unable to open email

Question

Hi All,

An external user (for example, user1(at)externaldomain.com) sends an encrypted email to one of our internal users.

When the recipient opens the email, they see the following message:

user1 (user1(at)externaldomain.com) has sent you a protected message.

🔒 Read the message

However, after clicking Read the message, the user receives the following error:

Sorry, we can't display your message right now.

Something went wrong, and your encrypted message couldn't be opened. Please try again by following the instructions in the original email message in 5 minutes.

Has anyone encountered this issue before? What could be causing it, and what troubleshooting steps would you recommend to resolve it? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Hello @Glenn Maxwell,

Good day! I hope you are doing well.

To help provide the most accurate and effective solution for your issue, could you share a bit more detail about your environment:

• Does the issue affect all recipients or only specific users?
• Are the affected users opening the message in Outlook desktop, Outlook on the web (OWA), or another mail client?
• Does the same encrypted email fail for multiple recipients, or only one recipient?
• Do you happen to know if the sender is using Microsoft Purview Message Encryption, a Sensitivity Label, Encrypt-Only, or Do Not Forward protection?
• Can the affected user successfully open other encrypted emails from different senders?
• Have there been any recent changes to Conditional Access policies, MFA requirements, mail flow rules, or message encryption policies in your tenant?
• Can you provide a screenshot of the error (with any personal information removed)?

This additional context will help us understand your environment and the steps already taken so we can tailor the guidance to resolve the issue effectively.

In the meantime, here are some basic checks you can try:

• Wait a few minutes and try opening the message again, as temporary authentication or encryption service delays can sometimes trigger this error.
• Try opening the encrypted message using different mail clients to determine whether the issue is specific to the Outlook desktop/web or another mail client.
• Sign out of Microsoft 365 completely, close the browser, sign back in, and try opening the message again.
• Try an InPrivate/Incognito browser session to rule out browser cache or cookie issues.
• Verify that the recipient can successfully complete any required MFA prompts during the message access process.
• If you are an administrator, review Microsoft Purview Message Encryption, Azure Rights Management (RMS), and IRM configuration to ensure the encryption service is functioning correctly.
• If the issue only occurs with messages from a specific external organization, review any Conditional Access or cross-tenant access policies that could be interfering with authentication.

I apologize if I could not jump straight to a solution. I want to avoid suggesting anything that might be inaccurate or unhelpful. Once I have the details above, I'll be able to assist you more effectively and guide you toward the right resolution.

Looking forward to your response so we can get this sorted out for you together.

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