Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention: Optical character recognition for images in Office and PDFs on Windows

Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention on Windows endpoints will support OCR scanning of images embedded in Office documents and PDFs starting mid-May 2026. This closes detection gaps by identifying sensitive data in images, requires enabling OCR with associated Azure AI costs, and involves updating DLP policies and prerequisites. We are introducing optical character recognition (OCR) scanning support for Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention (DLP) on Windows endpoint devices. This enhancement enables DLP policies to detect sensitive information within images embedded inside Office documents and PDF files. Previously, embedded images were skipped during endpoint DLP scanning, creating a detection blind spot. With this update, embedded images are OCR-processed, helping improve data protection coverage and reduce risk of accidental data exposure. This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 381750. When this will happen: General Availability (Worldwide): Rollout will begin in mid-May 2026 and is expected to complete by late May 2026. How this affects your organization: Who is affected: Admins managing Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention Organizations using Endpoint DLP on Windows devices Users working with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files on Windows endpoints What will happen: Once OCR is enabled for your organization, DLP policies applied to endpoint devices will be able to scan images embedded inside Office documents (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) and pdf files on Windows devices. This means: Sensitive data detection in embedded images: If a document contains an embedded image with sensitive information (such as credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, or financial data), DLP policies can now detect that data and enforce configured actions (audit, block, or block with override). Closes a detection blind spot: Previously, embedded images were entirely skipped during endpoint DLP scanning. This update ensures those images are processed using OCR and evaluated against your DLP policies. Cost implications: Enabling OCR incurs additional costs based on the volume of images scanned. Costs are charged per image scanned via Azure AI Services. Organizations can monitor OCR costs through: The OCR cost dashboard in the Microsoft Purview compliance portal under Data loss prevention → Overview Cost Management + Billing in the Azure portal, […]

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