Email - Office365 Frequently Asked Questions

Email - Office365 Frequently Asked Questions

Jump to:   General FAQ   Inactive Student Opt-In FAQ   Email Upgrade FAQ

General FAQ

  • What is a HuskyID?

    A student HuskyID is your full email address, i.e. abc12345@huskies.bloomu.edu. Please check the HuskyID Account and Password information page for full details. Please note that HuskyIDs become inactive after approximately 8-9 months after a student last attends at which time a student loses all access to Bloomsburg University systems and their student HuskyID account is deleted. However, there is a 1 month opt-in period where a student can request to keep their email account. A student that opts in will have their email account converted to an alumni Office365 account, and their username and email address will change to @alumni.bloomu.edu, though they still retain past and future messages addressed to @huskies.bloomu.edu. Separately, all inactive students, whether they opt-in to keep their email account or not, have the ability to activate a MyHusky Alumni Account at https://www.bloomu.edu/myhusky-student-information-system.

  • How do I change my HuskyID password?

    There are two supported ways to change your HuskyID password:

    • Using a web browser from anywhere you have Internet access, go to https://reset.bloomu.edu/ and select Change Password.
    • Change your password from a lab computer on campus that you are logged in to, by pressing Control+ALT+Delete and selecting Change Password.
  • Where can I get specific help about the email system including setting up an Exchange account in Outlook or setting up access to your account on your mobile phone?

    Click on either the "Mobile Device Email Config" or "Email Software Config" link on the right or go directly to http://www.bloomu.edu/technology/student/email/config

  • What address do I go to in my web browser to use my email account on the web?

    http://mail.huskies.bloomu.edu/

  • What web browsers are recommended to connect to my email account on the web?

    While any modern web browser should work at this point, Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox are the recommended browsers for PC and Apple Safari or Mozilla Firefox are the recommended browsers for Mac. Past problems have been seen when using Google Chrome, so it has been left off our recommended list.

  • I can view my email on the web, but why won't it let me send email from my account?

    This has been seen when students/alumni attempt to send email through their email account on the web when using either Google Chrome or Internet Explorer with an outdated Skype plugin. It is recommended that you update, uninstall, or disable the Skype plugin or just use Mozilla Firefox instead.

  • Can I also access Office through my Office365 email account?

    Yes, Bloomsburg University is currently also able to provide the following Office options for students:

    • Office Web Apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote) and OneDrive, a cloud storage solution, both of which can be accessed through the App Drawer in the upper left corner of your student email account webmail. For more information and a walkthrough for accessing these for the first time, please see the Introduction to Office365 Office Web Apps and OneDrive.
    • Microsoft Office Pro Plus software installations to students free of charge for personal use on up to five devices. This software can be downloaded from the software section of Office 365 app settings located on the gear menu in the upper right corner of your student email account webmail. Microsoft Office ProPlus Installation and Activation walkthrough: PC | Mac
  • I received an email claiming I need to respond to confirm my account to receive additional disk space, to upgrade my account, or to prevent my account termination. Is this a legitimate message and should I reply with my password or click a link to confirm or validate my account on a web form?

    NO! Please be aware Bloomsburg University technology support will never ask you for your password or other confidential information through email. There have been malicious phishing emails that look legitimate coming from off campus telling you to reply with your password to receive additional disk space, to upgrade your account, or to prevent your account termination. These emails did not come from Bloomsburg University and you should never respond to them. Please keep this in mind and never send a password through email. Phishing spammers will attempt to use your account to send out spam to millions of recipients. Please don't give them your password. If you are ever not sure, please contact the Bloomsburg University Technology Help Desk at 570-389-4357. If the phishers succeed and use your account to send out spam, people all over the world will receive spam that says it's coming from you. This will result in many replies and non delivery reports (bounces from email addresses that reject the spam due to spam content or due to "User Unknown") coming in to your account. Ultimately it will also put our student email servers on spam blacklists and it will be hard for other students to get legitimate messages through to legitimate outside email addresses because other email servers will stop trusting our email servers. This is a very serious matter - be sure to never give your password out. If you have received a questionable message, please forward the entire message as an attachment to postmaster@bloomu.edu. BU Technology staff can then look at the headers and use the information to protect other students that will try replying to the message in the future. Please check our Phishing information page for more information.

  • Why am I receiving hundreds or thousands of replies or Non-Delivery-Reports to messages I never sent that look like they were spam?

    You have likely responded to a malicious phishing email and given your password to spammers who are using your account to send out spam. If your account has already been compromised, the very first thing you should do is change your password (do so at https://reset.bloomu.edu/) so the spammers no longer have access to your account. After you change your password, you may still receive many Non-Delivery-Reports and replies for up to about 3 days. Also please report the incident to postmaster@bloomu.edu. Be sure to never, ever set your password back to the one that was compromised so there is no chance the spammers can use your account again. Last but not least, spread the word that you should never give your password out in response to an email no matter how legitimate it looks. Please check our Phishing information page for more information.

