Mailboxes and Email Aliases

Overview

Because you are able to claim a TAMU Google account, and because an TAMU Exchange account is automatically created for you when you are hired, the number of possible ways to configure your email settings are (unfortunately) somewhat complex. 

Definitions:

The first thing to understand is the difference between a mailbox and an alias:

• A mailbox can receive and store messages.

• An alias can only forward messages on to another address.

Mailboxes

Both your TAMU Gmail account and your TAMU Exchange account are mailboxes: they can receive and store messages. Because of this, they each have their own unique address:

• TAMU Gmail account: <your-netid>@email.tamu.edu

• TAMU Exchange account: <your-netid>@exchange.tamu.edu

Aliases

All employees in the College of Architecture have two additional email aliases:

• TAMU alias: <your-netid>@tamu.edu

• ARCH alias: <your-username>@arch.tamu.edu

Configuration

You can configure to forward to either one of those mailboxes. Because of the number of moving parts in this picture, it is quite easy to inadvertently configure your email so that some messages are not delivered where you expect them to be, or even so that you don't see messages sent by some users at all.

Routing all Email to Exchange

For example, if you elect to use Exchange as your primary mailbox, but you have already claimed a TAMU Google account (perhaps to collaborate with students using other Google products), you need to take the following steps:

1. Ensure that your TAMU alias is delivering mail to your TAMU Exchange account. Login to gateway.tamu.edu and click on the "Email Settings" tab. In the section labeled "Forwarding Settings," you should select the option that says: Sent to and stored in my Texas A&M Exchange mailbox

2. Set a forward for any email delivered directly to the TAMU Gmail inbox:

   1. Login to your TAMU Gmail account at: mail.google.tamu.edu

   2. Click the gear icon in the upper right corner of the screen, and select "Settings"

   3. Select the "Forwarding and POP/IMAP" tab

   4. Click the button that says "Add a forwarding address" and type in <your-netid>@exchange.tamu.edu and click Next

   5. After you click Proceed and OK, Gmail will send a confirmation message to your Exchange account. You will need to go there and follow the instructions before you can finish the last step.

   6. Once you have confirmed the forwarding address is valid, you can select that address in the dropdown field after the label that says: Forward a copy of incoming mail to

   7. After you select your Exchange address from the dropdown, in the next dropdown field you should select delete Texas A&M University Mail's copy. This will delete the message from your Gmail account once it has forwarded it over to your Exchange account.

3. The alias for <your-username>@arch.tamu.edu is already set to forward mail to your Exchange account by default (unless you have requested a change in the past).

Routing all Email to TAMU Gmail

There is a similar process if you want to route all your email into the Gmail mailbox. In this case, you will need to ensure that email sent directly to your Exchange mailbox is properly forwarded to Gmail:

1. Ensure that your TAMU alias is delivering mail to your TAMU Gmail account. Go to gateway.tamu.edu and click on the "Email Settings" tab. In the section labeled "Forwarding Settings," you should select the option that says: Sent to and stored in my Texas A&M Gmail mailbox

2. Create an inbox rule to forward for any email delivered directly to your TAMU Exchange mailbox. 

3. The alias for <your-username>@arch.tamu.edu is already set to forward mail to your Exchange account by default, so the new inbox rule you created will also apply to your @arch.tamu.edu mail, as well.