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Forwarding FAQ

Harvard has recently created a new partnership with an external email forwarding service that we are confident will add significant value to this program.  

Degree-holding alumni in the Classes of 2021–23 can now set up an @alumni.harvard.edu email forwarding address through their Alumni Directory profile. Alumni who already have email forwarding will be migrated to this new service by spring 2024. Following the migration, we will open this enhanced service up to all other eligible alumni who do not have email forwarding.  

Email Forwarding Questions:

General Questions

Troubleshooting Questions

Email Forwarding Q&A:

What is an email forwarding address?

An email forwarding address (e.g., name@alumni.harvard.edu) will automatically forward mail to your designated email address. An email forwarding address is an alias, not an email account, and does not have an email inbox.

Who is eligible for an email forwarding address with this new technology?  

Degree-holding alumni in the Classes of 2021, 2022, and 2023 will have access to set up an @alumni.harvard.edu email forwarding address starting in late August.

Alumni with existing email forwarding addresses will be migrated to the new technology by spring 2024. We will reach out to existing users when we have more specific information about a timeline and next steps. After existing users are migrated, we will open the service to all eligible alumni who do not currently have email forwarding.

What if I already have an @post.havard.edu or @alumni.harvard.edu email forwarding address? Is there anything I should do to prepare for the migration of my email forwarding address? 

You can keep using your email forwarding address as you have been. We will reach out once we know the exact timing of the migration of your email into our new system and will share anything you may need to do to prepare at that point. You will be able to keep your existing email forwarding address in its current form when it is migrated over. 

If I don’t have an email forwarding address and I’m not in the Classes of 2021, 2022, or 2023, when will I have access to alumni email forwarding?  

We will be offering email forwarding to the most recent graduating classes and migrating existing users to the new service first. Once that is complete, we will reach out and let you know when the service is available to eligible alumni who don’t yet have email forwarding. This will be sometime in 2024.  

Why are you starting with the most recent graduating classes?  

Keeping in mind that existing email forwarding users will still have access to their forwarding address as we migrate over to our new technology, we felt it was important to first roll out email forwarding to the Classes of 2021 and 2022 since they were not able to set up alumni email forwarding upon their graduation. In turn, their student email addresses have expired, leaving them with no Harvard email option. Similarly, the Class of 2023 will lose access to their student email address at the end of the grace period determined by their School.  

I was supposed to graduate in 2023, but I didn't. What does this mean for me?  

If you were supposed to graduate with a degree in 2023 but didn’t, you will have access to email forwarding when you do officially graduate from any of Harvard’s Schools. The only exception is if you have a previous Harvard degree from 2021 or 2022—if this is the case, you will have access to alumni email forwarding in late August 2023.

I thought the University was discontinuing email forwarding, what happened?   

Harvard initially explored discontinuing the service in response to many alumni who reached out to the Help Desk frustrated about emails they never received, as well as the spam and phishing inquiries hitting their forwarding addresses. However, after carefully considering the thoughtful feedback we received from alumni, the University decided to change course and identify a better alumni email forwarding solution.   

As a result of this research, the University created a new partnership with an external email forwarding service that we are confident will add significant value to our email forwarding program and mitigate existing issues. As an international company, this vendor also effectively manages privacy regulations and compliance requirements. With this partnership, we expect a more strategic approach to leveraging new and changing technologies in the years ahead. 

Will this new technology have the same issues the existing email forwarding technology does?  

Our new vendor will resolve issues with alumni email forwarding and greatly improve the deliverability of forwarded emails. We are confident that this new external service will add significant value to our email forwarding program and mitigate existing issues. As an international company, this service also effectively manages privacy regulations and compliance requirements. With this partnership, we expect a more strategic approach to leveraging new and changing technologies in the years ahead.  

I currently don’t have an email forwarding address, how will I set one up when the service is made available to me?   

If you earned a degree in the Classes of 2021, 2022, or 2023, you will have the opportunity to set up a new email forwarding address starting in late August 2023 through your HAA Alumni Directory profile. As part of our phased approach, we will open the service up to all other eligible members of our alumni community who are not currently using email forwarding in 2024. If you are eligible for email forwarding, we will be in touch at that time with detailed information about how to set up your email forwarding address. 

