How to Encrypt Emails in Microsoft Outlook

Quick Tips

• You need a Microsoft 365 subscription to encrypt your emails.
• On Windows, click New Email > Options > Encrypt.
• On Mac, click New Email > Three dots in the top-right corner > Encryption.

How to Encrypt Email in Microsoft Outlook on Windows 11

With a Microsoft 365 subscription, you can send encrypted emails to your contacts. By default, you get the OME or Office 365 Message Encryption for sending encrypted emails using Outlook. As such, you don’t have to install any certificates to encrypt your email.

Open Outlook > Email > Options > Encrypt icon > Select Encrypt.

You will see a message that says, “This message will be encrypted.”

Automatically Encrypt All Emails in Outlook on Windows 11

If you want to encrypt all your emails, follow these steps to enable the option. First, switch to the Legacy version of Outlook on your Windows PC.

Step 1: Open Outlook > Click the toggle next to New Outlook.

Step 2: Click on Skip Feedback to switch to Legacy Outlook.

Step 3: Once done, start a new email and then click on File at the top-left corner of the compose window.

Step 4: Select Options at the bottom-right corner.

Step 5: Click Trust Center in the left menu and then select Trust Center Settings.

Step 6: Select Email Security and then enable the option of Encrypt contents and attachments for outgoing messages.

Step 7: Click Ok to confirm.

You can now switch to the New Outlook version if you wish to.

How to Encrypt Email in Microsoft Outlook on Mac

Here’s how you can send encrypted emails from the Outlook app on your Mac.

Step 1: Open the Outlook app > New Email.

Step 2: Click the three dots towards the top right side of the Compose section and then select Encryption.

Note that the Encryption option is greyed out for our Outlook account as we don’t have the signing certificate to send encrypted emails. That said, it should be a non-issue if you have a Microsoft 365 membership.

Step 4: After selecting encryption, add all the relevant details and send your email.

Automatically Encrypt All Emails in Outlook on Mac

Step 1: Open Outlook on your Mac.

Step 2: Click Tools > Accounts.

Step 3: Click on Security below your Outlook account details.

Step 4: When selecting the option of signing all outgoing messages, make sure to consider the encryption category of your certificate.

Step 5: Click Ok.

Once again, note that we don’t have any signing certificates on our Mac, which is why the options are grayed out.

Open and View Encrypted Emails in Outlook

When you receive an encrypted email in your Outlook account, you can click on ‘Read This Message’ in the email body. A new window will open in your browser using your Microsoft account to display your message.

However, if you receive an encrypted Outlook email on your Gmail or Yahoo account, here’s how to view the message.

Step 1: Go to your inbox and then open the encrypted Outlook email that you have received.

Step 2: Click on Read The Message.

Step 3: You can now use your Google account or get a six-digit passcode to view the email contents.

Tip: Refer to our post if your Outlook app for Mac is not receiving emails automatically.