Move email messages between UW Office 365 Exchange Online & UW Gmail accounts


What's this all about?

Maybe you want to switch from UW Gmail to Outlook (for desktop or 'for the Web'). Or, maybe you've used both UW Exchange and UW Google email inboxes at various periods throughout your time at UW. Maybe you just like one UI over the other! Whatever your reason, you now want to move your old emails between your various inboxes.

In the past, you used to be able to add all of your email inboxes to the same Outlook client and move emails around at will. Since June 2024, a bug in Outlook has prevented this, so now a slightly different approach is needed.

Moving emails between inboxes now has a few more steps:

  1. Replace your Office 365 apps with a special version (called Office LTSC)
  2. Use Outlook (Classic)* to add all your inboxes at the same time
  3. Move your emails around
  4. (Recommended) Go back to regular Office 365

Let's walk through it! The below sections explain each step in more detail, but if you want the TL;DR-step-by-step instructions, you can find them expandable at the bottom of the page.

How to Move Your Emails

 

There are a few prerequisites to get out of the way first.

      1. 'Admin Access' - You need to have the ability to install/uninstall programs from your computer; we call that 'Admin access' or 'Administrator rights'. If you aren't sure if you have those permissions (or if you have never heard this term before), you will need help from your local IT team while you follow these instructions, so reach out to them.
      2. UW-Owned Computer - Office LTSC is special and we only have permission to install it on UW-owned devices. That means you won't be able to follow these steps on your personal device. Only use your work-provided computer.
      3. Internet Access - You'll need to be online while you do the move; make sure you'll have an uninterrupted internet connection while you work (especially if your local IT needs to help you).
      4. Download the Files - Attached to this article is a .zip file: "UW Office Installer.zip". If you're using a Windows device, create a folder named "Office365" somewhere on your machine (we recommend in the 'Downloads' folder or on your desktop), then download that file and unzip all of the contents to the folder you made. Mac users will instead need to click here to download the Mac installer; Mac users will also need to visit the UWare page to download 'Office365 ProPlus', if you want to use regular Office apps again after you're done moving emails.
      5. Set Your Email Forwarding (Recommended) - Unless you want to re-do this process whenever you get new emails, we recommend using the UW NetID Management tool to ensure emails are sent to your inbox of choice. It can take up to a day for the change to take effect, so do it in advance.

The instructions in this step are slightly different for Windows and Mac users. Expand the section that matches your device and continue following along.

  1. In the "Office365" folder you created, run "OfficeInstaller.bat" with Administrator rights.
  2. A window for the 'UW Office Installer' will open. Follow the prompts to select the 'LTSC' version and download/install it.
  3. The installer will get to work removing your current version of Office 365 and installing Office LTSC. You won't lose any of your files or data; this just replaces your Office apps.
    1. (Optional) The installer will ask if you want to delete temporary install files; we recommend it, but you don't have to.

When the installer is done, the window will close.

  1. Make sure you've already downloaded the 'Office LTSC for Mac' package file (see Step 1).
  2. Uninstall your current version of Office 365 using your preferred method.
  3. Double-click the .pkg file to start the installer.
  4. Follow the on-screen prompts to install 'Office LTSC for Mac 2024 (volume license version)'.

When the installer is done, you can continue.

We'll be using Outlook (Classic) to do the move, so launch the Outlook (Classic) app. It's important not to use Outlook (New); you may need to click the "Try the new Outlook" / "New Outlook" toggle in the top right of the app to switch back to Outlook (Classic), if you're already using Outlook (New).

    1. In the top right of the window, click 'File' to open the 'Account Information' section and, near the top of that page, click on the "+ Add Account" button. For Mac users, open the 'Outlook' menu in the top bar, then select 'Settings' > 'Personal Settings' > 'Accounts' > and click the '+' button to find the "Add an account" option. 
    2. Follow the prompts to add all of your inboxes to Outlook one at a time.
      1. If you're adding your Microsoft Exchange-based inbox, use your 'NetID@uw.edu' email.
      2. If you're adding your UW Google inbox, use 'NetID@gamail.uw.edu' as your email address. Yes, "gamail" is an intentional spelling, with an 'a' after the 'g'.
    3. While adding your UW Google inbox, you'll be prompted to sign-in using your NetID and Duo Authenticator two times, one after the other. That's normal; you're giving Outlook permission for both incoming and outgoing mail, so two sign-ins are required.

We're finally ready to move around some emails! Moving your emails is as simple as holding left-click and dragging an email to the heading for your destination inbox.

 

Since Office LTSC is a special version, it's not recommended to use it for day-to-day work. We recommend reverting back to Office 365 after you're finished moving your emails.

If you're a Windows user, you can use the 'UW Office Installer' from Step 2 to remove Office LTSC and reinstall Office 365 ProPlus. 

If you're a Mac user, you'll need to manually uninstall Office LTSC for Mac 2024 and use the Office 365 ProPlus .pkg file found on the UWare page to reinstall Office 365 for Mac.

TL;DR Step-by-Step Instructions

Expand the below instructions for the no-frills steps to move your emails. If these steps are confusing or unclear, feel free to use the above sections' full instructions instead.

  1. (Windows Users): Download the "UW Office Installer.zip" attached to this article and extract the contents to a folder named "Office365". (Mac Users): click here to download the Mac installer.
  2. Install "Office LTSC" using the method for your Operating System.
    1. Windows: Run "OfficeInstaller.bat" as Administrator and follow the prompts
    2. Mac: Install the .pkg file using your package manager of choice; you will need to uninstall your current Office365 apps before installing Office LTSC.
  3. Open the Outlook (Classic) app; you may need to switch back to Outlook (Classic) if you've already switched to Outlook (New).
  4. Add each email account (your destination inbox and any inboxes with mail to move) to Outlook.
    1. When adding a UW Google inbox, use the email address 'NetID@gamail.uw.edu' instead of your usual 'NetID@uw.edu' address. '@gamail' is an intentional spelling.
    2. Sign into any accounts using your NetID credentials and Duo Authenticator. When signing into UW Google, you'll get prompted to sign in twice in a row, which is normal.
  5. Click and drag any emails from their current inbox to the heading for your destination inbox to move them.
  6. After you're finished moving emails, use the same method from Step 2 to uninstall Office LTSC and reinstall Office365 ProPlus.
    1. Mac users will need to get the Office 365 ProPlus package from the UWare page.



Attachments: UW Office Installer.zip