Important: McGill Outlook email storage capacity reduction starting May 31^st 2024

 

On May 31st, 2024, McGill’s Outlook email storage for all students will be reduced to 20GB to comply with Microsoft’s new Storage quota for its educational sector clients. The Outlook email storage provided to staff or faculty members will not be affected.

If you are a McGill student, please verify your current storage using the instructions in this article: How to check file storage usage in outlook.

If your current storage exceeds 20GB, start by emptying your mailbox’s deleted items. As a secondary step, go through your inbox and all its online storage folders and download any "big" attachments such as videos, PowerPoint presentations or images by saving them to another location using the Save as... option in the attachment drop-down menu and then by Removing them.

Please note: these options are only available on Outlook for PC, not on the online or Mac versions. If you only use these platforms, download the attachments then save/delete the email. (Don't forget to empty the deleted items folder after.)

If you plan on storing those files on OneDrive, be aware that OneDrive's storage will also be adjusted to 20GB starting May 31st. For more information: consult the IT Services announcement on the subject.

Important: Change to the recipient limits for your Non-2FA enabled McGill email 

In an effort to limit the impacts of unsolicited and fraudulent emails being sent in large numbers to the McGill community, McGill’s IT Infrastructure & Information Security has decided to limit the number of emails that can be sent from non-2FA (two-factor authentication) enabled email accounts.

This limit will be imposed on all such accounts as of October 3rd, 2023. From that date on, accounts that are NOT two-Factor Authentication (2FA) enabled (at this moment, mostly Alumni and Retirees’ accounts) will be restricted to sending messages to a maximum of 100 recipients per 24 hours. This limit is imposed on the number of recipients, regardless of the number of emails sent.

Important: McGill Active Directory managed distribution lists are not affected by this change. Such distribution lists are treated as 1 recipient.

For more information, please read the FAQs about the change to the recipient limits for your Non-2FA enabled accounts.

What are the benefits and features of Office 365 Exchange Online?

• Mailbox size:
  
  • Students and alumni have 50 GB of email storage space
  • Faculty and staff have 100 GB of email storage space
• Calendar – use the calendar to schedule and send meeting requests to your profs and other students, or drag and drop an email message to your calendar and create a meeting.
• Items are kept on the server - Inbox, Sent Items and other folders, as well as Contacts and Calendar items can be accessed from anywhere, on all your devices.
• Integration with other Office 365 apps, including OneDrive and Office 365 ProPlus apps
• Data privacy -McGill’s contract with Microsoft protects the privacy of your information
• Anti-spam and antivirus protection are included.
• Outlook on the Web contains a full set of features, similar to the installed Outlook desktop app.
• Deleted email is stored in a deleted items folder until you empty that folder; even then you have an additional 30 days to recover deleted mail messages.
• Create rules (or filters) easily - rules can automatically perform certain tasks (ie, create folder from certain people and have all mail sent to you from them delivered into the appropriate folder).
• Focused Inbox - Keeps more important emails in a tab named "Focused", and filters less important messages to a tab named "Other".
• New features are delivered from Microsoft on a regular basis

Additional features useful for faculty and staff:

• Global Address List (GAL) - The list of email addresses (and phone numbers) for all McGill staff and faculty, as well as email distribution list addresses. Your entry in the GAL is based on your listing in McGill's Staff Directory.
• Manage the archive and retention policies for messages.
• Give delegate rights to your mailbox and calendar to others.

How do I access my McGill email on Office 365?

You can access your McGill email through many applications and devices, as well as the Outlook on the Web app. See * Index of email configuration articles for settings and instructions.

Where are my mail folders?

Mail folders may be hidden when you enter Outlook on the Web. Simply click the arrow button next to Folders and then click More to view them.

Where are the Public Folders?

McGill Public Folders are accessible from the Outlook application on Windows, Mac and Outlook on the web (see Access Public Folders through Outlook).

Can I access my McGill email from my Gmail, Yahoo, etc. account?

There are a few options for dealing with McGill and other email accounts; however due to security concerns, they may not be suitable for you. See Options for dealing with multiple email services .

Can I access my Outlook calendar and contacts from the Cisco Webex app?

You can look up McGill contacts from the Staff Directory using the Webex search, and if you have the Outlook integration setting checked in Webex, you can access your calendar meetings. However, any personal contacts you have added to Outlook are not available with the Webex app. You will need to create those contacts separately in Webex.

How do I get help if I have problems with my McGill email?

Please use the webform to Report issues with Email on Office 365.

How do I access my unit's non-personal (shared) account mailboxes on Office 365?

See Add a resource account mailbox in Outlook.

Is there a limit to the number of recipients per an email or per day?

With a 2FA enabled account, you can send to a maximum of 500 recipients per message and a total of 10,000 recipients per day. However, if you send to an email distribution group or listserv address, it only counts as one recipient, so if you need to communicate with a large number of individuals, they can be put into a group. Contact the IT Service Desk to request an email distribution list.

For Non-2FA enabled accounts:

• 100 is the maximum number of recipients per 24 hours.
• McGill Active Directory managed distribution lists are not affected by this change and are treated as 1 recipient.

You can also use a LISTSERV or email distribution list in Outlook to send email to large audiences. An email sent to a group or LISTSERV only counts as one recipient. See Email Distribution Lists (LISTSERV, Outlook)

What is the maximum size allowed for email attachments?

You can send or receive emails with a maximum size of 30 megabytes (MB) from one McGill email account to another and from a McGill account to a non-McGill account, or vice versa. However, this is subject to the message size limit defined by the email service provider of other parties involved.

The message size is the sum of the message content, headers, and attachments after being encoded. The maximum message size applies to all email accounts, even if they have been redirected or forwarded.

Note: Specific email apps might have their own limits for attachment size.

What is conversation view, and can I turn it off?

Conversation view groups your messages by conversation, so that messages with the same subject appear together in your Inbox. This is the default view in Outlook on the web. Click the gear icon at the top right corner of the window and click View all Outlook settings to access the Outlook Settings pane. In Layout  > Message Organization, you will see the option to show messages in conversation view or as individual messages. 

How do I set up an Out of Office reply / set up rules for a shared mailbox?

Basic instructions for the web are as follows:

If you added the shared mailbox following the instructions in the KB article How to access a shared mailbox, or the Inbox of an account for which you are a delegate follow the instructions below:

1. Open a web browser, go to https://outlook.office.com and log in with your McGill personal account. 
2. Click on your profile circle at the top right and then click "Open another mailbox".
3. Type in the shared mailbox email and select it from the suggested accounts. Then click Open. 
4. A new tab will open for the shared mailbox. Click on the gear icon at the top right for settings.
5. Go to Mail > Automatic Replies for Out of Office or Mail > Rules for any mailbox rules. 

How can I set up a mail merge using a shared mailbox?

1. The mailbox must first be added by following the instructions in the KB article Add a shared mailbox using an alternate method when you have full access (including "Send as").
2. Next, set the shared mailbox as the default account for Email and Data files.

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES:

• Setup and export/import instructions for McGill Outlook Email
• Email for students, faculty and staff
• Email for alumni
• To report issues, or for questions regarding your McGill email, please use the webform: Report issues with Email on Office 365.