Outlook 2016 For Dummies
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Sensitivity isn’t just something Oprah talks about. You may want your Outlook message to be seen by only one person or you may want to prevent your message from being changed by anyone after you send it. Sensitivity settings enable you to restrict what someone else can do to your message after you send it, and they let you set who that someone else can be — even Oprah.

To set the sensitivity of a message, open the Properties dialog box for a message. Click the list box arrow next to the word Sensitivity and one of the levels shown, as described shortly.

Most messages you send will have Normal sensitivity, so that’s what Outlook uses if you don’t say otherwise. The Personal, Private, and Confidential settings only notify the people getting the message that they may want to handle the message differently from a Normal message. (Some organizations even have special rules for dealing with Confidential messages.)

Sensitivity means nothing, as a practical matter. Setting the sensitivity of a message to Private or Confidential doesn’t make it any more private or confidential than any other message; it just notifies the recipient that the message contains particularly sensitive information. Many corporations are very careful about what kind of information can be sent by email outside the company. If you use Outlook at work, check with your system administrators before presuming that the information you send by email is secure.

Another feature you’ll notice on the Options tab on the Ribbon in the Message form is Permission, which actually has the potential to prevent certain things from happening to your message, such as having someone forward your message to everyone you know. (How embarrassing.)

However, you and your recipient must be set up on a compatible email system with something called an Information Rights Management Service to make that work. You also can’t be sure that it will work with some email services, such as Hotmail or Yahoo! Mail. You can find out more about Information Rights Management at the Office Support website.

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Bill Dyszel is a nationally known expert on personal information management and sales automation technology. He frequently speaks at various technology conferences, and he works as a consultant for organizations that need help selecting, developing, and implementing business solutions.

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