UVA Alumni Google (Gmail) Accounts
On July 1, 2026, the University of Virginia will retire Google accounts for alumni and former students. That means that account owners must download or transfer all emails and files from UVA Google accounts (including Gmail and Drive) that they wish to retain.
If your email address ends in @alumni.virginia.edu, you are in the right place. If your Google account is associated with an email address that ends in @virginia.edu, please visit UVA Information Technology Services for more information.
Steps to complete by June 10, 2026:
- Log in to your UVA Alumni email.
Trouble logging in? Please submit a support request to our team by emailing alumniemail@engagementuva.zendesk.com. Please allow 3 business days for a response to your support ticket.
- Opt-in for email forwarding
If you wish to keep your @alumni.virginia.edu address active as a forwarding address, complete the opt-in form to verify your alumni identity and provide the personal email address where you would like your mail forwarded. THIS FORM MUST BE COMPLETED BY WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10.
Steps to complete by June 30, 2026:
- Complete the download or transfer of your email and files.
A how-to guide for downloading and transferring your email and files is below. Due to the time it can take to transfer your account, we recommend not waiting until the last minute.
- Review your files.
After downloading or transferring your content, carefully review your files to ensure they were downloaded or transferred successfully.
Email Forwarding
The new email forwarding service allows you to maintain your alumni.virginia.edu email address after our current platform is sunset this summer. This service works by automatically redirecting any message sent to your @alumni.virginia.edu address to a personal inbox of your choice, such as Gmail, Outlook, or iCloud. The primary benefit is the ability to keep your established email identity. It ensures a seamless transition for your contacts.
Self-Service Management Once enrolled, you will have access to a secure, self-service portal that puts you in control of your forwarding preferences. Through this portal, you can easily manage your account on your own, including the ability to:
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Update or change your destination personal email address at any time.
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Temporarily pause your email forwarding.
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Restart your routing service whenever you choose.
Enrollment & Timeline
Enrollment in email forwarding is NOT automatic. Please opt-in to email forwarding by June 10, 2026.
Email forwarding will go live as part of the final step to the email transition process. You will receive a welcome email with all details and instructions to access the portal and manage your email forwarding prior to July 1.
There are several services that will help you download or transfer your email and files.
Free Services:
This transfer tool that allows you to perform a direct transfer from UVA Google to a personally owned Google account for specific services like Gmail and Drive. This tool transfers data from one Google account to another, allowing for a smoother transition.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Sign In: Log into the UVA Google account that holds the data you want to move.
- Go to Transfer Page: Open your browser and go to takeout.google.com/transfer.
- Enter Destination: Type the email address of the personal Google Account where you want the data to go.
- Send Code: Click Send code, then check the inbox of your destination account for a confirmation email from Google.
- Verify: Open the email and select Get confirmation code; a new tab with the code will appear.
- Enter Code: Go back to the Takeout Transfer page, enter the code, and click Verify.
- Select Content: Choose which products (Drive, Photos, Contacts, etc.) you want to copy. Note: You cannot select specific folders to transfer; the tool will transfer everything within that service. However, it will preserve your existing folder/label structure in your destination account.
- Start Transfer: Click Start transfer. The process begins and can take a few hours to a week, with a confirmation email sent when done.
This archiving tool allows you to download your data to your computer or hard drive in Zip files. This tool is not recommended because the exported files are zip files that may be difficult to unpack or organize.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Sign In: Go to takeout.google.com and sign in to your Google Account if prompted.
- Deselect All: Click "Deselect all" at the top to start fresh, then scroll down and select only the services you want to export (e.g., YouTube, Calendar, Photos).
- Customize Data (Optional): For some services, click "All data included" to deselect specific labels or data types (like certain YouTube watch history).
- Next Step: Scroll to the bottom and click "Next step".
- Choose Delivery:
- Method: Select "Send download link via email," "Add to Drive," or other cloud services (Dropbox, OneDrive).
