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courtney_green's avatar
courtney_green
Occasional Reader
Jan 14, 2026

Two sensitivity labels on PDF file

Hi everyone, 

First time poster here.

We encountered an interesting issue yesterday where we had a user come to us with a PDF that had two sensitivity labels attached.

In Purview activity explorer, we can see the file hit the DLP policy and the two labels, but when trying to replicate the issue cannot do it, or see how this has been done.

Has anyone else encountered a similar issue? 

We were able to remove labels in our PDF editor but in Office suite once a label is applied, I could not see a way to remove it. We tried applying a label to a Doc file, converting to PDF and then seeing if it was there where it was being asked for another label but it was not, it just let us change the original. 

Many thanks in advance!

dlp
purview
SensitivyLabels

1 Reply

  • BrianStephen's avatar
    BrianStephen
    Icon for Microsoft rankMicrosoft
    Jan 14, 2026

    HI courtney_green​ 
    This might be related to how sensitivity labels are handled in PDFs versus Office files.

    In Office documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint):

    • Only one sensitivity label can exist at a time
    • Applying a new label replaces the old one
    • You cannot have two active labels simultaneously

    However, for PDF files, things are different.

    Why two labels can appear on a PDF

    This usually happens when:

    1. A PDF is labeled in Microsoft Purview / Office
    2. The same PDF is later labeled again using:
      • A different application (for example Adobe with the MIP/AIP plugin), or
      • A different labeling method (auto-labeling, DLP action, or a service-side process)

    Some third-party PDF editors or older AIP/MIP integrations:

    • Write label metadata in a different location inside the file
    • Do not properly remove or overwrite the existing label metadata
    • Result in two label entries being embedded in the PDF

    Purview Activity Explorer will show both labeling events, which matches what you observed.

    Why you cannot reproduce it with Office

    When you apply a label to a Word file, convert it to PDF, and re-label it, Office handles this correctly and replaces the existing label, so you will only ever see one.

    The dual-label scenario almost always involves:

    • A PDF that was labeled more than once using different tools or labeling engines, or
    • An older AIP client or PDF plugin

    Why your PDF editor could remove them

    Many PDF editors can strip or rewrite the metadata sections where labels are stored, which effectively removes one or both labels. Office does not expose this because Office files do not support multiple labels by design.

    How to prevent it

    To avoid this going forward:

    • Standardize on one labeling method for PDFs (preferably built-in Purview labeling)
    • Avoid mixing old AIP clients, Adobe MIP plugins, and multiple labeling tools
    • Ensure all clients are updated to the latest Purview labeling client
    • Review auto-labeling and DLP actions that may apply labels to PDFs

    If you do end up testing this further, I would be very interested to hear the results and whether you are able to reproduce it in your environment. ✌️I hope that helps. 

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