  • If I opt-in to retain my email account and have it converted to an Alumni email account, how long can I keep my account?

    Your alumni email account availability is subject to the current policy and is subject to change. Currently, you are allowed to retain your Alumni Email Account as long as you have logged in to the account within the past 365 days. Please note you actually need to access the account directly for us to see that the account is in use. This means if you are monitoring your email account by automatically forwarding your incoming email to a personal account, that is not enough to retain your alumni email account. You will receive a 30 day email message notice before account deletion, so as long as you are monitoring your new email messages, you will have a chance to sign in to your account to prevent deletion.

Inactive Student Opt-In FAQ

  • How do I opt-in?

    Assuming your HuskyID is inactive and scheduled for deletion (you are notified via email 1 month in advance), you can find the opt-in button link on the Alumni Email Information page. Prior to clicking the button, you will need to check off the checkbox confirming that you have read and understand the "Inactive Student Opt-In Process" section. Once authenticated through HuskyID Single Sign-On (SSO) we know who you are and you have the ability to complete the opt-in process on the page your are taken to. Be sure to document your one-time password and effective date that is provided to you after successfully opting-in. You will not be able to retrieve your one-time password after your effective date because you will no longer have the ability to sign on through SSO.

  • Why won't my one-time password work to log on to my brand new alumni email account?

    Please understand that you will not be able to use your one-time password until the effective date given when you opted-in. This is the same day that your HuskyID is removed from all other systems. It is at that time when your Office365 account is converted from a student account to an alumni account. It is not converted immediately when you opt-in and therefore not ready for immediate logon.

    Additionally, if you've previously used your browser to access a non-BU Microsoft account, your browser may remember the non-BU username and only prompt you for a password. Since it's not asking you for your BU password, the one-time password will not work. In this case, you will need to click on "+ Use another account" to specify your new alumni.bloomu.edu username and then your one-time password will work as expected.

  • What time is my account going to be converted on the effective date?

    Unfortunately we can't pinpoint an exact time for you. The process begins at 5AM but depending on the number of accounts that need to be processed on the given day, the process could take an extended period of time. Rest assured, you will not lose access to your account while you are waiting. Up until the moment your account is converted, you will still be able to log on through the "Log on as Student (@huskies.bloomu.edu)" link using your @huskies.bloomu.edu username and the same password you've been using. As soon as your individual account conversion is processed, you will then be able to log on through the "Log on as Alumni (@alumni.bloomu.edu)" link using your @alumni.bloomu.edu username and your one-time password.

  • What if I forgot my one-time alumni email account password or the effective date?

    Prior to your scheduled deletion date, if you go to the Alumni Email Information page and Opt-In again, you will be able to retrieve your one-time password and your effective date. If your account is already deleted and therefore you cannot sign in to the opt-in page, but you previously opted-in, please contact the technology helpdesk at 570-389-4357.

  • During my first logon to my newly converted alumni account, which password do I use where?

    This is a page where you are forced to change your password. During the conversion process we set your account password to the one-time password, so "Old Password" refers to your one-time password. "New Password" and "Confirm new password" is where you type in the new password of your choice. It must be a strong password as determined by Microsoft's "Password Strength" bar. After you click successfully click "Save", the new password you entered is the password for your alumni account and you no longer need to remember or retain documentation of your one-time password. You are taken to a page that says "Please re-enter your password". This is the first time you use that new password of your choice and signing in with it will take you to your mailbox on the web.

  • Why did my email account on my mobile device or email software stop working after the conversion process?

    Since your username changed from @huskies.bloomu.edu to @alumni.bloomu.edu, you have to change the configuration of your device or software and update the username. In some cases, in order to update the username, you may be required to remove the account completely and re-add the account. Instructions for configuring your account can be found at http://www.bloomu.edu/technology/student/email/config and remember to specify your username and email address as @alumni.bloomu.edu.

  • Why do I need to opt-in and why can't I just use my previous password to log on the first time?

    Because of changes Microsoft implemented when they upgraded Live @ EDU to Office365, students could no longer continue using their password once the account was converted to alumni, so we needed a mechanism to provide a new password that would work with alumni accounts once converted. The opt-in process gives us the ability to provide a one-time password. At the same time, most accounts that were converted to alumni accounts in the past are sitting in the system unused and dormant. By initiating an opt-in process 1 month prior to deletion, this gives us the opportunity to only keep accounts which are actually requested to remain in the system and provide a password securely by requiring the inactive student to sign in to HuskyID Single Sign-On while their HuskyID credentials still work.

  • What happens if I re-enroll at BU after I have opted-in and have been converted to @alumni.bloomu.edu?

    Your account will be automatically converted back to @huskies.bloomu.edu the business day after you pay your deposit (undergrad) or are scheduled in a class (grad). This means you will have to once again use the "Log on as Student (@huskies.bloomu.edu)" logon link and use your @huskies.bloomu.edu username. Your password will be set back to an initial password that has been communicated to you as your Applicant HuskyID Password (undergrad) or has been provided through the grad office (grad). If you do not know the password, you can reset it immediately by using the HuskyID Password Reset page at https://reset.bloomu.edu/. Also, you get to keep all the email already in your mailbox and future email addressed to your @alumni.bloomu.edu address still comes to the account.