What are other ways to connect with the alumni community? 

The Alumni Directory is a comprehensive and verified network of Harvard alumni across the globe. Built into each alumni profile is an email tool that allows you to message your classmates and fellow alumni directly. This is a great way to keep in touch with classmates, seek out alumni mentors, and connect with alumni who are working in your field.  

Additionally, the Harvard Alumni Association has many resources for the alumni community to stay connected through email communications, social media, virtual and in-person programs and events, and Clubs and Shared Interest Groups. 

Troubleshooting:

I’m trying to set up email forwarding but my preferred alias name isn’t being accepted, why am I having a problem?  

Your preferred alias name might already be in use by someone else or it might go against community guidelines. If your preferred alias is not being accepted, you may have to add a number, such as your graduation year, or try a second option.  

On my Email Forwarding Page, email forwarding says “disabled;” why does it say this? Can I enable it?  

Yes, for new users, the default state of their email forwarding is “disabled” because a username and destination address have not yet been created. Click “Edit” and you will see a new smaller window open. Complete the information in this window, including the email alias you want, and the inbox to which you want your email forwarded, and ensure the checkbox that says “Enable Email Forwarding” is checked. Then hit the “Save” button to activate your new account.  

The email inbox I want connected to my email forwarding address is not coming up as an option when I set up email forwarding, why not?  

Check to make sure the email account is listed in your Directory profile. If not, it will not show up as an option when you set up email forwarding. To add another email to your profile, go back to your profile page and click the “Edit” button to add any additional email inbox. Once this is done, go back to set up email forwarding again.   

As a side note, if you have recently graduated, we strongly recommend forwarding to an email account other than your Harvard student account as these email addresses will expire.  

I recently graduated and I heard that setting up an alumni email forwarding address will allow me to continue receiving emails at my Harvard student account. How does this work? 

This is not accurate. Alumni email forwarding is in no way connected to your Harvard student account. Creating an alumni forwarding email address will not allow you to continue receiving mail through your student email account after it has expired. For this reason, we also do not recommend setting up email forwarding to send messages to your Harvard student account. For more information about student email accounts, please contact your School’s IT Help Desk.     

I’m having difficulty making emails from my email inbox “send as” my email forwarding address—what do I do?  

By default, your outgoing mail will display as your personal email account (for instance, first.last@gmail.com). Most email service providers have an option to send as your forwarding address, in which your forwarding address appears as the sender on your emails. However, emails sent using this “send as” feature run the risk of not being received at the destination because your email address appears to be “spoofing,” which many security systems will reject.  

Because of this risk, the Alumni Help Desk cannot resolve issues related to unsuccessfully sent mail and we discourage the usage of sending emails as your forwarding address.   

My email forwarding address is enabled and the destination address is correct, but my emails aren’t arriving in my inbox. Why not?  

First, note that sending an email to yourself from your destination address won’t work to test it. Send from a work or friend’s account. Next, check your spam and other folders to ensure your personal email’s security filters aren’t marking those forwarded emails as spam or promotional. After that, check your personal inbox settings to see if your forwarding address is added to the list of filtered or blocked addresses. If your destination address is managed by your company, reach out to your email administrator to see if your messages are being quarantined. You can also run an internet search for how to whitelist an email in your email service provider’s settings and follow instructions to whitelist your email forwarding address. If these steps fail, reach out to our Help Desk for assistance.  

I switched my @post.harvard.edu email forwarding to an @alumni.harvard.edu email forwarding address and now I want to switch it back, why can’t I?  

Once you change your domain name from post.harvard to alumni.harvard, your email is permanently an alumni.harvard account. The difference between the two is only aesthetic and has no effect on the functionality of the forwarding address. We introduced the alumni.harvard domain in response to alumni feedback requesting to clarify the meaning of the address. Going forward with our new system, all email forwarding addresses will be alumni.harvard accounts but we will keep the service functional for those post.harvard accounts that have been used as forwarding addresses for many years as they phase out over time.