Congratulations on your graduation! We've organized answers to common questions about accounts and access after graduation. There are a few key dates to remember as well as some tasks you will need to perform to retain access to some accounts. Please read through this page and if you have any questions or concerns, please reach visit http://helpdesk.law.yale.edu and submit a help request.
You may also view the IT at Yale information for graduating students.
When does my access to Yale email expire after graduation?
Your Yale email account will remain active until June of the year after graduation. For example, if you graduate in May 2025, your Yale email will remain active until at least June 1, 2026. The exact date is set a few months before closure, and you will receive a communication with the exact end date a few weeks before the account is closed.
If your affiliation changes, such as taking on a role as faculty or staff, or continue at the university as a student in another department, this will affect your account closure date. Your account will remain open while actively affiliated with Yale. However, after leaving the university, faculty retain their email accounts for 60 days and staff retain their email accounts for 21 days. You must contact the ITS Helpdesk prior to your departure from the university if you would like to retain your email account until June 1, 2026.
Students generally choose to add an autoreply message to their account so that individuals who email them are notified that they have graduated. This can be set up by visiting outlook.com/yale.edu. You can also set up an auto-forward so that all of your incoming messages are redirected to a different email account. Please note that autoreplies and auto-forwards are removed when the account is closed (on or around June 1, 2026).
Information about alumni (AYA) email accounts is below.
When does my NetID expire?
Your NetID does not expire, you will continue to be able to use the NetID to log in to a number of services after graduation. You will need to retain your Duo access to continue to log in with your NetID, so if you change devices please remember to activate your Duo on your new device. You will continue to be able to log on to those services indefinitely (e.g. Career Options Assistance Program (COAP), Student Information Systems (SIS)).
However, Yale VPN and Yale Box access will end on or around October 1 after graduation for May graduates, or April 1 for December graduates. Please see information below on converting your Yale Box account to a personal account prior to this date. In addition, access to Adobe Creative Cloud products will end around June 1, 2025. Please save any files in your Creative Cloud account prior to June 1.
How do I preserve my Yale email messages prior to account deletion?
Those who use program like Outlook or Apple Mail to access their Yale email via POP should find that all their messages have been stored on their personal computers.
If you instead use Thunderbird, Outlook or Apple Mail with an Exchange, IMAP or Exchange IMAP configuration, some of your email is likely stored on Yale's mail servers. All your data stored on Yale's email servers will be deleted when your account is closed. If you have email messages you would like to keep, you must transfer them to your own computer or to a different account.
Those who have always forwarded their Yale email to an outside service like Gmail or Yahoo, the emails already forwarded will remain in that account but the Yale Account will be deleted and forwarding will NOT continue after account deletion.
To transfer an individual email message to a different email account, use the "forward" function of your email program.
If you would like to archive your email, view the instructions to create an email archive.
How do I set up my Alumni (AYA) forwarding email?
As a service to Yale graduates, the Association of Yale Alumni runs a service called Yale Mail, a Yale-branded service for alumni on the Google Apps for Education platform. See the Yale Alumni Association web site for more information: http://www.aya.yale.edu/content/yalemail-faqs#q2. You can expect to receive information about the account in June or July 2024 from the AYA with information on how to create your AYA email account. You must wait to receive the information from AYA before you can create the account.
How can I convert my Yale Box account to a personal account?
If you plan to keep your Box.net account after graduation, Yale Box accounts must be converted to personal accounts before October 1. Instructions for converting your Yale Box account to a personal account can be found here.
I am graduating from YLS but continuing my affiliation with Yale in another degree/role? Will my account be deleted?
If you have an active affiliation with Yale after completing your YLS degree, your email account will not be deleted.