Email Access for Windows Devices

Before beginning to set up your email for Windows operating system, you must decide which client you would like to use, if you would like to use one. A client can be used whether you are forwarding your email to Gmail or connecting directly to Vanderbilt’s Exchange server. We recommend the following:

Microsoft Outlook – Part of Microsoft Office Suite. This is Enterprise-grade software that is often used by corporations because of its compatibility with Exchange. Outlook is very powerful, and it can incorporate your calendar if you’d like. You must buy this software. Outlook also loads much slower than other clients (generally) due to its Exchange connection.

Mozilla Thunderbird – Thunderbird is a powerful product from Mozilla (the guys who make Firefox). It is generally much easier to use than Outlook, but has many similar features, including calendar add-ons and address book access. This option is free to download. It does not have full Exchange support, however, but you can connect to every service offered by Exchange (email, address book, etc) through other mechanisms.

You can use any other client, however, and can follow this guide generally.

Microsoft Outlook

  1. To connect directly to Exchange with Outlook, you actually don’t need to launch the program. You must first open the Windows Control Panel. To do this, click ‘Start’ (or the Windows gem in Windows Vista and 7), and then click ‘Control Panel’. In Windows 8, move your cursor to the bottom left corner of your screen, then click. Type ‘control panel’ – a list off applications should come up. Select ‘Control Panel’.
  2. Once in Control Panel, click ‘Mail’.
  3. Click ‘Email accounts…’
  4. Under the ‘Email’ tab, click ‘New’.
  5. Enter the following information:
    • Your Name: Whatever name you want to appear when people see your email in their inbox. We recommend First Last.
    • Email Address: [your.m.name]@vanderbilt.edu
    • Password: Your Vanderbilt email password
  6. Click ‘Next’. Outlook will search for the Vanderbilt server, and a Windows Security window will pop up. In this window, select ‘Use another account’.
  7. Enter the following information:
    • Username: vanderbilt/[your VUNet ID]
    • Password: Your Vanderbilt email password
  8. Click ‘Okay’. You’ll be redirected back to the ‘Add Account’ window. Just click ‘Finish’ and you’re done! Launch Outlook.

Mozilla Thunderbird

  1. Open Thunderbird. Go to ‘Tools > Account Settings’ in the top menu bar.
  2. At the bottom of the left column, click ‘Account Actions’, and select ‘Add mail account’.
  3. In the next window, fill in the information as follows:
    • Your name: Your name as you want it to appear to other people
    • Email address: Your Vanderbilt email address – [your.m.name]@vanderbilt.edu
    • Password: Your Vanderbilt email password
  4. Thunderbird will fail to add the account. This is normal. A few new options will show. Enter the following information:
    Server hostname Port SSL Authentication
    Incoming IMAP email.vanderbilt.edu 993 SSL/TLS Kerberos/ GSSAPI
    Outgoing SMTP smtpauth.vanderbilt.edu 587 STARTTLS Kerberos/ GSSAPI
    Username [Your VUNet ID]
  5. Click ‘Done’. The account should appear and you’re done!
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