Outlook.com encrypted message error — cannot reply to OME messages.

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Outlook.com encrypted message error — cannot reply to OME messages.

Francisco Torres 0

My Outlook.com mailbox cannot reply to OME-encrypted messages. I receive the error: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. This is a known Purview/IRM provisioning issue. How can I get my mailbox’s IRM configuration reprovisioned to resolve this issue?

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Answer 1

Chloe-V 7,255 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Francisco Torres,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.

To quickly identify the cause, since you’re unable to reply to OME/Encrypted messages and you’re seeing the message ‘Object reference not set to an instance of an object,’ please share the following details:

Are you using a personal Outlook.com account (Microsoft account / Personal/Family) or a work/school account (Exchange Online)?
Where do you see this behavior: Outlook.com on the web, Outlook mobile, or Outlook desktop? Please include your OS and browser/app version if possible.
Does this happen only when replying/forwarding an OME message, or also when composing a new email > Encrypt / Do Not Forward?
When the message appears, do you see any Request ID / Correlation ID / Technical details? If yes, please share it via private message.
Can you send/reply to non-encrypted emails successfully?

Once I have these details, I’ll be able to guide you with the most relevant next steps.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Francisco Torres 0 Reputation points

2026-03-18T01:59:12.6733333+00:00
Hi Cloe-V. Thanks for reaching out. I should open by saying that today, while trying to replicate the error to respond to you. I was able to send out encrypted mails using Outlook.com. Not sure if you have already done something to help here. To your questions:

Personal account (Hotmail)

MS Edge version 146.03856.62, OS is Win 11 Pro.

The issue was happening for all (replying, forwarding, composing). Replying and composing are now working.

No other ID's or tech details appeared.

Non encrypted mails work fine. Again, seems to be working now. Thank you if something was done to correct the issue.
Chloe-V 7,255 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-19T07:51:21.0666667+00:00

Hi Francisco Torres,

Thank you for the update and for sharing the details.

It’s good to hear that replying to, forwarding, and composing encrypted messages are now working correctly on Outlook.com, and that non‑encrypted messages are not affected.

Please continue to monitor over the next few days. If the behavior reoccurs, kindly let us know any message shown on the screen.

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Outlook.com encrypted message error — cannot reply to OME messages.

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