This article shares information about a recently completed project to move student email from Gmail to Outlook.
To unify the university community into one email system, student email and calendar events were moved from the university’s Google service (CatMail) to Outlook in Microsoft 365.
Students have retained access to all other Google apps, but new email and calendar events will now only be delivered to Outlook.
Note: Student email addresses continue to be [netid]@arizona.edu.
See the project's information page at it.arizona.edu for updates.
Students also received an email in their UA Gmail (CatMail) inbox with instructions for accessing their new account.
All current Students and current Admits.
After the migration:
Note: The Microsoft login portal is not the same as the typical WebAuth screen even though you use your UA email and NetID password. See Log in to Microsoft 365 for more detailed instructions on using the Microsoft portal.
Note: NetID+ is the UA's branded term for 2FA so you may see this term used interchangeably with 2FA and Duo in university documentation.
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Device Logins
If you have a UA Gmail (CatMail) account set up on other devices (phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop), you will need to re-set up your account on relevant apps for Outlook email. Gmail (CatMail) is no longer sending or receiving new emails.
See the following articles for detailed instructions:
Faculty are also be affected by this change. With students moving to Microsoft Outlook, email and calendar collaboration now occurs within a shared platform.
The information in this panel outlines specific adjustments to your existing email and calendaring practices that you may want to consider.
Outlook calendars have always been visible to students by default (typically as free/busy), but this visibility may become more noticeable with the change.
Faculty are encouraged to review their calendar and email settings and familiarize themselves with the available permission options.
Key areas to review include:
For additional guidance on these settings, visit Outlook – Calendar Support Pages and Outlook - Email Support Pages.
Some departments may have previously provided their student workers with Catworks accounts in Outlook to facilitate collaboration with faculty and staff in their department.
Since student workers now have access to Outlook for email and calendars, any pre-existing Catworks accounts will become an alias for the student's main Outlook account.
Forwarding a Catworks Account
If students had set up a forward from @arizona.edu to @catmail.arizona.edu to receive emails in Gmail, that forward was removed during the migration. Immediately after the migration, students may have temporarily received duplicate emails in their new Outlook inbox, but this duplication ended after July 25.
If others are sending emails directly to @catmail.arizona.edu to reach a student’s Gmail, they’ll receive an automatic reply after the migration instructing them to use the student’s @arizona.edu address instead.
The university advises against forwarding your school email to external accounts as this approach helps maintain security and ensures reliable delivery.
For recommended alternatives and more information on the security concerns with forwarding, see Email- Automated Forwarding.
If you have questions about email access, email application setup, or issues with your email, contact the 24/7 IT Support Center.