FAQ: Troubleshooting Google mail issues
- Some of my mail seems to be missing
- Why does some old email appear at the top of my mailbox, as if it is new?
- I have an @stanfordalumni.org email address. Why does the email address in the right corner of my mail screen say username@alumni.stanford.edu?
- I have an @stanfordalumni.org email address. When do I need to use username@alumni.stanford.edu?
- Why isn't the forwarding to my personal Gmail account working?
- Why is there is no new email in my inbox?
- I can't find my forward setting(s).
- Why are some messages assigned with multiple labels (folders)?
- Some of my labels (folders) seem to be missing.
- Why are messages that I deleted reappearing in my mailbox?
- Why am I missing some filters?
- Why am I missing some of my signatures?
- Why does my signature have strange characters?
- I can't find my Contact Groups.
- Where are my email reminders?
- Where is my vacation reply?
- Why aren't my messages flagged anymore?
- Why can't I use my @stanfordalumni.org email address to log in to other Google products?
- What if I've read the FAQ and still have questions about the migration of my mailbox?
FAQ Categories
Some of my mail seems to be missing
There are several ways to check for "missing" mail:
- Turn off conversation view. Gmail organizes email into conversations, meaning that emails with the same subject line will be stacked under the most recent message. This can lead you to think you are missing mail. If you are looking for mail, we recommend turning conversation view off; it's easy to turn back on again. To turn off conversation view, click on the "gear" in the upper right hand corner of your Alumni Email, select Email Settings and select the "General" tab. Select the radio button next to 'Conversation view off'. Learn more
- Check your "Sent label" (formerly known as your "Sent folder"). There are some instances where the migration tool didn't know what to do with a piece of mail. In these cases, the migration tool assigned it as "Sent" mail. It might also have changed the "from" of the email to your @stanfordalumni.org address.
- Messages larger than 25MB or with .exe or zip attachments weren't migrated. If any of your messages had these issues, they will not be in your Google mailbox.
BACK TO TOP
Why does some old email appear at the top of my mailbox, as if it is new?
If email had missing date information (undetectable to the untrained eye), the migration tool assigned it the date of the actual migration. Any of your email with this issue will appear at the top of your mail (even if you received it months or years ago). If you receive monthly company newsletters or eTrade confirmations, you might experience this problem.
BACK TO TOP
I have an @stanfordalumni.org email address. Why does the email address in the right corner of my mail screen say username@alumni.stanford.edu?
The short answer: don't worry about it. Your Alumni Email is set up for whichever address you use; the address in the right corner isn't important (but it is confusing!).
The longer answer: @alumni.stanford.edu is the Stanford Alumni Association's primary domain and was used to set up Google. Because it is the primary domain, it automatically displays (despite our efforts to change it!).
BACK TO TOP
I have an @stanfordalumni.org email address. When do I need to use username@alumni.stanford.edu?
Even if you continue to use @stanfordalumni.org as your email address, you must use username@alumni.stanford.edu when:
- You are asked for your POP/IMAP username. Note that mail sent to @alumni.stanfordgsb.org will deliver.
- You log in directly via a Gmail or Google account page. You will be redirected to the Stanford login page.
- Additionally, you will always see username@alumni.stanford.edu in the top right corner of your Google Mail
BACK TO TOP
Why isn't the forwarding to my personal Gmail account working?
Alums who forward their alumni email to a personal Gmail account often try to test that the forwarding is working by sending a message from their personal Gmail account to their alumni account, which should then forward it back to their personal Gmail account.
But the Google mail servers actually detect and stop email loops before even trying to forward them. Result: the test message is received in the alumni account, but not forwarded back to the personal account, and no error is generated, so it appears that forwarding is not working.
If you set up forwarding to a personal Gmail account, please test the forwarding by sending from a different personal account, or by having a friend send a test message.
BACK TO TOP
Why is there is no new email in my inbox?
There are a couple of reasons that you may not be receiving mail to your inbox:
- If you have forwarding enabled, but did not keep a copy, mail will appear in your "Trash" label. To change this Forward setting, select the "gear" in the upper right-hand corner of your mail screen. Select "Mail Settings" from the drop-down. Select the "Forwarding and POP/IMAP" tab. Your Forward setting will be the first item in the list of options. Change the drop-down which says "Delete Gmail's copy" to "keep Gmail's copy in the Inbox".
