University Systems help centre


March 2024: Employee email will be upgraded this summer. See the Exchange Online upgrade project page for more information.


Microsoft Exchange accounts are used for university communications, including email, calendaring, and scheduling. All new UVic employees automatically receive an Exchange account when you register for a NetLink ID.

Student email is offered through the Microsoft 365 Email service. New UVic students are issued a Microsoft 365 email account automatically. You will receive an email when it has been created. Only current students can create a UVic email address. Student applicants are not eligible.

When you leave UVic

Email accounts for former employees and retirees are disabled in accordance with University Policy IM7200 - Acceptable Use of Electronic Information Resources. You will keep your NetLink IDs indefinitely so you can access personal records in Online Tools.

Can I forward my UVic email?

Employees must not forward their UVic email address to non-UVic email addresses. Former employees are also not allowed to forward their UVic email address when they leave the university. This information is detailed in University Policy IM 7200 - Acceptable Use of Electronic Information Resources.

Technical questions

This section covers support information for UVic Microsoft Exchange accounts used by faculty and staff. You can find additional information about role-based email and resource accounts on their support pages.

How do I access my Exchange account?

You can access your Exchange account through a desktop mail client or using Outlook on the web through mail.uvic.ca

Our recommended desktop email clients are Outlook 365 or 2016 for Windows and Outlook 365 for Mac.

Outlook 365 and 2016 support email access, out of office reply set up, connecting to other mailboxes, creating message rules, configuring delegates, access to the global address list, restoring deleted items, and managing junk mail settings.

Outlook on the web can be used to share your calendar or folders but not to configure delegates.

Can I use Thunderbird with my Exchange account?

Microsoft does not support Thunderbird as a mail client for Exchange. University Systems can only provide best effort support for clients who wish to use an unsupported mail client. If you are interested in configuring your Exchange with Thunderbird, here is the necessary server information:

Incoming (IMAP) server: mail.uvic.ca

  • "Port" = 993
  • "SSL" = SSL/TLS
  • "Authentication" = Normal password

Outgoing (SMTP) server: mail.uvic.ca

  • "Port" = 587
  • "SSL" = STARTTLS
  • "Authentication" = Normal password

What happens to items that I delete?

When you delete an item on the Exchange server, it will be moved to your Deleted Items folder. Items in your Deleted Items are not automatically purged on a regular schedule.

Do I have to accept a meeting for it to appear in my calendar?

No. When you receive a meeting request the meeting will immediately appear in your calendar and the meeting's date and time slot will be marked as "tentative." However, you should always reply to the request so that the meeting organizer will know if you are planning to attend or have declined the invitation.

If I give someone "owner" permission over my calendar, will they be able to see items that are marked as "private"?

No. Items that are marked as private will only be visible to the actual calendar owner and not to a person with whom the calendar is shared. Only a delegate can be provided with explicit permission to view items that are marked as private.

How do I change my preferred name and title?

Your preferred first name is the name by which you are normally addressed, and can be different than your legal first name registered with UVic. It is used together with your last name in a number of university systems.  For faculty and staff this includes but is not limited to:

  • Exchange Email and Calendar - This is the name on all of your outgoing emails and in the Global Address List
  • UVic Online Directory - This is the name used for your directory entry

You can update your preferred name and title in Online tools

For instructions see the Online tools help page.

How do I add the Religious Observances calendar to my Exchange calendar?

Download the up-to-date calendar file from the EQHR Religious Observances pageThe file is not exhaustive of all faith groups. Please consult with Equity and Human Rights for further information. To view important dates at the University of Victoria please see the UVic Online Calendar Academic Year Important Dates Page

For instructions on managing calendar files, see Microsoft Support article: Import and export Outlook email, contacts, and calendar

Using your Exchange 2016 account

Exchange email can be accessed through a web browser, desktop application on Windows or macOS, or mobile app.

Your @uvic.ca Exchange email account will work best with Outlook 365, Outlook 2019 for mac, or Outlook 2016 for Windows. Older versions of Outlook or alternative mail clients don't fully support all features and can cause issues with your calendar. This includes

All UVic employees can use Outlook 365 through UVic's Microsoft 365 subscription.

