14.1 Windows
14.1.1 Ribbon button and label dialog
Each Office app with its module enabled in policy shows a large ADA Data Classification button. If the module is off, there is no button.
| App | Placement | Group caption |
|---|---|---|
| Word, Excel, PowerPoint | Home tab, right after Clipboard | The current label (Label or
Label \ Sub-label), or Unlabeled |
| Outlook (classic) | Group Classification on the main window’s Home tab, the compose Message tab and the read Message tab. Meeting and appointment windows get their own ADA Data Classification tab. | — |
The screentip reads “Choose a sensitivity label”.
Clicking the button opens the Ada Data Classification dialog. It follows the Windows light/dark theme.
- Heading. One of:
- “Classify the document” (Word)
- “Classify the workbook” (Excel)
- “Classify the presentation” (PowerPoint)
- “Choose a sensitivity label for this email” (Outlook)
- Label cards. “Choose a sensitivity label”, then one coloured card per label available to the machine’s group, in label order. Each card shows the label name and its tooltip text.
- Pre-selection. The current label is pre-selected. If there is none, the label recommended by content (or AI) is pre-selected; failing that, the default label. When AI backs the suggestion, the card shows an extra line, for example “✦ AI suggestion: Contract · confidence: 87%”.
- Sub-labels. If the chosen label has sub-labels, a section “Sub-sensitivities — Please choose a sub-sensitivity” appears. Apply stays disabled until one is picked.
- Buttons. Cancel and Apply. An optional ? button (“Classification help”) opens the help URL from Policy → Rules → Agent Rules → Help button.
- No “remove label” option. A user can only choose a different label.
When the user clicks Apply: - Word, Excel,
PowerPoint: - The label is stored in the document. - The
configured markings are written: - Word: header and footer text plus the
watermark. - Excel: print header and footer, with the watermark in the
left print header. - PowerPoint: slide footer and watermark on the
layouts. - Users’ own header/footer content is preserved. - A previously
saved document is saved silently; a never-saved document is not. -
Outlook: - A category with the label name is set. - The
optional subject prefix and the hidden x-ada-classification
headers are added. - The body header and footer blocks are applied, and
re-applied at send.
14.1.2 Prompts on save, print and copy
| Trigger | Condition (policy) | What the user sees | If cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Save of an unlabelled file | Require label on save | The label dialog headed “Classify before saving”. It does not open for AutoSave or background saves of never-saved documents. | The save is cancelled silently (audit
save_blocked_unlabeled) |
| Chosen label too low for the content | A classification rule in enforce mode | “Saving blocked” — “Sensitive data detected in the content requires at least the”{label}” label.” | — |
| Lowering a label | Label has Require justification on downgrade | “Justification required” — “You are lowering the classification ({old} → {new}). A justification is required and recorded in the audit log (at least N character(s)):” — text box, Cancel / Confirm | Relabel aborted |
| Lowering a non-downgradable label | Label is non-downgradable | “Downgrade not allowed” — “The”{label}” label is marked as non-downgradable; this file cannot be moved to a lower classification.” | — |
| Print of an unlabelled Word or Excel file | Require label on print | “Printing blocked” — “Company policy does not allow printing unclassified documents. Save the document — the classification dialog opens during save and the document gets classified.” (Excel: “…unclassified workbooks. Save it — …”) | — |
| Print of a label that blocks printing | Label’s print block | “Printing blocked” — “This file is classified as”{label}“. Company policy blocks printing files with this sensitivity label.” (Excel: “Workbooks classified as”{label}” cannot be printed.”) | — |
| Copy/cut from a copy-restricted label (ribbon, Ctrl+C/X, context menu) | Label’s copy block | “Copying blocked” — “This file is classified as”{label}“. Company policy blocks copying content with this sensitivity label.” | — |
| Copy allowed with justification | Label’s copy-with-justification | “Copy with justification” — enter a business justification (minimum length applies) | Copy cancelled |
| Content warning rule | Rule in warn mode | “Warning” (yellow) with the administrator’s message. OK, or Cancel / Continue in confirm mode. Optional or required justification field. | Action cancelled |
| Masking rule | Rule with mask action, on save or send | “Masking Will Be Applied” — “This content matched a masking rule. If
you continue, the items below will be PERMANENTLY replaced with
*. This action cannot be undone.” — then a list of types and
counts, and a preview of up to 6 value → *** lines.
Cancel / Mask and Continue**. |
Save or send stopped |
The justification minimum length is set in Administration → Settings → Security → Agents & enforcement → Client justification (default 10 characters). The same value applies on macOS and in the web add-in.
Other messages users may report: - “The policy hasn’t loaded yet. Make sure the Ada Agent service is running.” - “No sensitivity labels are defined for this organization yet. …” - Outlook only: “The agent has been disabled by an administrator…” and “The Outlook module has been turned off by an administrator.”
