Setting up your @northwestern.edu (Microsoft 365) account in Outlook for Windows

There are two email/calendaring systems at Northwestern. Faculty and staff use Exchange (@northwestern.edu), and students use Google/Gmail (@u.northwestern.edu). These instructions guide you through configuring your Exchange account in Outlook.

Note for members of Feinberg School of Medicine: The F5 Big-IP Edge client must be installed on your computer and connected to the server before configuring your Feinberg email. If you get the error "An encrypted connection to your mail server is not available" see these Knowledge Base articles for instructions connecting the client.

Outlook For Windows (Microsoft 365 version)

  1. If this is the first time starting Outlook, click Add Account. If you already have another email account configured in Outlook, click File > Add Account.
  2. If you see the "Welcome to Outlook" window, enter your @northwestern.edu email address and click Connect. If you see the "Add Account" window instead, enter Your Name, your @northwestern.edu email address, and your NetID password, then click Next.
  3. If a window pops up asking you to allow this website to configure server settings, click Allow.
  4. In a small popup window you may be prompted to enter your credentials. If you cannot edit the username field, then select Other Account. Enter the following:
    1. Username: YourNetID@ads.northwestern.edu (ex. abc1234@ads.northwestern.edu)
    2. Password: NetID password
    3. Check Remember these credentials if you don't want to enter your password every time Outlook starts up.
    4. Click OK.
  5. Click Finish.
  6. When the Restart Outlook dialog appears, click OK, then close and reopen Outlook.
    1. If you didn't select Remember these credentials earlier or if the configuration completed without prompting for login credentials, you may need to re-authenticate to the server with your NetID and password. Enter NetID@ads.northwestern.edu (ex. abc1234@ads.northwestern.edu) for the username and your NetID password for the password.
  7. Click OK and Outlook will begin to download your mail and other data from the server. This happens only the first time you launch Outlook after setup and may take some time.

Outlook Older Versions

  1. If this is the first time starting Outlook, click Add Account.  If you already have another email account configured in Outlook, click File > Account Information/Settings, then select the Add Account button.
  2. Enter your Name, E-mail Address, and NetID Password, then click Next.
  3. If a window pops up asking you to allow this website to configure server settings, click Allow.
  4. In a small popup window you may be prompted to enter your credentials. If you cannot edit the username field, then select Other Account. Enter the following:
    1. Username: YourNetID@ads.northwestern.edu (ex. abc1234@ads.northwestern.edu)
    2. Password: NetID password
    3. Check Remember these credentials if you don't want to enter your password every time Outlook starts up.
    4. Click OK.
  5. Verify that you see three green check marks under the "Configuring" heading once completed, then click Finish.
  6. When the Restart Outlook dialog appears, click OK, then close and reopen Outlook.
    1. If you didn't select Remember these credentials earlier or if the configuration completed without prompting for login credentials, you may need to re-authenticate to the server with your NetID and password. Enter NetID@ads.northwestern.edu (ex. abc1234@ads.northwestern.edu) for the username and your NetID password for the password.
  7. Click OK and Outlook will begin to download your mail and other data from the server. This happens only the first time you launch Outlook after setup and may take some time.

 

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