View messages sent with restricted permissions

Information Rights Management (IRM), available in Microsoft Outlook 2010, allows people to specify access permissions to e-mail messages. Your organization must install and deploy IRM before you can use it.

For more information about IRM in Outlook 2010, see Introduction to using IRM for e-mail messages.

Messages that you receive with restricted permission are identified by an icon that appears next to the message in the message list of your Inbox.

View a message that uses restricted permissions

• In the message list, double-click the message to open it.

Note:  The contents of a rights-managed message don't appear in the Reading Pane.

As the recipient, you cannot print, forward, or copy the rights-managed message. However, you can reply to the sender. Your reply has the same restrictions to the recipient (original sender) as the original message.

The first time that you open a message that uses restricted permission, Outlook must connect to a licensing server to verify your credentials and download a use license. The use license defines the level of access that you have to a file. After the certificate is installed, you can view the contents of the message by opening the message.

More about downloading credentials

If your organization uses an IRM server, your administrator can advise you on how to set permissions. However, most home and personal e-mail accounts do not use an IRM server. In that case, your first attempt to set permissions on a message opens a dialog box in which Outlook prompts you to sign up for a free trial on an IRM server. A temporary credential is available by clicking Yes and signing up for a Rights Management (RM) account certificate for your outgoing e-mail address. Your e-mail address must be Windows Live ID enabled.

Downloading permissions requires that Microsoft Office send your credentials that includes your e-mail address and information about your permission rights to the licensing server. The information that is contained in the e-mail message is not sent to the licensing server. For more information, read the Privacy Statement for Microsoft Office 2010.