Email Upgrade 6/10/13 FAQ

  • What do I need to know about the student/alumni email system upgrade that finished 6/10/13?

    Please check the Live @ EDU Upgrade to Office365 page for details on how the upgrade affected you.

  • Am I using the correct login page to get to my email account on the web?

    Always use http://mail.huskies.bloomu.edu/ or links found on the BU website to get to the student/alumni email login page. We have control of this address and will make sure it is always going to the correct place for login. If you find other addresses that work, please know that they are subject to change. For instance, outlook.com, hotmail.com, live.com may have used to work, but they do not work now. If you find similar addresses that work to get you to the current office365 login page, it is subject to change in the future. Always use http://mail.huskies.bloomu.edu/ or click on email system links found on the BU website.

  • What should the login page look like?

    Students should be seeing the HuskyID Single Sign-On login page (image). Alumni should be seeing a login page branded as Office 365 (image). If you are receiving a page branded as Outlook (image), this is not the correct page and you should not attempt to log in to it.

  • Why am I receiving the error message "You're currently signed in with an Office 365 email account, which can't be used with Outlook.com. Please click here to sign out of your Office 365 account" when I try to access my email account?

    This message comes up if you've logged in to an incorrect web page address such as outlook.com (or perhaps an outdated bookmark) during your current web browser session. If you receive that particular error, you should indeed click that outlook/live sign out link and then if you go back to the correct login page at http://mail.huskies.bloomu.edu/, you will find that the Student/Alumni logon links direct you to the proper login page that will get you right into your mailbox after successful authentication. Remember, if you are considered an alumni account (see below for help to know for sure), you must use username@alumni.bloomu.edu to log in successfully. Always use http://mail.huskies.bloomu.edu/ to access your email account. This is the only web page address we've ever given out and has always been linked from the BU website.

  • Why does it seem like my browser is not directing me to the correct login page or consistently get an error message when I try to log in to HuskyID Single Sign-On?

    In rare cases, you may need to try one of the following to resolve or work around the issue:

    • Close all web browser windows and start a new browser session. If your browser is set to restore the previous session upon startup, you will need to change that option in your browser options so you truly start a new browser session.
    • Clear your browser's cache/history, cookies, and/or active logons.
    • Try using an alternative browser, such as Firefox if you were using Internet Explorer (PC) or Apple Safari (Mac).
    • Try starting the private mode of the browser to obtain a new session to check if it works in a new session.

    Once you try one of the above recommendations, you should go directly to http://mail.huskies.bloomu.edu/ and try to log in again to see if your issue has been resolved or worked around.

  • Is my account considered to be Student or Alumni?

    Please check the bottom of the login page at http://mail.huskies.bloomu.edu/ where figuring out if you are considered a student or alumni for the purpose of your technology account is described in detail, which will affect how you log in to your Office365 email account.

  • I have what is considered an alumni account and I decided to re-enroll at BU and now I can't access my email account. What do I need to know?

    Once you re-enroll and can no longer log in through the alumni page, this is because your account was converted back to what is considered a Student account. No worries, you get to keep all the email already in your mailbox and future email addressed to your @alumni.bloomu.edu address still comes to the account. You will now need to log in through the student logon link, and you now need to use your default HuskyID password. This was sent to you (it is your Applicant HuskyID Password), but if you don't have the password and want to gain immediate access to your account, you can reset your HuskyID password by going to https://reset.bloomu.edu/.

  • I am a student and I am getting to the HuskyID Single Sign-On Page as I should be, but why isn't the password I used successfully to access my email before the upgrade not working anymore?

    If for some reason your Live @ EDU student email password (Windows Live account) was not in sync with your HuskyID password, be aware that the HuskyID Single Sign-On page requires you to use your HuskyID password, which is the password that logs you in to all campus systems. If you don't know your current HuskyID password, go to https://reset.bloomu.edu/ to reset your forgotten password.

  • Prior to the upgrade from Live @ EDU to Office 365, there were links at the top of my mailbox that I used to use and now I'm not sure where those pages are located, can you provide the link addresses?
  • What is included with our Office365 account?

    Besides the email account portion of Office365, Bloomsburg University is currently also able to provide the following for students:

    • Office Web Apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote) and OneDrive, a cloud storage solution, both of which can be accessed through the App Drawer in the upper left corner of your student email account webmail. For more information and a walkthrough for accessing these for the first time, please see the Introduction to Office365 Office Web Apps and OneDrive.
    • Microsoft Office Pro Plus software installations to students free of charge for personal use on up to five devices. This software can be downloaded from the software section of Office 365 app settings located on the gear menu in the upper right corner of your student email account webmail. Microsoft Office ProPlus Installation and Activation walkthrough: PC | Mac

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