{
  "slug": "outlook",
  "name": "Outlook",
  "maker": "Microsoft",
  "category": "email",
  "competitor": true,
  "verdict": "n",
  "answer": "No. Microsoft can read your Outlook.com email. The paid Encrypt option keeps a message inside Microsoft 365 and away from other providers, but readers open it with just a sign-in or passcode, so Microsoft can unlock it too.",
  "title": "Is Outlook email encrypted? Outlook.com and Encrypt",
  "description": "Microsoft can read Outlook.com email. The paid Encrypt option keeps mail away from other providers, but Microsoft can still unlock it. Checked at the source.",
  "parts": [
    {
      "key": "mail",
      "status": "n",
      "words": "Microsoft can read it",
      "note": "Microsoft can open your mail, and while it doesn't say who holds the keys for the paid Encrypt option, readers open those messages with just a sign-in or passcode, so Microsoft's servers can unlock them too.",
      "sources": [
        1,
        3
      ],
      "label": "Between its own users"
    },
    {
      "key": "mailout",
      "status": "n",
      "words": "Microsoft can read it",
      "note": "By default Outlook.com only encrypts the connection with TLS, and with Encrypt, people on other services sign in or use a passcode to read the message from Microsoft 365.",
      "sources": [
        1
      ],
      "label": "To other services"
    },
    {
      "key": "tray",
      "status": "n",
      "words": "Microsoft can read it",
      "note": "Microsoft's privacy statement says it may access the content of your Outlook.com emails, for example to stop spam or to comply with the law.",
      "sources": [
        3
      ],
      "label": "Stored mailbox"
    },
    {
      "key": "pq",
      "status": "x",
      "words": "Not yet",
      "note": "No post-quantum protection announced as of 25 October 2026.",
      "sources": [],
      "label": "Post-quantum"
    }
  ],
  "extra_parts": [],
  "keys": "Microsoft holds the keys to your mailbox, and while it doesn't say who holds them for the Encrypt option, its servers unlock those messages for readers who only sign in or enter a passcode.",
  "can_see": "Everything in your mailbox: messages, attachments, subject lines, contacts, and who you write to and when.",
  "business": "On business plans, admins can set up S/MIME, where each person keeps their own private key, which Microsoft recommends when true peer-to-peer encryption is needed.",
  "fix": null,
  "fix_line": null,
  "sections": [
    {
      "id": "can-microsoft-read-my-outlook-email",
      "q": "Can Microsoft read my Outlook email?",
      "a": "Yes. Outlook.com encrypts the connection when it sends mail to other providers [1], but Microsoft can open what is stored in your account. Its privacy statement says Microsoft may access the content of your Outlook.com emails when it believes this is needed, for example to comply with the law or to prevent spam [3].\n\nMicrosoft also says it does not use what you say in email to target ads [3]."
    },
    {
      "id": "what-does-encrypt-do-in-outlook",
      "q": "What does the Encrypt button in Outlook do?",
      "a": "With a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription, Outlook.com and new Outlook for Windows add Options › Encrypt when you write a message [1]. Encrypt keeps the message inside Microsoft 365, and Do Not Forward also stops it being copied or forwarded [1]. People on other services read it through a Microsoft portal, signing in with their Google or Yahoo account or using a passcode sent by email [1].\n\nMicrosoft says this is useful when you don't trust the recipient's email provider [1]. It doesn't say who holds the keys. But because a reader can open the message with just a sign-in or an emailed passcode, and no key of their own, Microsoft's servers must be able to unlock it. For its business email encryption service, which uses a similar portal, Microsoft says it manages and stores the keys [2]."
    },
    {
      "id": "can-i-use-s-mime-with-outlook-com",
      "q": "Can I use S/MIME with Outlook.com?",
      "a": "Not on a personal account. Microsoft's S/MIME setup guide is for work or school accounts, and its feature table says personal Microsoft accounts can't send digitally signed messages [4][5]. S/MIME also needs a certificate for you [4] and the public key of each person you write to [2].\n\nOn work accounts, Microsoft recommends S/MIME when you need true peer-to-peer encryption [2]."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Send encrypted messages with a Microsoft 365 personal or family subscription",
      "publisher": "Microsoft",
      "url": "https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/send-encrypted-messages-with-a-microsoft-365-personal-or-family-subscription",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Email encryption in Microsoft 365",
      "publisher": "Microsoft",
      "url": "https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/purview/email-encryption",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Microsoft Privacy Statement (last updated September 2026)",
      "publisher": "Microsoft",
      "url": "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/privacystatement",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Set up Outlook to use S/MIME encryption",
      "publisher": "Microsoft",
      "url": "https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/mail/set-up-outlook-to-use-s-mime-encryption",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Learn about securing and protecting email messages in Outlook",
      "publisher": "Microsoft",
      "url": "https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/mail/learn-about-securing-and-protecting-email-messages-in-outlook",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    }
  ],
  "changes": [
    {
      "date": "2026-10-25",
      "text": "First published."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "gmail",
    "icloud-mail",
    "yahoo-mail",
    "proton-mail",
    "outlook-calendar"
  ],
  "url": "https://isitencrypted.com/outlook/",
  "checked": "2026-10-25"
}