BuckeyeMail Changes: Information for Alumni
Email has evolved significantly since Ohio State first introduced these services over 25 years ago. To ensure smooth operations and to keep pace with technological advancements, we have periodically updated our services. . In June, we began informing email users that email account forwarding would be ending on December 31, 2024. After much consideration of alumni feedback and industry best practices, the university will also discontinue Ohio State’s “BuckeyeMail for Life” service on April 1, 2025.
What this means for you:
- If you had auto-forwarding set up for your email account, forwarding of emails sent to your lastname.#@osu.edu address stopped being automatically forwarded to your BuckeyeMail or personal email on Dec. 31, 2024.
- Your BuckeyeMail account will expire on April 1, 2025 or 2 years after graduation/separation (whichever is longer). Once deleted, your BuckeyeMail will no longer receive, or forward emails and you will not be able to log in to access it. Data will be deleted and unrecoverable at that time.
Why BuckeyeMail for Life is Ending
Due to broad changes in licensing and security requirements for email services, we reassessed the level of service Ohio State can provide. After thorough surveys and careful analysis, it became clear that the current BuckeyeMail offerings no longer fully meet the needs of our stakeholders. As a result, moving forward, BuckeyeMail will be available exclusively to enrolled students, who will retain access for up to two years after graduation. Unfortunately, this means BuckeyeMail will no longer be available to alumni or former students.
Students who leave the unviersity will have access until April 1, 2025 or 2 years after graduation/separation (whichever is longer). However, because we will be deleting mailboxes incrementally, those whose emails are scheduled to be deleted on April 1 may notice that they still have access a few weeks longer.
Why Automatic Email Account Forwarding was Ended
In the past The Ohio State University has provided lifetime email forwarding for alumni. As third-party service providers - including but not limited to Gmail, Spectrum, Yahoo!, Apple, and others - have tightened email security controls, more and more of these forwarded email messages are not being received by alumni. It also affected Ohio State’s ability to send emails directly to alumni as more of the forwarded emails are labeled spam by third party providers. Because of these external issues causing major deliverability issues, lifetime email forwarding service was discontinued on Dec. 31, 2024.
Ohio State discontinued all automatic account forwarding on Dec. 31, 2024.
What You Should Do
To ensure you continue to receive your emails, please take the following actions:
- Update your contacts: Notify your personal and professional contacts to begin using your personal email address before the end of the year. Also update social and shopping accounts, including updating your address with the Ohio State Athletic Ticket Office, if they are currently use your OSU email address.
- Check your Ohio State communications: If you receive important updates or alumni communications via lastname.#@osu.edu or lastname.#@buckeyemail.osu.edu, you can update your contact information through My Account or by contacting the Engagement Center at 614-292-2281 or engagementcenter@osu.edu.
- Remove the configuration of any email clients that are set up to check for email (mobile and desktop). Also update other configuration that may use your BuckeyeMail email. For example, here are instructions for changing your Xbox Live account
Note: We strongly suggest beginning these steps well before April 1, as email accounts will begin deletion on that day. To avoid disruption in any of your communications, please act early.
Questions and Additonal Help
You can update your contact information through My Account or by contacting the Engagement Center at 614-292-2281 or engagementcenter@osu.edu.
Instructions are posted online to help you download your personal contacts list. We also have guidance for you if you would like to move messages in bulk to a personal account; however bulk message transfers may not work for all email services. These instructions will work when you are moving messages from BuckeyeMail to another Microsoft email account (i.e., @outlook.com, @hotmail.com, @live.com, @msn.com, etc.).
If you need assistance with this transition, Ohio State's IT Service Desk is available 24/7:
- Phone: 614-688-4357 (HELP)
- Email: ServiceDesk@osu.edu
If you are a current or emeriti Ohio State faculty or staff member, please see the Storage and Email Transformation project page for information about how changes will affect you as an employee.
Frequently Asked Questions
As we communicate with alumni and receive questions, we will update this section so you can access the information as you need it.
My Ohio State account is my only email account, what should I do?
Many providers offer free email services. Below are links that can instruct you on setting up an account with any of the top 10 providers. This list is for information purposes only; The Ohio State University does not recommend or endorse any specific email service.
I am losing access to my Ohio State email. What should I do to ensure I don't miss any important emails?
We recommend taking these steps:
- Backup: Save important emails – forward to your new address or save elsewhere
- Update Contacts: Inform contacts of your new email
- Download Contacts: Microsoft offers instructions on downloading your contacts list
- Transfer Subscriptions: Update email addresses for subscriptions
- Notify Services: Update accounts tied to your Ohio State email
- Update Profiles: If you use your Ohio State address for social media and online profiles, update them
- Check Payments: Update email for subscriptions that use your Ohio State address.
How do I know what senders to contact?
Wondering who to contact? Simply check the address information in the emails received at your forwarded account. If you see an @osu.edu address in the To:/Recipient line, those are the emails that were forwarded. Find the original sender of the email and that's the sender you should contact
Can I put an Out-of-Office message on email account address directing senders to my new address?
Yes, Microsoft provides instructions for setting an out-of-office message. Out of office messages can only be set for name.#@buckeyemail.osu.edu email addresses, not for name.#@osu.edu addresses. Out of office messages will be functional on BuckeyeMail accounts until your account is deleted.
I have all of my accounts and services tied to my @buckeyemail.osu.edu address! Can I keep it?
No, our contract and licensing will not enable alumni to keep name.#@osu.edu accounts. Please use the next several months - November to April- to update your contact address with all contacts and services.
I am an emeritus faculty member. How am I affected?
All account forwarding to outside, third-party email providers ended on Dec. 31, 2024.
If you are a emeriti Ohio State faculty or staff member, please see the Storage and Email Transformation project page for more information about how changes will affect you.
Not all retired faculty have emeritus status -- to be considered emeritus, you must have requested and been approved for emeritus status before leaving the university. This special status is available to full-time tenure-track, teaching, or associated faculty who retired or resigned at the age of sixty or older with ten or more years of service or at any age with twenty-five or more years of service.