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UVa Centralized Exchange Service

FAQs about UVa’s Centralized Email System

Frequently Asked Questions about the UVa Exchange Service & Outlook Email

Answers to FAQs about the UVa Exchange Service & Outlook Email

What email program should I use? How much will upgrading my software cost?

For optimal performance, maximum functionality, and greatest security, ITS recommends using the latest Microsoft software if possible. If you do not have Outlook already installed, you can upgrade for free or at very, very low cost because of UVa’s partnership with Microsoft. See the Microsoft Software Chooser Wizard to help you identify what software you are eligible for, at what cost.

For most users at UVa, if you are upgrading your Microsoft Office on a University computer for work related to your job, then the license for upgrading is totally free!

How do I configure Outlook for my UVa Exchange account?
See the Exchange email program configuration information for your operating system.
Can I use an email program other than Outlook for my UVa Exchange account?

You can, but it is not supported by ITS. If you are on the UVa Centralized Exchange Service, ITS recommends using Outlook for maximum functionality and performance.

I want to set a forward/remove the forward for my UVa Centralized Exchange account. How do I do this?

Please be aware that forwarding is not recommended, because forwarding your UVa Centralized Exchange account messages will break your calendaring. (See more best practices associated with Exchange calendaring.) The Exchange calendar and email are closely integrated, and email messages about calendaring must be received and processed on the centralized Exchange server to have the information automatically put onto a calendar. If the message is not processed in Outlook or Outlook Web App (OWA), then the information in the message is not available to the calendar, and is therefore never entered onto your calendar.

If you have a Health System Exchange account (i.e., if you have "HS" in your address), please note:

Effective September 12, 2012, your ability to utilize individual rules within Outlook to auto-forward email to external email accounts will be disabled. This will include any external email address such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, and the University eServices and Virginia.edu addresses. These steps are necessary to improve compliance with information security provisions in accordance with HIPAA and HITECH legislation. Your ability to send individual emails to external addresses will not be affected by this change, nor will your ability to auto-forward to email address within the Health System (those accounts with *HS by their name in the Global Address Listing).

To avoid potential communication disruptions, HSTS recommends that you immediately review and remove any rules that you have created in Outlook to forward email automatically to an external address. If you require assistance with addressing forwarding rules, please contact the HSTS Help Desk at 924-5334.

How do I set an Out-of-Office message?
You can set your Out-of-Office message from your Outlook email program, either Outlook 2010 for the PC or Outlook 2011 for the Mac:
  1. Open your Out-of-Office configuration screen:
    • In Outlook 2010:
      1. Click on the File menu tab in the upper lefthand corner.
      2. In the lefthand navigation choices, click Info, then the Automatic Replies button.
      3. A window pops open. Choose the radio button for “Send automatic replies.”
      4. Configure the times as desired. (You can set Out-of-Office to start and to quit sending Out-of-Office messages automatically at dates/times you specify.)
    • In Outlook 2011 for the Mac:
      1. Click on the Tools menu item at the top of your Outlook screen.
      2. Choose Out of Office.
      3. A window pops open. Choose the radio button for “Send Out of Office messages.”
      4. Configure the times as desired. (If More options is not selected already, click to display configurable dates and times. You can set Out-of-Office to start and to quit sending Out-of-Office messages automatically at dates/times you specify.)
  2. Customize your Out-of-Office message text, configuring your text for both internal and external recipients, if desired. Note that unless you specifically configure it, your Out-of-Office message text will only be sent to internal recipients.
    • Note: At UVa, internal recipients are inside your organization—that is, people on the UVa Centralized Exchange Service only. So some University entities, such as Darden, Commerce, HSCS/Health System, etc. which maintain their own, separate, non-Eservices implementations of Exchange are not included, and are considered by Exchange to be “external” recipients.
    • To have your Out-of-Office message sent to everyone, both internal and external recipients alike, click on the “Outside My Organization” tab (in Outlook 2010), or “Send replies outside my company to:” (in Outlook 2011 for the Mac) and customize your Out-of-Office message text for those as well. (You may want to just copy and paste the same text as you used for internal recipients.)
  3. Click OK.

