Dynamic watermarking in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

(Originally posted July 11, 2024 By ~ Camille Burch)

Hello, Microsoft 365 Insiders! I’m Camille Birch, a Product Manager on the Office Purview team. I’m excited to announce a new feature for sensitivity labels in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for Windows, Mac, and the web: dynamic watermarking. This feature can help prevent users from leaking sensitive information and prevent property leaks if they do occur.

Introducing Dynamic Watermarking for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

If you work with sensitive or confidential documents, you know how important it is to prevent information leaks from these documents. Sensitivity labels in Microsoft Purview Information Protection provide a highly effective way to restrict access to sensitive files and prevent people from doing inappropriate things like printing the document, while still allowing full collaboration.

However, it is still possible for someone to take a picture of a sensitive file on your screen or a presentation that is shared online or in person. (Some screenshot formats cannot be blocked by existing technologies.) This vulnerability provides a simple way to bypass the protection of the sensitivity label on the document. Dynamic watermarking can be a powerful weapon to prevent this kind of leak.

How it works

1. To apply a sensitivity label using dynamic watermarking, select the file name in the title bar or sensitivity Click the button on the ribbon and then select a label from the drop-down list.

   How to apply sensitivity labels in Word

2. Once you apply the label, the watermark will appear on your screen immediately.

   Dynamic watermarking in sensitivity labels in Word

   3. When you open a file protected with a sensitivity label that has dynamic watermarking enabled, a tile watermark is superimposed on the file content. This watermark includes the email address of the account you are using to view the file.

Tips and Tricks

• The file can be viewed normally with the watermark always visible over the file content. You cannot remove this watermark unless you have IRM permissions to change the file label to one that does not have a dynamic watermark.
• If you try to open a file labeled with a dynamic watermark in a version of Microsoft 365 that doesn’t support the feature, you’ll see an “Access Denied” message (unless you own the file). This is to prevent Microsoft 365 clients that can’t display watermarks from viewing files that are supposed to be marked with a dynamic watermark.
• If you need to open a file with dynamic watermarking but your client doesn’t yet support it, open the file in Microsoft 365 for the web instead. You’ll be able to view, edit, and collaborate on the document with full support for dynamic watermarking.
• The watermark is included when you print the file, but not when you export it to other file formats. Keep this in mind when deciding whether or not to export your file.
• Viewing files outside of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint does not support dynamic watermarking. That means certain experiences, like PPT Live, do not render the watermark.

Requirements

• To access this feature, you must belong to an organization that: Licensed for sensitivity labels in Microsoft 365 This enables dynamic watermarking on accessible sensitivity labels.
• You can apply labels with dynamic watermarks only if your administrator has enabled the setting for available sensitivity labels.

effectiveness

This feature is currently rolling out to web users and Current Channel Preview users running:

• Windows: Version 2407 (Build 17830.20000) or later
• Mac: Version 16.87 (Build 24070110) or later

Not yet? It’s probably us, not you.

Features are released over time to ensure everything works smoothly. They are released slowly to a larger number of Insiders, highlighting features you may not have. Sometimes we remove elements based on your feedback to make them even better. This is rare, but we also have the option to completely remove a feature from the product, even if you, as an Insider, had the opportunity to try it out.

feedback

We want to hear from you! Click here help > feedback Submit your thoughts on this feature in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. Be sure to use the hashtag. #Dynamic watermarking Please leave your comments so we can quickly identify feedback on this feature.

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