Why PDFs with Sensitivity Labels sent to external recipients can not be opened?

Question

When I send Office documents (doc, xls etc.) with Sensitivity Labels to external non-Microsoft M365 users (e.g., Google, Yahoo, or Outlook), they can access them without issues with OTP, Google Sign in, etc.

However, if I convert/save these documents as PDFs (retaining the same Sensitivity Label), the recipients cannot open them, even using the EDGE browser. Instead, they are prompted to sign in with a work or school account. I have not tried with a guest account but why is it like this?

How others are sending PDFs with Sensitivity label to external users?

Answer 1

@Brajesh

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum.

The issue you're encountering with PDFs and Sensitivity Labels is related to how the encryption and permissions are handled for different file types. When you apply Sensitivity Labels to Office documents (like Word, Excel, etc.), the encryption settings are often more flexible and can be accessed by external users through various sign-in methods like OTP or Google Sign-In

However, when these documents are converted to PDFs, the encryption and permissions settings might not translate as seamlessly. PDFs with Sensitivity Labels often require the recipient to have a work or school account to access the content, which is why external recipients are prompted to sign in with such an account

Please Check the below steps:

1. Use a Secure Portal: Instead of sending the PDF directly, upload it to a secure cloud service like OneDrive or SharePoint. Share the link with the external recipients, allowing them to access the file through the web interface
2. Microsoft 365 Message Encryption (OME): Use OME to send encrypted emails with attachments. This method ensures that external recipients can access the protected content securely through a web portal
3. Check Sensitivity Label Settings: Review and adjust the settings for your Sensitivity Labels to ensure they allow external access for PDFs. This might involve configuring the labels to be more permissive for external users

By using these methods, you can help ensure that your external recipients can access the PDFs without encountering sign-in issues.

I hope the above steps will resolve the issue, please do let us know if issue persists. Thank you