NEED DIGITAL ID

Dear @Blake,
Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum. I understand that when you try to email your professor using your student account in New Outlook for Windows, you see a red banner saying S/MIME isn’t working and that a digital ID is required.

This message appears because S/MIME security is enabled, but your account does not currently have a digital ID (certificate) configured. S/MIME is used to digitally sign or encrypt emails, and Outlook cannot send these secure messages unless a valid digital ID is available. This is expected behavior and does not indicate an issue with your Outlook app or account.

I recommend 2 options below:

Option 1: Send the email without S/MIM

If secure or encrypted email is not required, you can turn off S/MIME and send emails normally:

• Open New Outlook for Windows
• Open Settings > Mail > S/MIME
• In the S/MIME section, untick: “Add a digital signature to all messages I send” “Encrypt contents and attachments for all messages I send”
• 
• Save and close Settings
• Try sending the email again.

Option 2: Use S/MIME with a digital ID (if required by your school)

If your school requires secure email, you will need a digital ID issued for your student email address. Outlook cannot create this for you.

• The digital ID must be provided by your school or a trusted certificate authority
• Once you have it, you can import it in Settings > Mail > S/MIME
• If you’re unsure how to obtain one, please contact your school’s IT support

Once S/MIME is turned off or a valid digital ID is installed, the red banner will no longer appear and you should be able to send emails successfully.

Please understand that our initial response does not always resolve the issue immediately. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution.

I truly appreciate your patience and understanding. If you have any further questions or need further clarification, please feel free to reach out. I'm looking forward to hearing from you. 

Thank you for your cooperation.

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It seems that you are encountering an issue with sending emails that require S/MIME encryption in Outlook. The error message indicates that you need a proper digital ID to send these types of emails. To resolve this issue, you must obtain a digital ID that is associated with your email account.

Additionally, ensure that the digital ID's Subject or Subject Alternative Name fields contain an SMTP address that is listed on your student account. If the SMTP address does not match, Outlook Web Access (OWA) will not use the certificate for encryption.

If you already have a digital ID but it does not match your account, your Exchange Administrator can enable a registry setting that allows you to select the certificate manually when sending emails. This can bypass the SMTP name check.

For more detailed steps on how to enable this feature or to obtain a digital ID, you may refer to the relevant documentation provided by Microsoft.