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As a first-year student, you’ll need to complete the following steps:
1. Activate your UW email – email setup instructions
Faculty and staff usually respond only to messages sent from your "@uw.edu" email address.
2. Set up DUO two-factor authentication (2FA) – Duo setup instructions
UW provides two cloud-based email platforms. Follow the instructions to activate your UW email and check out the UW-IT Student Guide for helpful tips as you begin your transition to the university.
UW-IT Student Guide
Note: You won’t be able to activate UW Exchange Online or UW G-Suite until after you make your Advising & Orientation reservation.
Choose Your UW Email Service
You can manage your UW email using one of two options:
UW Exchange Online (part of UW Office 365)
This option includes email, a calendar, and cloud tools for working and sharing with others.
To use it, follow the steps to forward your email to UW Exchange Online.
- Forward your email to UW Exchange Online (part of UW Office 365)
UW Google Email (G-Suite)
This option gives you ad-free email with 25 GB of storage. You’ll still use your @uw.edu address.
To get started:
Go to the Manage UW Google Apps page.
Activate the service and set your UW Google Apps password.
Access your email at mail.google.com using your NetID@uw.edu. You can also set up your email on most desktop or mobile apps using Google’s instructions.
Can I forward my email to my personal account?
No, please do not forward your UW email to your personal email account. When you reply to forwarded emails from your personal account, the response comes from your personal email address instead of your official UW address. This creates problems because faculty and staff expect to communicate through official UW email accounts.
What to do instead: When you activate your UW Exchange Online or UW G-Suite account, you can set up email forwarding within the UW system to consolidate your university emails in one UW inbox. You can check and modify your UW email forwarding settings at any time through your account preferences.
Where do I go to check my email?
Once activated, you can access your UW email through MyUW or go directly to mail.google.com or outlook.office365.com and log in using your UW email address, which is formatted as [your NetID]@uw.edu.
Logging in to Multiple Google Accounts
FERPA regulations require keeping your UW and personal email accounts separate to protect student privacy and institutional data, but many people find it frustrating to constantly log out and back in when switching between their UW Google account and personal Google account. Fortunately, there's a simple solution that lets you access both accounts in the same browser without logging out: you can have both your UW Gmail and personal Gmail open in separate browser windows or tabs simultaneously. This allows you to:
- Keep your accounts properly separated (meeting FERPA requirements)
- Access both conveniently without repeatedly logging in and out
- Switch between accounts instantly
Reference the Google tutorial about logging into multiple Google accounts for more information.
