About external content in encrypted or digitally signed email messages in Outlook

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Overview

For security reasons, Microsoft Outlook now blocks automatic downloads of external content in encrypted or digitally signed messages by default. External content is any content that is linked from the internet or an intranet, such as images, media, and templates.

Blocking external content in email messages prevents your computer from downloading malicious files and scripts, and it protects your privacy by stopping web beacons from tracking when you open an email message.

Download external content for individual messages

If you use Outlook in Windows and would like to download external content in encrypted or digitally signed messages, follow the steps below. Enabling this option won't make Outlook download external content by default; it simply lets you access such content at your discretion.

Important:
UITS does not recommend turning on the option to download external content in Outlook for Mac. This version of Outlook already lets you access external content at your discretion, and the option to automatically download all content doesn't make the distinction between digitally signed and non-signed messages.
  1. Open Outlook. From the File tab, choose Options.
  2. Select Trust Center, and then Trust Center Settings.
  3. Select Automatic Download.
  4. Uncheck Don't download pictures in encrypted or signed HTML messages.
  5. Click OK to save.

This is document atoj in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2023-05-10 09:08:50.