14.1.3 Classic Outlook — send, save and print
When a user clicks Send, the COM add-in runs these checks in order:
- Masking confirmation, if a masking rule matches (see the table above).
- Warning rule dialog.
- Already-labelled mail:
- If the content requires a higher label, the label is raised silently.
- If the content requires a different label of equal or lower order: “Sending blocked” — “Sensitive data detected in the content requires exactly the”{label}” label.”
- Unlabelled mail:
- It may be labelled silently by a recipient-domain rule or by a content rule in enforce mode.
- Otherwise, with Require label on send, the label dialog opens headed “Classify before sending”. Cancel stops the send.
- Send rules. Each is shown as “Sending blocked” with OK:
| Condition | Message |
|---|---|
| Label not allowed to be sent | “Company policy does not allow sending emails classified as”{label}“.” |
| Recipients outside the label’s allowed list | “Emails classified as”{label}” can only be sent to: {allowed}. Recipients not allowed: {recipients}.” |
| Unlabelled Office/PDF attachment (Block unlabelled attachments, default on) | “Attachment”{file}” is not classified. Unclassified documents cannot be emailed — right-click the file and choose “Classify with ADA”, or open it and classify from the ribbon, then attach it again.” |
| Attachment label not allowed to be mailed | “Attachment”{file}” is classified “{label}”. Company policy does not allow emailing files with this label; remove the attachment.” |
| Attachment label higher than the mail | “Attachment”{file}” is labeled “{a}”; the email is “{m}”. Remove the attachment or classify the email as at least “{a}”.” With Label from attachments (default on), the mail is raised to the attachment’s label instead, already when the attachment is added. |
Saving and printing labelled mail: - Save As is blocked for labels that forbid it: “Saving blocked” — “This email is classified as ‘{label}’. Company policy prevents saving emails in this sensitivity class to a file.” - Print is blocked the same way (“Printing blocked”). The backstage Print tab is hidden for such mail.
14.1.4 Tray icon (AdaNotify)
The service starts the tray helper in every signed-in session and restarts it if it stops.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Tooltip | “Ada Data Classification”, or “Ada — {n} pending recommendation(s)” |
| Left-click / double-click | Opens the pending list |
| Menu | Files waiting…, Classify a file…, Update policy (shows “Policy update requested — it will apply within a few seconds.”), Status and version… |
Pending window — “Ada — Files waiting ({n})”: - Heading: “Based on their content, the following classifications are recommended”. - Columns: File, Recommended label, Location. - Groups: - “Content to be masked — right-click: Mask (confirmed) or Classify… (label, then mask confirmation)” - “Classification recommendations” - Search: box. - Buttons: Classify, Classify All, Close. Classify All asks “{n} file(s) will be classified with their recommended labels.… Continue?” and skips Unlabeled rows. - Right-click menu: Classify…, Mask, Open folder, Open in Office. - Empty state: “No files are waiting.”
Only files from the user’s own profile are listed.
Status window — one row each for: - Server Connection - File Monitoring - AI Classification (Ready / Preparing / Unavailable / Off) - Office Add-ins (COM) - Web Add-ins - Screen Watermark - Notifications - License
This is the first thing to ask a user to open.
14.1.5 Notifications (toasts)
Ada draws its own toasts, titled “Ada Data Classification”, in the bottom-right corner: - They are always on top, never take focus, and do not appear in the taskbar or Alt+Tab. - Each lasts about 10 seconds. Clicking runs the toast’s action (usually opening the pending list) and closes it. - One toast is shown at a time; up to 8 queue behind it. - They do not use Windows notifications, so Focus Assist / Do Not Disturb does not suppress them.
| Event | Text |
|---|---|
| At sign-in, files pending | “{n} file(s) awaiting classification. Click to view.” |
| New recommendation | ““{file}” is recommended for classification. Click.” |
| New unlabelled file | ““{file}” is unlabeled. Click to classify.” |
| Several new files | “{n} new file(s) awaiting classification. Click.” |
| Silent labelling by an enforce rule (batched over 2 s) | ““{file}” was classified as “{label}” by company policy.” / “{n} file(s) were automatically classified by company policy.” |
| Content warning (file agent) | ““{file}”: {administrator message}” |
| Masking needed (file agent) | ““{file}” contains sensitive content that must be masked. Open it in Office and save; masking is applied after your confirmation.” |
| Awareness message | The administrator’s text exactly as written |
| After an upgrade | “Ada was updated. Close and reopen these apps to activate the new version: {apps}.” |
Blocked save, print, copy and send produce dialogs inside Office, not toasts.
