Public attachment handling in Exchange Online

  • Article

As an admin, you can set up both private and public attachment handling in Outlook on the web (formerly known as Outlook Web App) depending on how you configure your Outlook on the web mailbox policies. The settings for private (internal) and public (external) networks define how users can open, view, send, or receive attachments depending on whether a user is signed in to Outlook on the web on a computer that is part of a private or of a public network.

How can I control public attachment handling?

Although there are both private (internal network) and public (external network) settings to control attachments using Outlook on the web mailbox policies, admins require more consistent and reliable attachment handling when a user signs in to Outlook on the web from a computer on a public network such as at a coffee shop or library. To set up the ability to enforce attachment handling from external networks for an entire organization in Exchange Online, first use the Set-OrganizationConfig cmdlet, set the PublicComputersDetectionEnabled parameter to $true, configure the correct Outlook on the web mailbox policy either by using the Exchange admin center (EAC) or the Set-OwaMailboxPolicy cmdlet and create claim rules in AD FS. Enabling this setting the on the Set-OrganizationConfig cmdlet and creating the claim rules will enable Exchange Online to tell if a user is signing in to Outlook on the web from a private and public network or computer.

The Outlook on the web mailbox policy parameters in the following table should be set to $true to enable an admin to control attachment handling for public computers and networks.

Parameter* Description
DirectFileAccessOnPublicComputersEnabled Specifies left-click and other options available for attachments when the user has signed in to Outlook on the web from a computer outside of a private or corporate network. If this parameter is set to $true, Open and other options are available. If it's set to $false, the Open option is disabled.
ForceWacViewingFirstOnPublicComputers Specifies whether a user who signed in to Outlook on the web from a computer outside of a private or corporate network can open an Office file directly without first viewing it as a webpage.
WacViewingOnPublicComputersEnabled Specifies whether a user who has signed into Outlook on the web from a computer outside of the corporate network can view supported Office files using Outlook on the web.

What do you need to know before you begin?

Tip

Having problems? Ask for help in the Exchange forums. Visit the forums at Exchange Online or Exchange Online Protection.

Task 1 - Enable public attachment handling for your organization

Run the following command:

Set-OrganizationConfig -PublicComputersDetectionEnabled $true

Note: Setting this parameter to $true won't affect the settings for the following parameters:

  • ForceWacViewingFirstOnPublicComputers
  • WSSAccessOnPublicComputersEnabled
  • UNCAccessOnPublicComputersEnabled

Task 2 - Add and create claim rules in AD FS 2.0

You must create a custom claim rule because an AD FS server relies on the presence of the x-ms-proxy claim to detect whether user is coming from an internal or external network. When an AD FS proxy is deployed for external or public access, and if the user is coming from outside a private network, there will be an x-ms-proxy claim sent from AD FS proxy to an AD FS server. To learn more about claim rules in AD FS, see Create a Rule to Send Claims Using a Custom Rule

  1. On the Start Screen, type AD FS Management, and then press Enter.

  2. In AD FS console tree, under AD FS\Trust Relationships > Relying Party Trusts and select O365 Identity Platform.

  3. In O365 Identity Platform, click Edit Claim Rules > Add Rule > Issuance Transform Rules.

  4. On the Select Rule Template page, under Claim rule template, select Send Claims Using a Custom Rule from the list, and then click Next.

  5. On the Configure Rule page under Claim rule name type the display name for this rule.

  6. Under Custom rule, input the following text:

    exists ([Type == "http://schemas.microsoft.com/2012/01/requestcontext/claims/x-ms-proxy"]) => issue(Type = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/ws/2012/01/insidecorporatenetwork", Value = "false");

  7. Next, input the following text:

    NOT exists ([Type == "http://schemas.microsoft.com/2012/01/requestcontext/claims/x-ms-proxy"]) => issue(Type = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/ws/2012/01/insidecorporatenetwork", Value = "true");

  8. Click Finish.

  9. In the Edit Claim Rules dialog box, click OK to save the rule.

Task 3 - Enable public attachment handling on an Outlook on the web mailbox policy

Use EAC to enable public attachment handling settings

  1. In the EAC, click Permissions > Outlook Web App policies.

  2. In the result pane, click the mailbox policy you want to view or configure, and click Edit.

  3. On File Access, use the check boxes to configure the file access and viewing options for users. File access lets a user open or view the contents of files attached to an email message.

    File access can be controlled based on whether a user has logged on to a public or private computer. The option for users to select private computer access or public computer access is available only when you're using forms-based authentication. All other forms of authentication default to private computer access.

    Direct file access: Select this check box if you want to enable direct file access. Direct file access lets users open files attached to email messages.

  4. Click Save to update the policy.

Use Exchange Online PowerShell to enable public attachment handling settings

Run the following command:

Set-OwaMailboxPolicy -Identity MyOWAPublicPolicy -DirectFileAccessOnPublicComputersEnabled $true -ForceWacViewingFirstOnPublicComputers $true -WacViewingOnPublicComputersEnabled $true

What you need to know about attachments?

An attachment can be a file that's created in any program, for example, a Word document, an Excel spreadsheet, a .wav file, or a bitmap file. Users can attach or include one or more files on any item that they create in their mailbox, for example, an email message, calendar item, or contact. Outlook on the web allows you to send and receive many common files types. Continuously

Some attachments might be removed or blocked by antivirus software used by your organization, by the organization of the recipients of your email, or you might be required to save them on your computer before you can open them. By default, Outlook on the web allows you to open attached Word, Excel, PowerPoint, text files and many media files directly. The files you can open from Outlook on the web vary depending on your account settings. The following list describes the default file name extensions that you can open in Outlook on the web.

File name extensions allowed by default:

  • .avi
  • .bmp
  • .doc
  • .doc
  • .docm
  • .docx
  • .gif
  • .jpeg
  • .mp3
  • .one
  • .pdf
  • .png
  • .ppsm
  • .ppsx
  • .ppt
  • .pptm
  • .pptx
  • .pub
  • .rpmsg
  • .rtf
  • .tif
  • .txt
  • .vsd
  • .wav
  • .wma
  • .wmv
  • .xls
  • .xls
  • .xlsb
  • .xlsm
  • .xlsx