Post-migration instructions for Microsoft 365 email
Important reminders for generic accounts, retirees and alumni
You must enrol in the University’s two-factor authentication (2FA) service to gain access to your Microsoft 365 (M365) email account.
You must upgrade to a recent version of your email client (e.g., if using Outlook, update to at least Outlook 2016) or start using the Web client, accessible via microsoft365.com .
Ensure your web browser is up to date. See a list of browsers that work with Office for the Web.
Outlook 2019/Microsoft 365 users should close and restart the Outlook mail client.
On this page
- 1 Step 1A: Check to see if your migration is complete
- 2 Step 1B: Restart Outlook and re-login (if prompted)
- 3 Step 2A: Confirm you can access and send/receive email
- 4 Step 2B: Reconfigure your email (if needed)
- 5 Step 3: Update interface settings if needed
- 6 Step 4: Edit new features if necessary
- 7 Additional resources
Reminders regarding email security and privacy
Highly-restricted information cannot be stored or sent in email (on-premises or in the cloud).
Anyone who handles restricted information should enroll in two-factor authentication (2FA), powered by Duo.
Microsoft 365 apps (e.g OneDrive) are approved for highly restricted information if 2FA is used.
Step 1A: Check to see if your migration is complete
On your migration day, if you want to check to see if you have been migrated to Microsoft 365:
Try to log in, via a web browser:
Personal accounts: Log in to https://connect.uwaterloo.ca with your own 8-character UWaterloo username@uwaterloo.ca and password
Generic accounts: Log in to https://connect.uwaterloo.ca/owa/username@uwaterloo.ca, where username is the 8-character username of your generic account and log in as follows:
Some generic accounts are configured to allow you to log in with your personal username@uwaterloo.ca and password
Some generic accounts require you to log in with the generic account username and password (e.g. generic1@uwaterloo.ca)
If you are unsure of which method to use, contact either your IT support rep or the IST Service Desk for assistance.
If you see your mail, then you have not yet been migrated. If you see a forwarding link, then your migration to Microsoft 365 email is complete.
Note for generic accounts: If your migration is complete, and you click the forwarding link, you may see your personal email, instead of the email for the generic account. If this happens:
Log out (or open a different web browser)
Click on the profile icon at the top right and click Sign out.
Log into https://outlook.office.com/mail/username@uwaterloo.ca, where username is the 8-character username of the generic account
Generic account login information:
Some generic accounts are configured to allow you to log in with your personal username@uwaterloo.ca.
Some generic accounts require you to log in with the generic account username and password (e.g. generic1@uwaterloo.ca).
If you are unsure of which method to use, contact either your IT support rep or the IST Service Desk for assistance.
Step 1B: Restart Outlook and re-login (if prompted)
If you are not using Outlook, see What if I'm using a mail app that isn't Outlook? section below.
I've been migrated to Microsoft 365. What do I need to do before I log in?
Ensure you are using a recent version of Outlook (e.g., Outlook 2016, 2019, or M365) and it is up to date. If you cannot update to a recent version, you can access your Microsoft 365 mailbox via microsoft365.com .
Once your account has been migrated, you will likely see an Outlook prompt, to indicate something has changed. Follow the prompts and restart Outlook:
Outlook - Windows:
If prompted with the following, click OK and restart Outlook (File/Exit, then re-open Outlook):
Outlook - Mac OS
If prompted with the following, check the box for “Always use my response for this server”, click the Allow button and restart Outlook (Outlook/Quit, then re-open Outlook).
After you restart Outlook, you may need to reconfigure Outlook settings (see screenshots below), and you may be prompted for two-factor authentication (2FA)/Duo:
Step 2A: Confirm you can access and send/receive email
Once you have completed steps 1A and 1B above:
Confirm you can access and send/receive an email by sending yourself or your colleague a test email. Note: After the migration, it can take some time for all the mailbox folders to synchronize and appear in the folder navigation list.
If you can access and send/receive an email, your migration is complete, and you can skip to Steps 3 and 4 below.
If you cannot access and send/receive email, follow Step 2B below
Step 2B: Reconfigure your email (if needed)
If you cannot access or cannot send/receive email, you may need to re-configure your email client. Choose your email client below for information on how to re-configure your email client. (reminder that you also may be prompted for two-factor authentication (2FA)/Duo):
What if I'm using a mail app that isn't Outlook?
We are not able to provide instructions for all apps that are on the market. If asked for manual information, use the following:
Username: Enter your 8-character username @uwaterloo.ca (username@uwaterloo.ca)
Server: outlook.office365.com
Domain: uwaterloo.ca