Outlook on the web

If you don't have Outlook installed on a computer or mobile device, you can still access your @uvic.ca email through a web browser. Just login to mail.uvic.ca with your NetLink ID and passphrase!

UVic MFA is required to access this service.

Through Outlook on the web, you can:

*Important: any inbox rules set-up through Outlook on the web will apply to your entire Exchange account. This could conflict with local rules configured in a desktop mail client.

You can also configure calendars in Outlook on the web.

Access your calendar in Outlook on the Web

  1. Using a web browser, navigate to https://mail.uvic.ca and access your Exchange account using your primary NetLink ID and password.

  2. Once logged in, select the square shaped icon in the top left corner to expand the menu. Choose the Calendar icon.

Access your role-based email in Outlook on the web

Note: Please ensure you have been granted access to the role-based email before trying to access the mailbox in Outlook on the web. You do not need the username or password for your role-based email.
  1.  Using a web browser, navigate to mail.uvic.ca and access your Exchange account using your primary NetLink ID and passphrase.
  2. Once logged in, click on your profile picture in the top right-hand corner and select Open another mailbox... from the drop-down menu.
  3. Type in the role-based email address and click Open. Example: rolebasedemail@uvic.ca
  4. Your role-based email inbox should open in another browser tab.

Adding resource calendars in Outlook on the web

Note: Please ensure you have been granted access to the resource calendar before trying to use it in Outlook on the web. You will need the name of the resource calendar to add it.

  1. Using a web browser, navigate to mail.uvic.ca and access your Exchange account using your primary NetLink ID and passphrase.
  2. Once logged in, select Calendar from the side menu and click on Add calendar from the top menu.
  3. Choose the From directory option, and fill in the name of the resource calendar. Click Open.
  4. The resource calendar should now be added to your Other calendars list.

You can learn more about resource calendars in the resource calendar support section.

Configure calendar settings in Outlook on the web

You can configure calendar settings to your preference using options in Outlook on the web. Options include: setting your work week and work hours, enabling or disabling reminders, changing calendar colours, and automatic processing for meeting invitations.

  1. To configure your calendar work week and other calendar options, click on the cogwheel located in the top right corner and select Options from the drop-down menu.
  2. The Options menu will open on the left-hand side. Under the Calendar section you can find all of the customization settings for your role-based calendar.

Windows 10 and 11

Before you get started. make sure you:

  • know your NetLink ID.
  • have a Microsoft Exchange account.
  • have a computer running Windows 10 or Windows 11.
  • have Office 365 or Office 2016 installed.

Configure Exchange for Outlook 2016

Before your start this procedure, it is assumed that you have:
  • a NetLink ID
  • a Microsoft Exchange account.
  • a device running a supported version of Windows 10 or Windows 11
  • a device running a support version of Microsoft Office. If you need to upgrade your version of Office, check out UVic's Microsoft software subscription.
  1. Click the Windows Icon in the bottom lefthand corner of your screen, type in Control Panel, and select the Control Panel application.

  2. Click on Mail.

  3. Click on Email Accounts.

  4. Under the E-mail tab, click New.

  5. In the Auto Account Setup, fill in your nameemail address and password, and then click Next.

    screenshot of the auto account setup window with sample text entered

  6. Select 'Allow' on the bottom right when prompted with the pop-up window to allow this website to configure server settings.

  7. Select 'Finish' on the bottom right of the window.

  8. Open Outlook. If you are off-campus or using wireless, you may be prompted to enter your email address and password.

Configure Exchange for Outlook 365

Before your start this procedure, it is assumed that you have:

  • a NetLink ID
  • a Microsoft Exchange account.
  • a device running a supported version of Windows 10
  • a device running a support version of Microsoft Office 365. If you need to upgrade your version of Office, check out UVic's Microsoft 365 subscription.

Please note: a software patch is required to configure your UVic Exchange account with Microsoft 365. The first part of these instructions include restarting your computer.

  1. Ensure you are logged into the Windows account associated with your primary email account. For UVic-managed machines bound to Active Directory, this means logging in with your Netlink ID.

  2. Download this registry key file created by University Systems. This is a required patch to ensure your UVic exchange account will work properly with Outlook 365. Copy and paste the included file to your desktop.

