Student Email Transition

Multi-factor authentication is used by CUNY to help keep your information safe, but it only works if it is not shared with others. 

Please remember the following:

• Never share your password or MFA passcode with anyone — Campus and CUNY IT will never ask for it.

• Do not respond to an MFA prompt if you did not initiate the login yourself.

• Do not click on links or open email attachments in suspicious or unexpected texts and emails.

• If you receive an email, text message, or phone call asking for your password, MFA passcode, or other sensitive information, treat it as a scam.

To set up Microsoft MFA in advance of your student email transition:

1. Open aka.ms/mysecurityinfo in a web browser.

2. Center your CUNY Login credentials to sign in to Microsoft 365.

   The Security info page for your Microsoft 365 account is displayed.

3. Click + Add sign-in method.

   The list of available factors is displayed.

4. Choose one of the following factors for Microsoft MFA:

   • Microsoft Authenticator — if you have the Microsoft Authenticator app

   • Phone — if you cannot use Microsoft Authenticator and must receive an SMS text message or phone call instead (least secure)

5. Follow the prompts to register your selected factor for use with Microsoft MFA.

After the transition to your CUNY email account, you will be prompted to respond to MFA prompts when logging into your email or accessing your Microsoft 365 applications.

If you did not set up Microsoft MFA before your email transition, you will see a “more information required” message after entering your CUNY Login credentials to access your new CUNY email account or Microsoft 365. See the following for information on setting up Microsoft MFA upon first login to your new CUNY email account or Microsoft 365 applications:

• If you have the Microsoft Authenticator app, see the Overview of Multi-factor Authentication video on YouTube

• For any supported authentication method (Microsoft Authenticator app, hardware token, SMS text, or phone call), see either of the following:

  • Set up your Microsoft 365 sign-in for multi-factor authentication on the Microsoft website

  • Set up Security info from a sign-in page on the Microsoft website

• FAQs for Microsoft Multi-factor Authentication in CUNY IT Help for information specific to the CUNY implementation of Microsoft Multi-factor Authentication

• How to add your accounts to Microsoft Authenticator on the Microsoft website to add your Microsoft 365 account to the Microsoft Authenticator app

• Set up SMS sign-in as a phone verification method on the Microsoft website

• Set up a phone call as your verification method on the Microsoft website

The Technology Support and Service Center (TSSC) is here to support you! The TSSC is located in the Library Building, room L-115. You can also contact us via telephone at 718-631-6348 and via email at ServiceDesk@qcc.cuny.edu.

Before you send, forward, or reply to an email, click on the Send button (in Outlook on the web) or From button (in the desktop Outlook client) and choose the address to send from.

Microsoft provides suggestions on how you can use folders, rules, categories and Outlook features to help organize your mailbox. See the following on the Microsoft website to learn more:

• Organize your inbox for an overview on using sweep, rules, folders and categories to help you manage the email for multiple addresses in your CUNY account mailbox.

• Create a folder or subfolder in Outlook

• Manage email messages by using rules in Outlook for detailed instructions on setting up rules.

• Organize your inbox with Archive, Sweep, and other tools in Outlook on the web

• Use categories in Outlook

You may also want to set up a matching folder structure in your OneDrive to make it easier to associate file attachments, both uploads and downloads, with specific email addresses.

You should do the following to prepare for the transition to the new CUNY email account:

• Confirm you can access your current, QCC student email account to receive information about the upcoming email transition.

• Check your student email account regularly for updated information regarding the email transition.

• Set up Microsoft MFA for use with your new CUNY email account and associated Microsoft 365 applications before spring break instead of waiting until April 13. See the Setting Up Microsoft MFA section on this page for information.

• Review the content of your current QCC student email account to see whether there is any information you wish to remove, download, or move to your OneDrive.

• Identify instances where you may have used your QCC student email address as a username for other applications and services and change it to a non-CUNY email address.

On Monday, April 13, you should begin checking your new CUNY email account as all official QCC and CUNY emails will be sent to it after that date.

If you have not set up Microsoft MFA beforehand, you will be prompted to do so upon first access to your new CUNY email account. See Setting Up Microsoft MFA on this page for more information.

Microsoft multi-factor authentication (MFA) provides additional security and privacy when using CUNY Login credentials to access Microsoft 365 applications. Although similar to the CUNY Login MFA used when logging into other CUNY and college applications like CUNYfirst and Brightspace, Microsoft MFA is only used when accessing your new CUNY email account and Microsoft 365 applications after the email transition.

For information on setting up your Microsoft multi-factor authentication (MFA), see Setting Up Microsoft MFA on this page.

The following information will be copied:

• Emails: All email content, including folder structure and attachments.

• Calendars: Events, attendees, and recurrence patterns.

• Contacts: User contact information.

• Email Rules: Mail redirects, blocking rules, and other mailbox rules.

• Auto-reply Settings: Out-of-office replies and other automatic response configurations.

• Time Zones: Preserves the correct time zone settings for the mailbox. 

What is Not Copied (Limitations):

• Encrypted Emails: Cannot be detected and are migrated unreadable.

• Folder Permissions: Permissions for folders are not preserved during the migration.

• Reference Attachments: Links to documents on OneDrive (like OneDrive for Business) are not preserved.

• Scheduled Emails: Future-scheduled emails are copied as drafts, not with their scheduled send time.

The contents of your old, QCC student email account will be copied to your new CUNY email account sometime after you return from Spring Break 2026.

If you need specific content from your old, QCC student email account in your new CUNY email account sooner, you can forward messages as required.

Email automatically forwarded from your old QCC student email account to your new CUNY email account will have “FWD” in the subject line and be addressed to your firstname.lastname##@cuny.edu email address.

If you have multiple CUNY college affiliations, it may be helpful to set up a separate folder for each college email address and establish rules in your new CUNY email account to automatically move auto-forwarded messages into the corresponding college folder. See Managing Multiple Email Addresses on this page and Set up rules in Outlook on the Microsoft website for more information.