Alternatively, you can set your Out-of-Office message by using the Outlook Web App (OWA), clicking on Options, then Send Automatic Replies and following basically the same procedure as described above for Outlook.

What is the Global Address List (GAL)?

The pre-populated Global Address List (GAL) contains all contacts at the University of Virginia: all UVa faculty, staff, shared resources (such as conference rooms), and distribution lists for MyGroups. (Note that even those at UVa who do not actually use the UVa Centralized Exchange Service still appear in the GAL.)

How do I download a copy of the Global Address List (GAL)?

From time to time, the Global Address List (GAL) may be updated to include new information about others at the University, so you may want to download a new copy of the GAL into your Outlook occasionally. (If, e.g., you receive an email “bounceback” message after sending someone an email who you are certain works at UVa, that suggests that your version of the GAL is outdated, and you need to get a more recent version of it in order to get their correct, updated email address.) To do so:

Outlook 2010

  1. Click on the File menu tab in the upper lefthand corner.
  2. In the lefthand navigation choices, click Info, then the Account Settings button.
  3. From the dropdown list, select Download Address Book.
  4. A dialog box appears.
    • Uncheck the box beside Download changes since last Send/Receive.
    • Be sure to select the Full Details option.
    • Click the OK button.
  5. Allow your new copy of the GAL to download (may take 5-10 minutes).

Outlook 2007

  1. Click Tools.
  2. Highlight Send/Receive, select Download Address Book from Menu.
  3. Uncheck the box beside Download changes since last Send/Receive, leaving Full Details.
  4. Click the OK button. Note: You will see the Send/Receive window popup while it is downloading the newer version.
Why are legitimate messages sometimes delivered to my “Junk E-Mail” folder? How do I manage my spam mail?

Outlook follows Microsoft-provided rules for processing spam but will, from time to time, mistake a legitimate message for spam and mistakenly send it to the Junk E-mail Folder, or will miss a junk message and allow it to go to your Inbox.

You can reduce the risk of messages being incorrectly sorted into the Junk E-mail folder by changing the level of spam protection Outlook provides you. For most users at UVa, you can safely disable the Junk Mail filter in Outlook if you find that you have too many “false positives” (real email messages being routed as spam to your Junk Mail folder).

Since the built-in spam detector in Microsoft is often overzealous and classifies real email as junk, and the University uses the IronPort® spam filter service for all incoming UVa email anyway, you can just rely on the UVa solution to provide you with some level of spam protection. See Microsoft’s article, “Change the level of protection in the Junk Email filter,” for Out look 2007 and Outlook 2010.

To change the email filtering level in Outlook 2011:

  1. Highlight your Inbox folder by clicking on it.
  2. Click on Tools from the menu at the top of your Outlook screen.
  3. Select Junk E-mail Protection.
  4. Click the None radio button and then click OK.

To change the email filtering level in Outlook Web App (OWA):

  1. Click the down arrow to the left of Options (in the top right of the window directly below your name) and select See All Options.
  2. Select Block or Allow from the menu on the left side of the screen,
  3. Select Don't move e-mail to my Junk E-Mail folder.
  4. Click Save in the lower right side of the screen to save your changes.

If you would like to set a rule that Outlook always (or never) place messages from a particular sender in your Junk E-mail folder, then also see Microsoft’s article, “Add names to the Junk E-mail Filter lists” (Outlook 2010 | Outlook 2007) where you can find out how to add a person to your “Safe Senders” list (so their mail is never marked as Junk), or “Blocked Senders” list (so their mail is always marked as Junk).

How do I create rules to filter my email messages?
The goal of organizing your Outlook is to reduce the amount of unnecessary "noise" in your Inbox and to make the most important items bubble to the top. Rules help this process by moving messages into folders based on criteria that you set. Rules filter the messages coming into your Inbox for must-read items only. Read about creating rules in Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010, and Outlook 2011 (Mac).

