Send Encrypted Email - OWA vs. Outlook Desktop

Hello Bob,

Thank you for your detailed follow-up and kind words! I appreciate the additional context regarding the user's Microsoft 365 setup and your observations from testing. Let me provide some clarity based on your queries and findings.

Your concern is whether the Microsoft 365 Email Plus license provided by GoDaddy supports Purview Message Encryption and whether upgrading to a higher GoDaddy-managed license (such as Microsoft 365 Online Business Essentials or Business Professional) would enable Purview Message Encryption by default.

Your observations are spot on—Purview Message Encryption is typically enabled by default for tenants with Business Standard or higher licenses from Microsoft. However, GoDaddy's Microsoft 365 offerings may vary in functionality, as they customize licenses and feature availability for their tenants.

Let’s address your questions step-by-step.

Purview Message Encryption in GoDaddy-Tenants:

• Default Availability: GoDaddy-managed Microsoft 365 plans often differ from standard Microsoft offerings. Features like Purview Message Encryption may not be included in the Microsoft 365 Email Plus license, as it’s a more basic plan tailored for email functionality.
• License Upgrades: Upgrading to GoDaddy's Microsoft 365 Business Essentials or Business Professional plan may provide access to Purview Message Encryption, as these plans are closer to Microsoft’s Business Standard and Business Premium offerings.

Actionable Steps:

• Verify the feature availability directly with GoDaddy support, as they can confirm if encryption is included in the higher-tier plans.
• Check the Microsoft 365 admin center for the GoDaddy tenant to see if Purview Message Encryption settings are accessible.

Testing Outlook Desktop and OWA:

• Before upgrading, test sending encrypted emails in Outlook Desktop with the current license. If Purview Message Encryption is unavailable in both Outlook Desktop and OWA, it further supports the likelihood that the feature isn’t enabled for the Microsoft 365 Email Plus plan.

**Alternative Solution:**If upgrading licenses is not an immediate option, you can explore alternative encryption methods such as S/MIME, though it’s less seamless and may require additional configuration.

Final Note:
Based on the details provided, it’s highly likely that the current Microsoft 365 Email Plus license does not include Purview Message Encryption. Upgrading to GoDaddy's higher-tier plans should resolve the issue, but I recommend confirming feature availability with GoDaddy before proceeding.

Please let me know if you need further assistance or clarification. I’m here to help!

Honestly,

Microsoft Community Moderator

Hello Bob,

Good day! Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community!

I appreciate the detailed description of your scenario, and I understand your concern about simplifying the encrypted email process in Outlook Web Access (OWA) compared to Outlook Desktop. I’m happy to assist you.

You’re looking for a way to send encrypted emails using OWA with the same simplicity as Outlook Desktop without requiring the S/MIME plugin and SSL certificate installation.

**Note:**The difference in encrypted email functionality between Outlook Desktop and OWA stems from how encryption protocols are handled. Outlook Desktop offers built-in encryption options using Microsoft Purview Message Encryption, which provides a seamless experience. OWA, by contrast, may rely on additional plugins or certificate-based encryption depending on your organization's setup.

To better understand and investigate your problem, I can get some more detailed information from you:

1. Are you using yourMicrosoft 365 work account(@xxx.onmicrosoft.com/@yourdomain.com) personal account (ending in outlook.com/hotmail.com/live.com/msn.com) or another third-party pop/imap account?
2. Are you using Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard, Enterprise, or Education? Alternatively, is it Microsoft 365 Family, Personal, Office 365 Home and Business, Office 365 Home and Student, or a Personal Outlook.com subscription?

Let’s explore potential solutions and workarounds to simplify this process.

Message Encryption in OWA: If you're using Microsoft 365 and have the appropriate licenses, OWA does support message encryption via Microsoft Purview (formerly Microsoft Information Protection). The recipient can receive the email and open it securely via a passcode, similar to Outlook Desktop, but with some setup in Microsoft 365 admin settings for encryption policies.

Using Microsoft Purview Message Encryption in OWA
If your organization uses Microsoft 365 with Microsoft Purview Message Encryption, you can enable encryption in OWA without requiring S/MIME or SSL certificates. Here’s how:

• Compose a new email in OWA.
• Select Encrypt (lock icon) from the message toolbar.
• Choose the encryption options as configured by your IT administrator (e.g., Encrypt-Only or Do Not Forward).
• Recipients will receive an email with a link to view the encrypted message, just like in Outlook Desktop.

Prerequisites:

• Ensure your Microsoft 365 tenant is configured to use Microsoft Purview Message Encryption.
• Your organization’s admin must enable these options in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Use Office 365 Message Encryption (OME): Another potential solution is ensuring your OWA is configured with Office 365 Message Encryption (OME), which allows sending encrypted emails from the web app in a way similar to Outlook Desktop without needing additional plugins or certificates.

Using S/MIME for OWA
If you need to use S/MIME encryption, this requires:

• Installing the S/MIME plugin for OWA.
• Configuring SSL certificates for both senders and recipients.

While this method is feasible for smaller setups, it can indeed be cumbersome for larger groups.

Contact Your IT Administrator:
If Microsoft Purview Message Encryption is unavailable in OWA for your tenant, I recommend contacting your IT administrator to confirm the encryption policies and explore enabling the seamless encryption options available in Microsoft 365.

Note

If you find configuring these settings in OWA too complex, and encryption is critical for your workflow, using the Desktop version of Outlook remains the easiest way to send encrypted emails with minimal setup. Alternatively, you can explore the Outlook Mobile app, which also supports Office 365 encryption features.

Please let me know if you need further clarification or assistance with these steps. We’re here to help!

Hi Eleni:

Thanks for all the info. Very helpful.

To answer your questions:

The user is using a M365 work account w/a custom domain.

Their license is Microsoft 365 Email Plus as provided by GoDaddy, i.e. a tenant created by GoDaddy.

I see my question is misguided. I just tested with another user/another non-GoDaddy tenant. I see the user can send encrypted email both from Outlook Desktop and from OWA using Purview Message Encryption. I did not explicitly enable Purview Message Encryption in this tenant so I think it is enabled by default for direct MS tenants where users have at least the Bus. Std. plan, correct?

But back to my user with the problem: I have not yet tested Outlook Desktop with the user and I suspect Purview Message Encryption will also not be available in Outlook Desktop, similar to OWA. So, I think either tenants created by GoDaddy do not have Purview Message Encryption enabled by default, or it's a license issue, i.e. their "Microsoft 365 Email Plus" license doesn't allow Purview Message Encryption. Do you know if I upgrade them to GoDaddy's Microsoft 365 Online Business Essentials or Microsoft 365 Business Professional will they then have Purview Message Encryption available and enabled by default?

Thank you,

Bob H.