Opting in to Gmail (faculty only)

Overview
Opting in to Gmail
Troubleshooting
Additional resources

Overview

By default, Dornsife faculty receive Outlook email accounts. While DTS recommends using Outlook, as this makes it easier to share calendars, make room reservations, and access shared org accounts, Dornsife does allow faculty to opt in instead to a USC-branded Gmail account.

All guidelines and policies, including the University's 16-month email retention period, still apply to mail sent/received in Gmail.

Eligibility

Only faculty are eligible for Gmail. Staff and affiliates/iVIPs (including retired faculty) must use Outlook.

Support

The Gmail option is managed by ITS. Gmail questions and troubleshooting requests can be directed to the ITS Customer Support Center at 213-740-5555 or consult@usc.edu.

Opting in to Gmail

Make sure your computer is connected to Ethernet or USC Secure Wireless (do not use USC Guest Wireless).
- Off-campus? Make sure your computer is connected to VPN instead.
Go to https://myaccess.usc.edu. You may need to sign in using your USC NetID and passphrase.
In the upper left, click the Menu icon. Then, click Email Preference and follow the on-screen instructions.
You can now use Gmail for all new incoming and outgoing messages to your USC email. Existing messages in Outlook are not automatically migrated (transferred), and you will need to recreate any folders, rules, or contact lists in Gmail.

Opting back in to Outlook

To stop using Gmail, follow the steps above to access and change your Email Preference back to Outlook/Office 365. Emails previously sent or received in Gmail will not, however, automatically transfer back to Outlook.

Troubleshooting

I don't see the choice to opt in to Gmail

If you are a faculty member and were not able to opt into Gmail following the steps above, please contact the ITS Customer Support Center at 213-740-5555 or consult@usc.edu. ITS may need to manually opt in to Gmail for you.

I opted in to Gmail, but new emails are still going only to Outlook

If the automatic routing change to Gmail didn't go through for your account, you can fix this manually:

Sign into https://usc.edu/office365.
In the upper right, click the Settings icon.
In the left menu, select Mail and then Forwarding.
Select the checkbox Enable Forwarding, and type the Gmail version of your USC email address. For example, if your USC email address is ttrojan@usc.edu, you would type ttrojan@gapps.usc.edu in this box. Then, click Save.
New incoming messages should now appear in Gmail.

I opted in to Gmail, but I don't see my existing Outlook emails/folders there

Existing emails and folders in Outlook are not migrated (transferred) to Gmail.

If you just need to transfer a few specific emails, you can simply go into Outlook and forward those emails to the Gmail version of your USC email address. For example, if your USC email address is ttrojan@usc.edu, you would forward your emails to ttrojan@gapps.usc.edu.

To bulk migrate messages/folders, refer to the following ITS guide:

G Suite Migration Tool - Moving Email, Contacts, and Calendar Data Using Outlook 2016 (sign-in with USC NetID required)

Additional resources

Gmail questions and troubleshooting requests can be directed to the ITS Customer Support Center at 213-740-5555 or consult@usc.edu. ITS also offers the following guides: