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How do I tag external mail so colleagues recognize it?

A yellow 'EXTERNAL' banner on every inbound mail helps. Users automatically double-check whether a 'colleague mail' is really internal.

Try this first

  1. 1Exchange admin center > Mail flow > Rules > New rule.
  2. 2Condition: 'Sender is located' > 'Outside the organization'. Action: 'Apply a disclaimer' > 'Prepend' with an HTML banner. Fill in 'EXTERNAL: this mail comes from outside, verify the sender'.
  3. 3Add exceptions for partner domains you mail with a lot, otherwise every customer mail gets the banner and the signal is lost.
  4. 4Test by sending a mail from your personal Gmail to your work mail. Banner visible?
  5. 5Communicate to colleagues: 'if you see this banner on something that looks like a colleague mail, do not click'.

When to bring us in

Mailflow rule not behaving as expected or only visible in some clients? We can review the Exchange Online side and set it up cleanly.

See also

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