To create rules in Outlook Web App (OWA):

  1. Click Options at the top of the Outlook Web Apps page.
  2. From the Options menu at the top of the Navigation Pane, click Rules.
  3. The Rules pane displays a list of rules, with check boxes to show which are enabled and which are disabled.
  4. Clear the check boxes for all the rules you want to delete.
  5. Before you can create a rule in Outlook Web Access, you must delete any rules that you previously disabled while using Microsoft Office Outlook.
  6. Click New Rule, and then select an option.
  7. In the message that appears, click Delete Disabled Rules.
  8. In the New Rule dialog box, select the details of your new rule.
  9. Click Save.
Is there a limit on the size of an email message sent through Exchange?
Yes, the limit for either sending an email message or receiving one through Exchange is 25 MB.
What if I have to send or receive an email message that is bigger than 25 MB?
You have several options for delivering a message 25 MB or larger.
  • Zip the files to reduce their size. Note that if .zip files are not allowed by the email system to which you are sending, save the file removing the extension name. You will need to tell the recipient to add the .zip file exten sion back into the file name in order to open it.
  • If you are sending multiple attachments, don't try to send them in one email. Break them up and send them via multiple emails.
  • If you are sending a .pdf file, save the file with the option to reduce the file size.

You also have several options for putting the attachment on a website and giving access to others to deposit or retrieve the file from the site:

  • Microsoft SharePoint (Available only to UVa faculty, staff or student employee)
    • SharePoint is a web-based system that facilitates collaboration among individuals or groups by setting up websites to share information with others, manage documents, and share other related tasks.
    • SharePoint is available only to faculty, staff, or student employees who have a UVa Eservices account.
    • SharePoint is currently not supported by the UVa Help Desk.
    • More information about using SharePoint will help you decide if this is an appropriate solution for you.
  • UVaCollab (UVa faculty, staff, and students can set up a site and give access to non-UVa collaborators)
    • UVaCollab is the centrally-supported online collaboration and learning environment (CLE) at the University of Virginia.
    • Anyone at UVa may create and use collaboration sites and/or course sites with no roster to facilitate the work of project teams, research groups, committees, etc.
    • UVaCollab has instructions about how to set up a site and give access to others both internal to UVa and outside of the University.
  • Online Storage
    • Anyone can obtain a free personal storage website (e.g., box.net, Dropbox, Mozy, Carbonite, etc., just to name a few of the many choices) and share files stored there with others.
    • It is important to note that these sites are not owned or operated by ITS or UVa. These solutions should not be used for sensitive UVa information. If you have any questions about what constitutes sensitive data, please contact the Information Security, Policy, and Records Office. Be sure to read the requirements and understand the terms for these online companies before uploading any inform ation.
    • These sites are not supported by the UVa Help Desk.
How do I view the size of my folders within Outlook?

In Outlook 2007, see Microsoft's support article.
In Outlook 2010, see Microsoft's support article.
In Outlook 2011 (Mac):

  • Click on your Inbox folder to highlight it.
  • Next, click on File from the menu at the top of your Outlook screen.
  • Select Folder, and then choose Properties.
  • Click the Storage button at the top of the window that opens.
  • This will display your Inbox and subfolder storage sizes. This size is given in KB (kilobytes) versus MB (megabytes) or GB (gigabits). Here is a conversion table if you need it.
What is my quota and will I be notified if I'm getting close to it?
  • All users are given a mailbox quota of 4 GB.
  • An email warning message is sent when a user's mailbox size is at 3.945 GB
  • Users are prohibited from sending email when their mailbox size is at 4GB.
  • Users are prohibited from sending and receiving email when their mailbox size is at 5GB.

For more information about managing your email mailbox, please see Exchange Email Best Practices.

I need to request more space for my mailbox. How do I do that?
You may lease up to 2 additional GBs of space to accommodate your mailbox. Current disk space charges can be found on our data storage page under the section labeled “Enterprise-Grade Disk Storage with Backup”. To request additional space, send email to ITS Virtualization and Microsoft Services. You will need to include how much additional space you would like and your PTAO code in the email.

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  Page Updated: Friday 2012-08-10 11:21:32 EDT

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