "OME Configuration" -Paradigm (Get-Content "C:\temp\Logo-LazyAdmin.png" -Encoding byte)

To change the background color you can apply whatsoever RGB color in a hexadecimal format. The button volition take the same color every bit the groundwork.

# Change the groundwork color Set-OMEConfiguration -Identity "OME Configuration" -BackgroundColor "#343e47"

Changing the text items

There are a couple of text items that yous tin can alter. By default you volition run into the senders proper noun (and email address) followed by the line "has sent you a protected message". You tin change this with the post-obit cmdlet:

# Change introduction line Set-OMEConfiguration -Identity "OME Configuration" -IntroductionText "has send you an encrypted message"

The button text can exist changed every bit followed, just don't make the text to long, because information technology volition mess up the layout of the button.

# Alter read message button Set-OMEConfiguration -Identity "OME Configuration" -ReadButtonText "Open up Bulletin"

And the text below the button

# Text below the button Set-OMEConfiguration -Identity "OME Configuration" -EmailText "This Encrypted bulletin was sent to y'all by LazyAdmin"

You lot can also add yous own disclaimer and privacy link to the message:

# Privacy Argument URL Set-OMEConfiguration -Identity "OME Configuration" -PrivacyStatementUrl "https://lazyadmin.nl"  # Disclaimer Set-OMEConfiguration -Identity "OME Configuration" -DisclaimerText "This encrypted bulletin is confidential for the utilize of the leaseholder only. Practise not decrypted if you are non the addressee"

We tin can also add the text line to the portal, where the recipient tin read the post. Yous can add instruction here for example.

Ready-OMEConfiguration -Identity "OME Configuration" -PortalText "This highly secure electronic mail is brought to you by LazyAdmin"

Change verification options

Past default, the recipient can authenticate with a 1-time passcode or identity provider like Microsoft, Google, or Yahoo. It's possible to disable this, but keep in heed that you volition need to use one of the 2 options. You lot tin can't disable them both.

# Disable identity providers Set-OMEConfiguration -Identity "OME Configuration" -SocialIdSignIn $false  # Disable Former password Set-OMEConfiguration -Identity "OME Configuration" -OTPEnabled $fake

Encrypting mail using Certificates

Emails that you lot send tin also exist encrypted with certificates. The advantage of certificates is that you tin open the mail unremarkably. Simply there is one huge downside of using certificates, your recipient also needs to have its own certificate.

The initial setup is pretty hard, both parties need to buy a certificate online, which costs between $30 and $250 per yr depending on your requirements. You volition demand to add the document to your Outlook and kickoff send each other a signed email.

With the signed email y'all automatically receive the public key of the other. This allows you to encrypt the mail with the public key of the recipient, which and so tin can only exist decrypted on a calculator that has the matching certificate installed.

If you want to read the encrypted electronic mail on your phone, then you start need to install the certificate on your telephone besides. The aforementioned goes for Outlook Online.

Certificates are really secure one time properly installed only are not actually convenient. The certificate basically allows yous to receive encrypted mail because your recipient needs to take a certificate before you lot can send an encrypted electronic mail.

This procedure is simply recommended when your business really requires it.

Using tertiary-political party add-in for sending secure mails

If you don't have an Function 365 subscription then you can also use a 3rd-party add together-in for Outlook. These add-ins work pretty much on the same principle as the Role 365 Message Encryption service, with the merely difference that the mail is e'er sent to their online mailbox.

Encyro offers a plugin that y'all can use for costless to transport encrypted letters to any email address. You can employ the online portal or the Outlook add-in to compose and send secure mail.

Installation is pretty straight forward and only the sender needs to have the Encyro account to starting to transport encrypted emails. The recipient receives, just similar with OME, a link to the secure message.

Only who is opening the link isn't verified past default, and so anybody that has access to the link can open the encrypted mail service. The link itself however is simply valid for a couple of days, so that makes it a bit more than secure.

The reward of this method is that the recipient doesn't need to perform multiple steps to open the encrypted post. You lot can besides crave that the recipient also create a gratis Encyro account, forcing them to log in before opening the mail.

Wrapping Upwardly

In that location are multiple ways to encrypt email in Outlook. The most convenient one is using Function 365 message encryption if that is part of your licenses. Add together-ins can be useful, but if you have Part 365 it might be easier and cheaper to upgrade your license plan.

Using certificates to encrypt electronic mail is only useful if you are sending a lot of secure emails to a selected group of recipients. Keep in mind that all parties need to have their ain certificate.