View or change Email Alias

How to set or change your email alias (first.last):

Your email alias is your <first>.<last>@domain.edu public CSU email address, which is created when your CSU email account is set up.

Examples:

Your email alias can be updated to reflect any legal or preferred name changes. It does not automatically update on its own.

To view and change your email alias after your NetID is activated, follow the steps outlined below.
This article also covers how long changes take to propagate, what happens to your old alias, and where aliases appear in CSU systems.

Deliverable email address

You also have a deliverable email address. Your deliverable email address is your <NetID>@colostate.edu.

The deliverable address refers to the internal name for the location on a mail server where your emails are stored. It is the actual address to which emails sent to your email alias are delivered.
Your deliverable address is also used as your Microsoft 365 account login and User Principal Name (UPN) in Microsoft Windows Active Directory.

Others can send you emails at both your email alias and your deliverable email address.

Applicable to:

CSU System, Fort Collins, Pueblo, Spur
students, staff, faculty, associates, retirees, emeritus

Prerequisites

You must have an active NetID in order to make changes to your record
In some cases, you must have also entered a legal or preferred name change in your record before making any changes to your email alias
- See Set or change a preferred name to learn more

Email Alias

Username Disclaimer

Please note that some systems may use your email alias as a username. If you change your email alias and experience issues accessing any applications afterwards, please contact help@colostate.edu and include:

Your NetID
The URL of the website or application you are no longer able to log into
Confirmation of your old and new email alias

Viewing or changing your email alias

After logging in to the NetID website, select Select Menu > My Account > Email Alias.
If your current email address ends with @rams.colostate.edu, you will see this message:
- Warning: You currently have a Google @rams Email email account. Changing your email alias will permanently change your primary CSU email account to a Microsoft 365 Email (Outlook) address ending in @colostate.edu.
- Note that changing your primary email to a Microsoft 365 email does not remove your @rams account, but it is necessary if you need to add a Microsoft 365 account; simply continue completing the following steps.
Choose your CSU Email First Name from the menu.
1. You can select your legal name, preferred name, middle name, or initials.
2. If your preference isn't listed, select Other (please specify) and enter the name you prefer.
3. If you'd additionally like to change your preferred first name in the CSU System, see Set or change a preferred name
Choose your CSU Email Last Name from the menu.
- If you're a CSU employee and have a professional or preferred last name, you can select that. Otherwise, the menu will be disabled.
Select your CSU Email Domain if you're affiliated with more than one CSU campus, or if your campus isn't pre-selected (choose colostate.edu for Fort Collins or csupueblo.edu for Pueblo).
Verify that the New Email Address displays the email address you wish to use.
Click Save to apply your changes.

Time for changes to take effect

Changes to your email alias may take up to two hours to propagate across all systems including your email, other Microsoft applications, the Online Directory, and other CSU applications that use your email.

Handling messages sent to your old alias

Emails sent to your old email alias will continue being delivered to your inbox for six months. We recommend using that time to remind your contacts that your email alias has been updated.

After that, they will be returned as "undeliverable," unless the email alias is reassigned to someone else.

To avoid missing important emails, you can create a rule in Microsoft 365 to track messages sent to your old address.

Steps to create a rule

Log in to Microsoft 365.
Create a folder to store copies of messages.
Go to Settings > Mail > Rules, then select + Add new rule.
Add a condition: Message header includes and enter the old alias.
Add an action: Copy to and select the folder you created.
Click Save.
Test by sending a message to the old alias from a non-CSU email account.

Will the alias change affect how you log in to Microsoft and email?

No. Changing your email alias does not affect how you log in to your Microsoft 365 account. You'll continue to log in with your NetID@colostate.edu using your NetID password.

Where will your email alias appear?

Your email alias will be visible in systems like Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Teams), Gmail, the CSU Online Directory, Canvas, and other CSU systems.

Outcome

After following these steps, your email alias will be updated, and any messages sent to your old alias will continue being delivered until it expires (six months). Your login credentials for Microsoft 365 will remain unchanged.