- If you had a filter set on USA.net to "skip inbox", mail will appear in your "All Mail" label
BACK TO TOP
I can't find my forward setting(s).
All Forward Settings should be forwarding just as they did in your old mail tool. If they are not, contact Online Customer Support.
If you had a Forward setting, it might not appear in your "Forward Settings" even though it is working as expected. This is a known issue that Google is working to resolve. Please contact Online Customer Support so that they can manually fix the problem.
To find "Forward Settings", select the "gear" in the upper right-hand corner of your mail screen. Select "Mail Settings" from the drop-down. Select the "Forwarding and POP/IMAP" tab. Your Forward setting will be the first item in the list of options.
BACK TO TOP
Why are some messages assigned with multiple labels (folders)?
Messages will have multiple labels (Google's equivalent of a folder) if you moved from one folder to another any time after August 21, when we began migrating mail. You will need to decide which label(s) you want the message assigned to and if appropriate, delete the others. Note that a single message can have multiple labels if that is a better way to categorize it. Learn more about labels
BACK TO TOP
Some of my labels (folders) seem to be missing.
Labels will appear in the left column of your Google mail screen. If you can't find labels that you created, check "More" located at the bottom of the list. "Trash" and "All Mail" are also located in "More". Click the down arrow and any additional labels will be displayed. You can drag labels out of "More" so that they always display. Learn more about labels
BACK TO TOP
Why are messages that I deleted reappearing in my mailbox?
If you deleted any messages after August 21, they likely reappeared in your Google mailbox with whatever label (folder) they were in. To remove these messages from your new mailbox, you will need to delete them again.
BACK TO TOP
Why am I missing some filters?
Most filters were migrated with your mail. However, Google does not allow filtering for the following conditions: priority, time received, message size or filters with more than one rule (e.g. filter based on email address AND subject line). We were not able to migrate any filters set up for these conditions. Learn more about filters
BACK TO TOP
Why am I missing some of my signatures?
There are two possible reasons that your signatures did not migrate:
- Google only allows one signature. If you had multiple signatures in the previous system, we migrated the one marked "Default." If no default signatures were marked, we did not migrate any signatures (the migration tool wasn't able to decide which was the 'right' one to migrate).
- Signatures with more than 1000 characters could not be migrated.
BACK TO TOP
Why does my signature have strange characters?
Google was not able to accept certain characters during the migration. You will have to recreate them in Google mail.
BACK TO TOP
I can't find my Contact Groups.
Although we were able to migrate all of your Contacts, we were not able to migrate any Groups that you set up using your Contacts. You can create Contact Groups in Google. Learn more about contact groups
BACK TO TOP
Where are my email reminders?
We were not able to migrate email reminders. You can create them in Google (called notifications) when you create an event in your Google calendar. Learn more about adding reminders in the Add Events section of the Getting Started Guide.
BACK TO TOP
Where is my vacation reply?
We were not able to migrate vacation replies. You can create them in Google. Learn more
BACK TO TOP
Why aren't my messages flagged anymore?
In your previous mailbox, you might have had two types of message flags. The first was a flag that you put on the message (a little red flag next to the message). The second was a flag that came with a message, such as marking the message important. Google does not have "flags," so we were not able to migrate either of these types of flags into Google mail. However, Google has a system of "stars," which you can use to mark a message. Learn more about stars
BACK TO TOP
Why can't I use my @stanfordalumni.org email address to log in to other Google products?
Stanford is using Google's "Apps for Edu" product. Google does not allow users to log in to a consumer Google product with the email address used in Apps for Edu. As a result, if you have used your @stanfordalumni.org account to log in to your Google accounts in the past, it will no longer work. When you try to log in, you will get a message telling you that you need to associate your account with a different email address. You will be given three options: (1) create a new Gmail address, (2) associate a different email address with this account (ie., username@yahoo.com), (3) continue to log in with a temporary password assigned by Google. Learn more
BACK TO TOP
What if I've read the FAQ and still have questions about the migration of my mailbox?
We're sorry to hear that you are experiencing issues. Contact Online Customer Support for additional help.
BACK TO TOP
@alumni.stanford.edu
Have a current .org email? Your address won't change—unless you choose to switch to alumni.stanford.edu.