- Frequency: Choose "Export once" or schedule recurring exports.
- File Type & Size: Select .zip or .tgz and choose a file size (e.g., 2GB, 4GB) for large archives.
- Create Export: Click "Create export" to start building your archive.
- Download: Wait for Google to email you a download link (check spam!), then click the link in the email to download your file(s).
Paid Services:
VaultMe migrates emails with folders, attachments, dates, and labelling structure intact. Drive files retain folder structure.
Preparing for Transfer
When you initiate a transfer, Google takes a snapshot of your inbox at that exact moment. Because the process can take several days to complete, any new emails that arrive while the transfer is running in the background are not included in the migration. At the time you initiate the transfer, we recommend setting up an auto-forward in your alumni account so new messages make it to your personal destination email.
We do not recommend doing a second transfer as that will copy your entire account again and result in many duplicate messages and files.
Collaboration
Google Takeout does not preserve file sharing or collaboration settings. After copying your files to your destination Google account, you will need to reshare any files or folders with collaborators.
Transferring Ownership
Due to Google Workspace limitations, file ownership cannot be transferred directly to another account. However, Google Takeout Transfer allows you to copy your files to a different Google account.
Common Error Messages
If you attempt to directly transfer ownership, the error will read:
"Sorry, cannot transfer ownership to <personal@gmail.com>. Ownership can only be transferred to another user in the same organization as the current owner."
If you are signed into multiple Google Accounts, you may see:
“Transfer Your Content is only available to authorized G Suite for Education accounts. Please contact your administrator, or sign in with another Google Account.”
Solution: Log out of all Google accounts, then sign back in using only your UVA Google account before attempting the transfer again.
Email Forwarding
The new email forwarding service allows you to maintain your alumni.virginia.edu email address after our current platform is sunset this summer. This service works by automatically redirecting any message sent to your @alumni.virginia.edu address to a personal inbox of your choice, such as Gmail, Outlook, or iCloud. The primary benefit is the ability to keep your established email identity. It ensures a seamless transition for your contacts.
Enrollment in email forwarding is NOT automatic. Please opt-in to email forwarding by June 10, 2026.
Email forwarding will go live as part of the final step to the email transition process this summer.
Frequently Asked Questions
This decision was not made lightly. When UVA first began offering Google accounts in 2007, cyberattacks were far less prevalent and Google services were free for higher education institutions. Today, the landscape has shifted:
- Cybersecurity threats have grown in both frequency and sophistication, with alumni Google accounts increasingly targeted.
- Technology vendors, including Google, have shifted from free offerings to increasingly expensive cost-based models.
Yes. All @alumni.virginia.edu email addresses and associated Google accounts will cease to function as of July 1, 2026.
If you also have an @virginia.edu email address, there are several considerations that will determine the path forward for your account. Please visit the ITS Information Technology Services project page to learn more.
Limiting access to University-related email and storage accounts to the duration of active affiliation is now the standard in higher education, this change brings UVA into similar practices with peer institutions such as:
- Virginia Tech – Currently undergoing this change.
- Vanderbilt
- Duke University
- Penn State
- University of South Florida
- University of Minnesota
- Princeton University
- … and many, many more.
Practices at other institutions are widely published and available via an internet search.
For help logging in to your @alumni.virginia.edu account, please submit a support request to our team by emailing alumniemail@engagementuva.zendesk.com. Please allow 3 business days for a response to your support ticket.
For help logging into your @virginia.edu, please visit UVA ITS Password Help & ID Lookup.
Support and Feedback
Feedback about this change can be shared via this survey form. Please note that we appreciate your feedback but will be unable to respond to each submission.
For questions about migrating your email content or accessing your account, please review the Download and Transition Guide above. If you need additional support, contact our External Relations Help Desk by emailing alumniemail@engagementuva.zendesk.com. Please allow 3 business days for a response to your support ticket.