How to Encrypt Microsoft Office Documents

The first (and easiest option) is to simply try to encrypt the email you are sending with Office 365 built-in encryption.  This works on some emails and documents but not all of them depending on the format and complexity of the PII.  To do this use the following steps-

From the Outlook desktop client:

With the message you are attempting to send opened in a full window (not preview), click Options, Encrypt, and then Encrypt-Only before sending the message.

From Outlook Web Access:

Log in to https://outlook.com/frostburg.edu with your FSU email account, and then click on the new message or reply to message button. Right next to Attach, there is an Encrypt link, click on it before sending the message.

If the emails are still being blocked from sending, the next option is to create a Microsoft Office document that contains the information. You will then encrypt the file with a password and send that password to the recipient separately.  Here are instructions for doing that-

For Microsoft Word or Excel Documents:

First, open or create the Office document you would like to protect. Click the File menu, select the Info tab, then select the Protect Document button. Click Encrypt with Password.

Enter your password then click OK.

Enter the password again to confirm it and click OK.

Microsoft Word will now indicate the document is protected. Each time you open the document, you will be prompted to enter your password to access its contents.