Mailbox migration to Exchange Online

The following is vital information for anyone having their mailbox migrated from Exchange on-prem to Exchange Online (EXO).

One-time things to do

  • If you use Outlook Web Access
    • You may receive an error message after logging in. If you do, please clear your browser cache and try logging in again. An easy way to confirm that it's a browser cache issue is try using a different browser.
    • Going forward, you can/should access your webmail directly at https://outlook.com/owa/unbc.ca.
      • Outlook on the Web can also be accessed by logging into https://office.com and selecting the Outlook app.
    • Enter your username with @unbc.ca added (eg. if your account username is jsmith, enter jsmith@unbc.ca)
      • Employees/Alumni: Do not enter your full First.Last name e-mail address, it will not work to log you in.
  • If you use a mobile device (iOS/Android) or non-Outlook (eg Thunderbird, Apple Mail) desktop client, or Outlook on Mac:
    • If you are prompted to enter the server address, depending on the application it will be:
      • outlook.office365.com
      • https://outlook.office365.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx
    • Deleting and re-adding your account will probably be easier than trying to reconfigure the existing account.
      • Example steps for iPhone:
        • Go to Settings, find the mail app
        • Select Accounts, select your UNBC email account, select Delete Account
        • Select Add Account, choose Microsoft Exchange
        • Enter your username with @unbc.ca added (eg. if your username is jsmith, enter jsmith@unbc.ca)
          • Employees/Alumni: Do not enter your full First.Last name e-mail address, it will not work to log you in.
        • If it asks for domain, enter uni\
        • If it asks for server address, enter outlook.office365.com
  • If you use desktop Outlook on Windows:
    • It will lose connection during the migration cutover. It must be closed and restarted to reconnect to the new mailbox in Exchange Online. The best thing to do is exit Outlook before a migration night, and reopen the next morning.
    • The first time opening Outlook after the migration will take longer than usual.
    • You may be prompted once for your login credentials.
      • Select the option to sign in using another account
      • Enter your username with @unbc.ca added (eg. if your username is jsmith, enter jsmith@unbc.ca)
        • Employees/Alumni: Do not enter your full First.Last name e-mail address, it will not work to log you in.
    • If you are prompted about being "redirected to the server Autodiscover-s.outlook.com to get new settings for your account", you should Allow this

Ongoing things to know

  • Credentials:
    • When entering your e-mail account credentials, you must enter the username in the <username>@unbc.ca format (eg. jsmith@unbc.ca, not John.Smith@unbc.ca and not uni\smith and not John.Smith@alumni.unbc.ca).
      • The account password will not have changed.
    • This is true of all Microsoft 365 services, including Teams and https://office.com
    • Anyone else who accesses your personal calendar in Outlook (especially people who aren't migrated yet) will also need to enter their own username in this format when prompted by Outlook.
  • OWA (aka "Outlook Web Access" and "Outlook on the Web"):
    • After a successful login to https://owa.unbc.ca, it will direct you to https://outlook.com/owa/unbc.ca. This is the Exchange Online OWA (Outlook on the Web) address; you can bookmark it and go there directly in the future instead of using owa.unbc.ca.
    • Outlook on the Web can also be accessed by logging into https://office.com and selecting the Outlook app.
  • Student Portal: The Student Portal (https://myu.unbc.ca) now has two connections to Exchange, one for the old on-premises Exchange and one for Exchange Online. Depending on the environment your mailbox lives in, one will show error messages and the other will work. If your mailbox is in Exchange Online, the portal will only display your unread email count; you'll need to click the link, which will take you to the full Outlook on the Web site to interact with your mail.
  • Focused/Other: Your Outlook Inbox will be split into two lists, Focused and Other. Outlook will start directly some email to the Other list. This is mail that it detects as less urgent/useful, but is not outright junk/spam.
  • Junk folder: Mail may start appearing in the Junk folder in Outlook. Please keep an eye on that. You can manage Junk mail settings via Outlook on the Web.
  • Automatic forwarding of mail to an external address:
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