Block Reply All, Forwards, and more in Outlook
Have you ever sent a message and asked people to "small r" you (aka "reply just to sender") only to unleash a barrage of public responses to a large work group of recipients? There's a way to prevent this tucked away in every message, if you know where to look.
This works in both Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010. Before you send your message, click the Options tab. Now click the bottom half of the Permissions button and select Do Not Reply All:
Now the Reply All button will be unavailable for all recipients except for the sender:
Likewise, if you want to prohibit mails from being forwarded, select the Do Not Forward option. This has the added side effect that the contents of your e-mail cannot be cut and pasted or printed. It's not foolproof (I managed to screenshot such a mail!) but it can limit recipients' ability to unintentionally pass along sensitive information.
To remove any of these options from a mail prior to sending it, simply select No Restrictions.
Suzanne
Anonymous
January 01, 2003
This feature does require Exchange Server mail with Information Rights Management. This will not work with other mail servers (POP, IMAP, Hotmail). It's meant for corporate mail systems and, as noted in the tip, it's mainly meant to discourage Reply All and Forwards.Anonymous
September 16, 2010
This looks like very useful information and I wish others would use it. Unfortunately for me, I don't have the Options -> Permissions menu. Do you know how to enable it?Anonymous
September 23, 2010
Suzanne, Is this feature for single users, or is needed domain infrastructure with IRM service? This is important information for users in end note of article. THX. PeterAnonymous
August 26, 2011
I do not seem to have the Options->Permissions menu including the "Do Not Reply All". I am on a Exchange Server -- how do I go about getting this installed?Anonymous
May 23, 2012
It's to bad that it will not work with other mail servers. It would really stop a lot of mail being forwarded with addresses!! Something for Microsoft to work on in improving their products.Anonymous
August 29, 2012
Interesting becasue this option was available with Office2007