14.1.6 Awareness messages
Awareness messages (Policy → Rules → Awareness) appear as toasts with the administrator’s text. Timing: - Each message has its own interval (1–43,200 minutes, default 60). - The first showing comes one interval after the message first arrives in policy. - At most one message is shown per minute. When several are due, the one shown least recently goes first. - A newer awareness message replaces an open or queued one, so messages never stack after sleep or lock. Other toasts are not affected. - Timing state is kept per user.
14.1.7 Unlabelled-file warnings
Set in Policy → Rules → Agent Rules → Unlabeled file warnings:
| Scope | What the user sees |
|---|---|
| New and changed files (default) | When the user creates or saves an unlabelled Office/PDF file, it appears in the pending list with Recommended label = “Unlabeled”, and the toast ““{file}” is unlabeled. Click to classify.” is shown. |
| All files in watched folders | The same, plus every unlabelled file found by the initial and periodic scans. Expect a long list on first run. |
| Off | Nothing |
The file itself is never modified. If the policy has no selectable labels, nothing is shown.
14.1.8 Right-click “Classify with ADA”
Explorer shows Classify with ADA for Word, Excel,
PowerPoint (including macro, template and legacy binary formats) and PDF
files, and for folders. On Windows 11 it is under Show more
options. It requires an install with Office enforcement (not
/AGENTONLY).
On a file. The same label dialog opens, headed “Classify the file — {filename}”. The same minimum-label, downgrade and justification rules apply.
| Outcome | Message |
|---|---|
| Success | “The file was classified as”{label}“.” |
| Protected PDF | “Label applied: {label} — the file is protected against modification, so the label is held on the server.” (The file appears under Server-held labels, section 13.6.) |
| File open | “This file is currently open. Close it and try again to classify.” |
| Empty or broken file | “This file is empty or not yet a valid Office document…” |
If a masking rule matches after labelling, the masking confirmation follows.
On a folder (bulk labelling): 1. “Classify the folder — {name}” (pick a label). 2. “Scanning the folder…”. 3. “Label the folder”: a summary and a Label button. 4. “Folder labeled”.
Subfolders are included. Labels are only raised, never lowered.
14.1.9 Screen watermark and capture protection
Screen watermark (Policy → Rules → Screen
Watermark): - Text: tiled at −30°, in the form
user · machine · dd.MM.yyyy HH:mm · TRACECODE. Each field
is optional. The 6-character trace code is unique per user, machine and
day. - Placement: - In label mode it covers
the visible part of a labelled Office window: Word, Excel, PowerPoint,
and the Outlook reading pane or message window. - In always
mode it covers every monitor. - It does not block clicks and disappears
when the window is minimised. - Opacity is 5–60% (default 30%). -
Label-triggered watermarks cover Office windows only, not PDF
viewers.
Screen-capture protection (Office windows of protected labels): - The user sees the document normally. - In Teams, Zoom or Meet screen sharing, screenshots and screen recordings, the window shows as a black box. - It is skipped in Remote Desktop sessions by default. - No message is shown to the user; the event is audited. - It does not apply to PDF viewers.
Print trace ID (when enabled): - Printed pages carry
a small line
user · machine · dd.MM.yyyy HH:mm · XXXXXX-XXXX, in the
footer by default. - It is added only for spooling; the document is not
changed. - In Outlook, Ada opens the Windows print dialog itself. If the
trace cannot be added, it asks: “The print trace ID could not be added
to this email’s printout ({reason}). Print it to the default printer
without the trace ID?” with Cancel /
Continue.
14.1.10 File monitoring scope (Windows)
The agent watches the entire profile folder of every signed-in user. This covers active and disconnected sessions, but not session 0. The scope is re-evaluated every 30 seconds: signing in adds a profile, and signing out removes it and clears its pending rows.
| Excluded | Detail |
|---|---|
| Folders | Any path segment named AppData,
node_modules, .git, $Recycle.Bin,
System Volume Information, .Trash |
| Files | Names starting with ~$ or .. Larger than
Max scanned file size (default 30 MB, Agent Rules → File
scanning); right-click classification has no size limit. |
| Drives | Network drives and removable media are not watched. A Documents folder redirected to a UNC path is outside scope. OneDrive is covered when its folder is inside the profile. |
Watched extensions:
.docx .xlsx .pptx .pdf .doc .dot .xls .xlt .ppt .pot .ppsMacro-enabled and template OOXML formats (.docm,
.xlsm, .potx, …) are not auto-scanned, but
right-click classification supports them. With Detect Office/PDF
files by content (General Enforcement, default off), files with
other extensions are also recognised by their content.
File monitoring needs an install with -WithAgent (always
on with the EXE installer). The policy module filewatch must be
on, plus pdf for PDFs.