Sensitivity label works in Outlook web app but not desktop app

Question

Sensitivity label works in Outlook web app but not desktop app

Vishal Bakshi 76

We are currently using M365 Business Premium licence and hence are using Azure Information Protection Premium Plan 1. We created an 'Internal' sensitivity label on compliance.microsoft.com, with "assign permissions now" configuration granting co-author access to all users and groups within the organisation . The label is working in the user's Outlook web app. However, when drafting a new email in Outlook desktop app, the option to select the label is there, but when I click on the label itself it reverts back to "no label".

All the users to which label policy is scoped can see the Label. but can't apply it. Some insights:

If I create a label with "Let users assign permission" configuration and then select the "Encrypt-Only" or "Do-Not-Forward" options. Then users can see that label and apply it in the Outlook desktop app and web.
If I create labels with "Assign Permission now" configuration, scope it to both file and email, grant co-author access to 'Authenticated Users', or 'all users and groups within the organisation', then users can select the label in Word/Excel etc, but not Outlook Desktop app. They can assign the same label in Outlook Web though. We are on the latest - Microsoft® Outlook® for Microsoft 365 MSO (Version 2403 Build 16.0.17425.20176) 64-bit. We use built-in labels by Office apps and never used AIP unified labelling client or the classic client.

ChristyZhang-MSFT 26,141 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2024-05-01T02:16:57.48+00:00

Hi @Vishal Bakshi ,

Welcome to our forum!

Please kindly understand that the Outlook tag here we mainly focus on general issues about Outlook desktop client. Considering that your issue is more related to Sensitivity label you created, based on my research, i found an official article mentioned that:

However, there are some scenarios where label and label policy changes can take effect much faster or be longer than 24 hours. For example, for new and deleted sensitivity labels for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on the web, you might see updates replicate within the hour. But for configurations that depend on populating a new group and group membership changes, or network replication latency and bandwidth restrictions, these changes might take 24-48 hours.

Hope the above information help!
Vishal Bakshi 76 Reputation points

2024-05-01T07:29:05.04+00:00

Thank you Christy for your answer. Yes, that information is pretty basic. Here we are talking about an issue which has been there for more than 1 month, all users unable to select any label that has got 'Assign Permissions now' option. And the permission is for "all users and groups in the organisation" with Co-Author Access
Thomas Cassar 15 Reputation points

2024-05-06T08:30:16.8333333+00:00

Encountering the same issue with one of our clients. The Confidential Label with Access Settings, works for the majority of users, however there are some users which when pressing on the label in the Outlook client nothing happens and no label is applied. If the label is applied from Outlook Web or when switching to Outlook "Try the new client" it works without any issues. These labels have been applied for well over 1 week.
Edoardo Antonio Salemme 15 Reputation points

2024-05-10T11:11:17.73+00:00

Hello everyone we are experiencing the same issue with one of our clients. A label with controlled access works for all users, but there is one user for whom clicking on the label in the Outlook client has no effect, and the label is not applied. However, if the label is applied from Outlook Web, it works without any problems.
Andy Cox 15 Reputation points

2024-06-12T05:27:56.8766667+00:00

Ourselves and at least 1 customer have this issue:- label applies in outlook web and "new" outlook but not full desktop client. We have reported this to MSFT

Accepted answer

4 additional answers

Your answer

ChristyZhang-MSFT 26,141 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2024-05-01T02:16:57.48+00:00

Hi @Vishal Bakshi ,

Welcome to our forum!

Please kindly understand that the Outlook tag here we mainly focus on general issues about Outlook desktop client. Considering that your issue is more related to Sensitivity label you created, based on my research, i found an official article mentioned that:

However, there are some scenarios where label and label policy changes can take effect much faster or be longer than 24 hours. For example, for new and deleted sensitivity labels for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on the web, you might see updates replicate within the hour. But for configurations that depend on populating a new group and group membership changes, or network replication latency and bandwidth restrictions, these changes might take 24-48 hours.

