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Information Rights Management (IRM) helps prevent sensitive information from being printed, forwarded, or copied by unauthorized people. The permissions are stored in the document, workbook, presentation, or e-mail message, where they are authenticated by an IRM server.

To view rights-managed content that you have permissions to by using Microsoft 365, just open the document, workbook, or presentation.

The first time that you open a document, workbook, or presentation with restricted permission, you'll connect to a licensing server to verify your credentials and to download a use license.

If you want to view the permissions you have, either click View Permission in the Message Bar or click one of the following in the status bar at the bottom of the screen:

  • This document contains a permissions policy  Button showing that this document contains a permissions policy

  • This workbook contains a permissions policy  Button showing that this document contains a permissions policy

  • This presentation contains a permissions policy   Button showing that this document contains a permissions policy

If you are denied access to a file, it is usually because the account you are using does not have the correct rights to open the file. In certain cases, access may be denied because the version of Office you are using does not support an information protection policy applied to the file. For example, files that are protected with a sensitivity label configured for dynamic watermarking can only open in version 2411+.

If you see an error message indicating that you cannot access the file because of the version of Office you are using, try updating to the latest version of Office or opening your file using Office for web.

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