How to Redact an Email in Outlook
Outlook has no built-in redaction tool — and highlighting text black does not remove it. Here is the safe, GDPR-compliant way to redact sensitive data from Outlook emails before you share them.
Can you redact an email directly in Outlook?
Not safely. Outlook is an email client, not a redaction tool — there is no feature that permanently removes text from a message. The reliable approach is to take the email out of Outlook and redact it properly:
- Permanently removes the underlying text, not just a visual cover
- Handles attachments and forwarded threads, where data often hides
- Lets you redact many emails at once via a .pst export
- Produces an audit log to evidence the redaction for compliance
The secure way to redact an Outlook email
1. Save the email out of Outlook
Open the email and choose File → Save As → Outlook Message Format (.msg). To redact a whole folder at once, use File → Open & Export → Import/Export to create a .pst file. RedactBox reads both formats, including attachments.
2. Upload to RedactBox
Create a project and drag your .msg or .pst file in. RedactBox parses the message body, headers, and attachments so nothing sensitive is hidden in metadata or a forwarded thread.
3. Search and redact
Type a name, email address, or reference and bulk-redact every match across all emails at once. Redaction permanently removes the underlying text — it is not a visual overlay.
4. Export an audit-ready PDF
Export a flattened PDF where redacted content is gone from the file, accompanied by a full audit log of every redaction — ready to disclose for a SAR, DSAR or FOI request.
Outlook redaction FAQs
Can you redact an email in Outlook?
Outlook has no built-in redaction tool. Highlighting text black or changing the font colour only hides the text visually — the original words remain in the file and can be copied, searched or recovered. To redact an Outlook email safely you must remove the underlying data, which means exporting the email (.msg or .pst) and redacting it in a dedicated tool such as RedactBox before sharing.
Is highlighting text black in Outlook secure redaction?
No. A black highlight, a black box or white font is a visual cover only. The underlying text is still present in the message and is fully recoverable by selecting and copying it, viewing the source, or removing the formatting. This is one of the most common causes of accidental personal-data disclosure in SAR responses.
How do I redact an Outlook email for a Subject Access Request (SAR)?
Export the relevant emails from Outlook as a .pst or .msg file, upload them to RedactBox, use search and bulk redaction to remove third-party personal data, then export an audit-ready PDF with a redaction log. This produces disclosure-ready documents where the redacted data is permanently removed.
How do I redact multiple Outlook emails at once?
Export the whole folder to a .pst file from Outlook (File → Open & Export → Import/Export), upload it to RedactBox, and use search-and-redact to apply the same redaction across every email in one pass instead of editing them one by one.
Redact your first Outlook email free
Upload a .msg or .pst export and produce a clean, audit-ready PDF in minutes.
Get started