Hyperlink turn off

Question

how to turn off the hyperlinks in Microsoft outlook admin center for all users?

Answer 1

Hello <Name removed>,

Thank you for your reply,

If you are using pure cloud environment please note Group Policy Objects (GPOs) are not supported in pure cloud environments. However, you can use Azure Policy to enforce policies across your cloud environment.

So far based on my knowledge Azure Active Directory Domain Services (Azure AD DS) supports Group Policy Objects (GPOs). You can edit the built-in GPOs and create your own custom policies in an Azure AD DS managed domain. To administer group policy in a managed domain, you must be signed in to a user account that's a member of the AAD DC Administrators group. Reference: Create and manage group policy in Azure AD Domain Services | Microsoft Learn

would this work for incoming emails as well? based on my knowledge Yes, you can turn off automatic hyperlink in Outlook for all users using group policy. This will work for incoming emails as well. But since we are not using the same environment i can't test from my end to double confirm but our dedicate team for hybrid environment team can make a test to double confirm with you. So, I'd recommend you please kindly contact to our dedicated to double confirm Microsoft Exchange Hybrid Management - Microsoft Q&A.

Please feel free to let us know if there are any questions or if we've got you wrong. We will keep assisting you based on the information you provide. We sincerely appreciate your patience and cooperation. 

Sincerely,  Eben Ezer Tres | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 2

I was told by my co worker that Azure AD does not support GPO. Is that right?

Answer 3

Hello <Name removed>,

Thank you for your reply,

Like i said to turn off automatic hyperlinking in Outlook for all users, you can use Group Policy to disable the "Internet and network paths with hyperlinks" (To get around this, you can turn automatic links off in outlook for all your users using Group Policy to disable the automatic creation of hyperlinks in messages.)

option in the "AutoFormat" settings. Here are the steps to do so:

1. Open the Group Policy Management Console.
2. Create a new Group Policy Object or edit an existing one.
3. Navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Outlook > Outlook Options > Preferences > AutoFormat.
4. Double-click "Internet and network paths with hyperlinks" to open the policy settings.
5. Select "Disabled" to turn off automatic hyperlinking.
6. Click "OK" to save the changes. Note that this will affect all users who are subject to the Group Policy Object.

Note: Group Policy settings can be used to control a wide range of features and settings, including security settings, software installation and configuration, and user preferences. Group Policy settings are stored in Group Policy Objects (GPOs), which can be linked to domains, sites, and organizational units (OUs) in Active Directory. When a user logs on to a computer or a computer starts up, Group Policy settings are applied to the user or computer based on the GPOs that are linked to the user's domain, site, or OU.

Please feel free to let us know if there are any questions or if we've got you wrong. We will keep assisting you based on the information you provide. We sincerely appreciate your patience and cooperation. 

Sincerely,  Eben Ezer Tres | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 4

We completely want to stop Outlook from making automatic links for all your users.

Answer 5

Hello <Name removed>, Good day!Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community. We are happy to help you. As per the description you have shared, we understand that you have a concern with disable the hyperlinks in outlook for all users using Admin center.

Typically, if your purpose is to protect your users against phishing and others malicious attack that can compromise the security of the organization's data and systems. Safe Links policy is a feature of ATP that helps protect users from malicious links in emails and other messages by checking the links against a list of known malicious URLs and blocking access to them if they are found to be malicious*. Reference:* Set up Safe Links policies in Microsoft Defender for Office 365 - Office 365 | Microsoft Learn

However, if you want stop Outlook top create hyperlinks automatically for all of your users, after thorough research and consulting, it’s been concluded that it is not feasible via Admin center, if you want to stop Outlook from making automatic links, because removing each one can become a hassle. To get around this, you can turn automatic links off in outlook for all your users using Group Policy to disable the automatic creation of hyperlinks in messages. Stoptext from turning into a hyperlink - Microsoft Support

Also, there is no built feature to disable the hyperlinks for all inbound emails. But you can build a transport agent to remove all HTML links from incoming SMTP messages. Reference : https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/exchange-team-blog/how-to-write-an-exchange-2013-transport-agent/ba-p/596860 

However, to better understand the issue and provide solution, we need more details from you, please kindly provide us the following information. Thank you. 

• May I please double confirm if your purpose is to protect your users against phishing and others malicious attack that can compromise the security of the organization's data and systems??
• May I please confirm if you want to stop Outlook from making automatic links for all your users?
• May I please confirm if you are in hybrid environment or pure cloud system?

We look forward to your response. This requested information will help us to narrow down the scenario and find the right troubleshooting. We will keep assist you based on the information you will provide. I sincerely appreciate your patience and cooperation. Sincerely,Eben Ezer Tres | Microsoft Community Moderator