Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 and Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 provide a new option named the
Read all standard mail in plain text option. This option lets you view all e-mail messages in plain text format. If you are concerned that a virus or some other type of malicious script could execute through HTML or through Microsoft Outlook Rich Text Format (RTF), you can use the
Read all standard mail in plain text option to display all standard e-mail messages in plain text format. The
Read all standard mail in plain text option is for display purposes only. The original e-mail message is not converted to plain text format.
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To turn on the
Read all standard mail in plain
text option in Outlook 2003, follow these steps:
| 1. | Start Outlook 2003. |
| 2. | On the Tools menu, click
Options. |
| 3. | On the Preferences tab, in the
E-mail area, click E-mail Options. |
| 4. | In the Message handling area, click to
select the Read all standard mail in plain text check
box.
Note By default, the Read all standard mail in plain
text option is turned off. |
To turn on the
Read all standard mail in plain
text option in Outlook 2007, follow these steps:
| 1. | Start Outlook 2007. |
| 2. | On the Tools menu, click
Trust Center, and then click E-mail Security. |
| 3. | Under Read as Plain Text, click to select the
Read all standard mail in plain text check box. |
| 4. | To include messages that are signed with a digital signature, click to select the Read all digitally signed mail in plain text check
box. |
When the
Read all standard mail in plain text
option is turned on, you receive the following notification on the InfoBar at
the top of the e-mail message:
This message was converted to plain text.
Note If you decide to view the plain text message in its original format, click the InfoBar, and then select
Display as HTML or
Display as Rich Text.
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How Outlook Prints, Replies to and Forwards E-Mail Messages When You Use the Read All Standard Mail in Plain Text Option
If the
Read all standard mail in plain text
option is turned on, Outlook uses the display format that you are
currently using to initiate any print, reply to or forward functions for the
e-mail message.
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How to Use the Read All Standard Mail in Plain Text Option for Digitally Signed Mail
Depending on your configuration, Outlook may not be able to
view all e-mail messages in plain text format. If you receive an e-mail message
and all the following conditions are true
| • | You have the Read all standard mail in plain
text option turned on. |
| • | The e-mail message is not in plain text format. |
| • | The e-mail message was digitally signed with a
Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (S/MIME) signature. |
you may receive the following message when you try to view the
e-mail message:
This signed message was not sent in plain text. Outlook is configured to only view messages in plain text, but cannot do that without breaking the signature. If you would like to view this message in its original format, click here.
In the case where digital signatures are used, Outlook must
display the e-mail message in the original format that is specified by the
sender, or you must turn on the
Read all digitally signed mail in plain
text option. To turn on the
Read all digitally signed mail in
plain text option, click to select the
Read all digitally
signed mail in plain text check box under the
Read all
standard mail in plain text option.
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