M365 Changelog: Microsoft Information Protection: Maintain label and protection when creating PDF files from VBA in Office apps

MC411677 – This feature is for VBA developers who use Office fixed format export functions to create PDFs from documents with sensitivity labels and encryption. By default, all PDFs created using Office’s fixed format export functions will automatically inherit the source document’s label or encryption. Some VBA add-ins may need to be updated to avoid issues when post-processing an encrypted PDF.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 93406

When this will happen:

This feature will go into preview in September 2022 for users to prepare their add-ins for changes. This feature will fully release in December 2022 for all users.

Preview (if applicable): Microsoft will begin rolling out early September 2022 and expect to complete by late November 2022.

Standard Release (if applicable): Microsoft will begin rolling out early December 2022 and expect to complete by late December 2022.

How this will affect your organization:

This feature will cause all PDFs created from an encrypted source document to maintain their encryption by default.

What you need to do to prepare:

Users can update their VBA calls to Office code to request a PDF and prepare to handle encryption by default, or opt-out where possible. Read more here.

Additional information