Hope the above information help!
Vishal Bakshi 76 Reputation points

2024-05-01T07:29:05.04+00:00

Thank you Christy for your answer. Yes, that information is pretty basic. Here we are talking about an issue which has been there for more than 1 month, all users unable to select any label that has got 'Assign Permissions now' option. And the permission is for "all users and groups in the organisation" with Co-Author Access
Thomas Cassar 15 Reputation points

2024-05-06T08:30:16.8333333+00:00

Encountering the same issue with one of our clients. The Confidential Label with Access Settings, works for the majority of users, however there are some users which when pressing on the label in the Outlook client nothing happens and no label is applied. If the label is applied from Outlook Web or when switching to Outlook "Try the new client" it works without any issues. These labels have been applied for well over 1 week.
Edoardo Antonio Salemme 15 Reputation points

2024-05-10T11:11:17.73+00:00

Hello everyone we are experiencing the same issue with one of our clients. A label with controlled access works for all users, but there is one user for whom clicking on the label in the Outlook client has no effect, and the label is not applied. However, if the label is applied from Outlook Web, it works without any problems.
Andy Cox 15 Reputation points

2024-06-12T05:27:56.8766667+00:00

Ourselves and at least 1 customer have this issue:- label applies in outlook web and "new" outlook but not full desktop client. We have reported this to MSFT

Answer 1

To save anyone time who stumbles across this, here is the MS support article. Thank you to @Vishal Bavishi for posting your workaround, that helped us during our testing and troubleshooting.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/office/outlook-desktop-is-unable-to-apply-labels-with-encryption-8e084af0-b718-491d-8d42-5996e2bfd7fb

TLDR:

Doesn't affect "new" Outlook Desktop app or the Outlook Web App.
The fix build will be available in Current Channel Preview when that channel gets to Version 2407 (Build 17830.20000). The fixed build is estimated to get to Current Channel in late July 2024.
Alternatively, you can download a beta/insider build, or modify a registry setting to change the preferred RMS package Outlook uses, though be wary that Microsoft puts the ownness on you to set yourself a reminder to revert this setting down the road. Adam.

Answer 2

Hi @Vishal Bakshi , sorry for the delay in response. Due to the amount of follow-ups on this, it is likely to be a bug. Can you please try the following for me to see if it resolves your issue?

When you create a sensitivity label with the "Assign permissions now" configuration, it should be possible to apply the label in both the Outlook web app and the desktop app.

Here are some things you can check to troubleshoot the issue:

Check the label configuration: Make sure that the label is configured correctly in the Azure portal. Check that the label is scoped to both email and files, and that the co-author access is granted to the correct users and groups.
Check the label policy: Make sure that the label policy is applied correctly in the Azure portal. Check that the label policy is scoped to the correct users and groups, and that the label is included in the policy.
Check the Outlook desktop app configuration: Make sure that the Outlook desktop app is configured correctly to use sensitivity labels. Check that the sensitivity labels feature is enabled in the app settings, and that the app is up to date.
Check the user permissions: Make sure that the user has the correct permissions to apply the sensitivity label in the Outlook desktop app. Check that the user is included in the scope of the label policy, and that the user has the necessary permissions to apply the label.

Answer 3

Vishal Bakshi 76

Hi @James Hamil - We were able to fix it by deleting the mip folder in Outlook so it pulls the new template down. That being said, it still affects new users and it is not feasible to continually delete this folder for each user.
The mip folder is: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Outlook\MIPSDK\mip

This is occurring for Exchange Online and seems to only affect the newer versions of Office (i.e. Semi Annual does not have this issue).

Answer 4

Vishal Bakshi 76

We were able to fix it by deleting the mip folder in Outlook so it pulls the new template down. That being said, it still affects new users and it is not feasible to continually delete this folder for each user. The mip folder is: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Outlook\MIPSDK\mip

This is occurring for Exchange Online and seems to only affect the newer versions of Office (i.e. Semi Annual does not have this issue).

James Hamil 27,231 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2024-06-14T22:33:31.19+00:00

@Vishal Bakshi Thank you for the update. I'm going to escalate this as a bug because this shouldn't be an issue.
Andy Cox 15 Reputation points

2024-06-17T10:47:20.97+00:00

@James Hamil if it helps I have an open ticket with MSFT as we have had this issue:- manually removing %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Outlook\MIPSDK\mip resolves the issue. TrackingID#2404170050003637

Answer 5

Jose Angel 1

same problem here

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Sensitivity label works in Outlook web app but not desktop app

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