When You Leave Hamilton: Email & Network Account Options

Frequently Asked Questions

Please read to familiarize yourself with all your options before taking action.

When will my email account be deleted?

Prior to deletion, the account enters a deactivated state. When your account is deactivated, it is as if it has been deleted: you can no longer access email, no new email is received, no email is forwarded, and no auto-reply message is delivered.  30 days later,  your account will be deleted and all data associated with it will be unrecoverable.

• Employee accounts will be deactivated at the end of the day (4:30 p.m.) on the last day of employment.  
• Student and faculty accounts will be deactivated approximately three (3) months after you graduate or leave the College.  
• Retirees, please visit the following link: LITS Resources For Retirees

What happens when my account is deleted?

• You will lose access to Google services tied to your Hamilton email account, including:
  • Calendar
  • Contacts
  • Drive
  • Gmail
  • Hangouts
  • Keep
  • Maps
  • YouTube
• If you used your Hamilton email account to install Office 365 on a personally-owned computer,  you will lose access to Office 365 and to files stored in OneDrive.
• Once your account is physically deleted, you will lose all documents and data from services tied to your Google Account.  Everyone with whom you may have shared Google files will also lose access to them unless you make them the owner of the file prior to deactivation.
• If you used your Hamilton email address to create accounts on websites like Dropbox, Spotify, or Facebook, you must change your contact email address to a different address prior to deactivation or risk those accounts becoming inaccessible.

What happens if I miss the deadline to transfer my mail to another account?

Although your account is deactivated on the deadline date,  your data is not removed from Google's server for another 30 days.  LITS may be able to grant a brief extension under extenuating circumstances. Once the 30-day grace period has passed, your data will be unrecoverable.

How do I request an extension?

If you have extenuating circumstances that require longer access to your account, a brief extension can be granted.  Please address your request to the helpdesk (helpdesk@hamilton.edu) and include your reason for requesting the extension and the length of time desired.

How do I export or transfer my account's contents?

Option 1 - download all data via Google Takeout

You can download all the data tied to your Hamilton Google Account using Google Takeout. Google will create an archive of your data and email you when it is ready to download. From there, you can upload the content to another account if you choose. In addition to the instructions found on the Google Takeout link above, you might also find this YouTube video helpful. 

Option 2 - transfer of Email and Drive files from one Gmail account to another

If you have a second Gmail account, you can transfer email and Google Drive files directly to it.  Transfer can often take days or weeks to complete, depending on how much email and Google Drive content are involved. 

Google Transfer allows you to transfer only your email and Google Drive files.  Any other data, such as your calendar and contacts, must be exported manually or archived separately via Google Takeout. You can also check on the status of your transfer.  

Option 3 - Transfer email only using Thunderbird email client

If you wish to only transfer your email to a non-Gmail account, you can do so using Thunderbird, which is a free email program that you install on your computer.  Instructions are available.  

Thunderbird allows  you to configure both email accounts in the same program, so that you can manually drag-and-drop mail from your Hamilton account folders into the other account's folder. You can copy messages in bulk with this method.  Once finished copying, you can remove Thunderbird from your computer.  

How do I forward my Hamilton email to another account?

Once you have transferred your mail to your non-Hamilton account, it is wise to start forwarding incoming Hamilton mail to your other account.

If you are a student who has graduated, you can include an alumni.hamilton.edu address in the text of your auto-reply for the address correspondents to use once your hamilton.edu account is gone.  This is not a real email account but will forward mail to another email account you specify.

To do this:

1. Log in to My Hamilton (my.hamilton.edu).
2. Click on the Connect tab.  
3. Click on Resources in the top menu.
4. Click on For Alumni.
5. Click on Email Forwarding.
6. Add the email address you want mail forwarded to when someone sends messages to yourid@alumni.hamilton.edu. 
7. Save your changes.

How do I set up an auto-reply that will send correspondents my new address?

To create an auto-reply message that will send correspondents your new email address, please refer to Google's help page.

Your auto-reply will end when your email account is deactivated.  

What happens to the files I stored on the  Hamilton Server (ESS/SSS)?

If you have files stored on either the Employee server (ESS) or the Student Server (SSS), they will remain available to you via the Files tab in My Hamilton until your account is deactivated (faculty and staff) or until late August (graduates).   

File backups are only retained for a few months.

Questions?

If you have questions regarding your Hamilton email account or your network files, to contact the LITS Help Desk at helpdesk@hamilton.edu or call 315-859-4181.