  3. Close Microsoft Outlook if it's not already closed.

  4. Double-click the downloaded 'excludeExplicitO365Endpoint.zip' file to open the folder.

  5. Double-click the 'excludeExplicitO365Endpoint.reg' file to apply the new setting.

    a screenshot of a system notification about using the registry editor

  6. Restart your computer.

  7. Once you have logged back into your computer, open Control Panel and select User Accounts > Mail.

  8. Select E-Mail accounts.

  9. Under the email tab, select New.

  10. In the Auto Account Setup, fill in your nameemail address and password, and then click Next.

    screenshot of the auto account setup with sample text entered

  11. Click Finish.

  12. Open Outlook. You may be asked for your NetlinkID password when opening it. You should now have access to your email in Outlook 365.

macOS

Before you get started. make sure you:

  • know your NetLink ID.
  • have a Microsoft Exchange account.
  • have a computer running macOS 11 or newer.
  • have Office 365 or Office 2019 installed.

Configure Exchange for Outlook 2019 and Outlook 365

Before your start this procedure, it is assumed that you have:

  • a NetLink ID
  • a Microsoft Exchange account.
  • a device running a supported version of macOS
  • a device running a support version of Microsoft Office. If you need to upgrade your version of Office, check out UVic's Microsoft 365 subscription.
  1. Open Outlook on your Mac.

  2. From the menu bar, choose Tools > Accounts.

  3. Select Add Email Account or New Account by clicking the plus sign (+) in the lower-left corner.

  4. Enter your UVic Exchange email address and press Continue.

  5. A dialogue box with Exchange will open, now enter or select the following information:

    Method: Username and Password
    Email Address: your UVic email address
    User name: UVIC\ your personal Netlink ID
    Password: your NetLink ID password

    And click Add Account.
    screenshot of the exchange account configuration page in Office 365 for mac

  6. A dialogue box will open and show that your Exchange account now has been successfully added. You can safely close this by pressing Done and start using your Exchange account on Outlook.

 

Outlook mobile for iPhone and Android

Before you get started. make sure you:

  • know your NetLink ID.
  • have a Microsoft Exchange account.
  • have an iPhone running iOS 15 or newer OR Android 8.1 or higher.

Configure Exchange for iOS devices

Before your start this procedure, it is assumed that you have:

  • a NetLink ID
  • a Microsoft Exchange account.
  • a mobile device running a supported version of iOS
  1. From the Home screen, click the Settings icon.

  2. Select Mail.

  3. Select Accounts.

  4. Click on Add Account.

  5. Select Microsoft Exchange as the account type.

  6. Enter your Netlink ID credentials and click Next.

    screenshot of exchange server setting screen with sample text entered


  7. Select the services that you want to synchronize with Exchange and press Save in the upper right corner. Note: If you have already entered contact or calendar data, it will be deleted and replaced with the information synchronized with Exchange.

  8. Your email should now be set up on your device.

Configure Exchange for Android devices

Please note:  Android devices do not fully support ActiveSync encryption so they are not a recommended standard.

Before your start this procedure, it is assumed that you have:

  • a NetLink ID
  • a Microsoft Exchange account.
  • a mobile device running Android version 8.1 or higher

These instructions were written using the Samsung Galaxy S10e running Android 11. Instructions may differ depending on your device.

  1. Go into Settings and select Accounts and backup.

  2. Select Manage accounts.

  3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and choose Add account.

  4. Select Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync.

  5. Enter your UVic email address and password. Then click Manual setup.

  6. If prompted, use UVic for the Domain (see the screenshot for details). For the Exchange server, use mail.uvic.ca. Connect using SSL. Tap Sign in.

    screenshot of exchange server settings page with sample text


  7. You may see a warning about security settings. Click Apply. If you do not already have a secure passcode set on your device, you will be prompted to create a new passcode. For instructions on how to do this, please visit: Set your passphrase Android devices

  8. You will now have an opportunity to review which features on your device your Exchange account will be able to control. Press Activate to finish setting up Exchange.

  9. Your Android device should now be configured for use with Microsoft Exchange.

Support for Exchange email

If you need assistance with your @uvic Exchange email account, contact the Computer Help Desk.