How to create a new label for Azure Information Protection

Applies to: Azure Information Protection

Relevant for: Azure Information Protection classic client for Windows. For the unified labeling client, see Learn about sensitivity labels from the Microsoft 365 documentation.

Although Azure Information Protection comes with default labels that you can customize, you can also create your own labels.

You can add a new label, or add a new sublabel to an existing label when you need a further level of classification. For example, the last label in the default policy, contains sublabels.

When you create the first sublabel for a label, users can no longer select the original, parent label. If necessary, create a new sublabel to recreate the parent label settings so that users can apply the same settings.

Use the following instructions to add a new label that can then be added to an Azure Information Protection policy.

To create a new label

1. If you haven't already done so, open a new browser window and sign in to the Azure portal. Then navigate to the Azure Information Protection pane.

   For example, in the search box for resources, services, and docs: Start typing Information and select Azure Information Protection.

2. From the Classifications > Labels menu option: On the Azure Information Protection - Labels pane, do one of the following actions:

   • To create a new label: Click Add a new label.

   • To create a new sublabel: Right-click or select the context menu (...) for the label that you want to create a sublabel for, and then click Add a sub-label.

3. On the Label or Sub-label pane, select the options that you want for this new label, and then click Save.

   When you specify a display name, you are prevented from specifying some characters (such as a backslash and ampersand) because not all services and applications that use Azure Information Protection can support these characters. In addition to the characters that are blocked, do not specify the # character.

   Note that new labels are automatically assigned the color black. Choose a distinguishing color from the list of colors, or enter a hex triplet code for the red, green, and blue (RGB) components of the color. For example, #DAA520. If you need a reference for these codes, you'll find a helpful table from the <color> page from the MSDN web docs. You also find these codes in many applications that let you edit pictures. For example, Microsoft Paint lets you choose a custom color from a palette and the RGB values are automatically displayed, which you can then copy.

4. To make your new label available to users: From the Classifications > Policies menu option, select the policy to contain the new label. Select Add or remove labels. Select the label from the Policy: Add or remove labels pane, select OK, and then select Save.

   Tip

   For new labels, consider adding them first to a scoped policy that you use for testing. When you are satisfied with the results, remove the label from this testing scope, and then add the label to a policy that you use in production.

   For more information about adding labels, see How to add or remove a label.

   Your changes are automatically available to users and services. There's no longer a separate publish option.

5. If you want this new label name and description to display in different languages for users: Follow the procedures in How to configure labels for different languages.

Next steps

For more information about configuring your Azure Information Protection policy, use the links in the Configuring your organization's policy section.