Access and manage your HMS email account
HMS provides email accounts to its faculty, staff, students, and certain guests to support the School's mission. These accounts provide features like email, calendaring, contacts, and mailing lists.
Eligibility for faculty, students, and staff
Access an HMS email account based on your affiliation with the schoolEligibility for an email account at Harvard Medical School (HMS) extends to staff members, faculty, and students. HMS proactively creates email accounts for its staff, faculty, and students. However, changes in one's eligibility status, including retirement or separation from HMS, may impact the status of their email account.
Eligibility for guests
Some guests may be eligibleIndividuals who are not automatically assigned an HMS email account may still be eligible if they hold an academic appointment, have a legitimate business need, or meet other qualifying criteria.
To receive an HMS email account, a guest must be sponsored through the Harvard Sponsored Role (HSR) process. Sponsors must select a role type that accurately reflects the nature of the individual’s relationship with the University. These role types are designed to group individuals based on their affiliation and determine eligibility for services such as email.
If the selected role type is eligible for email, the sponsor must also request email access during the HSR submission. Once the role is approved and the start date is reached, the guest will automatically receive an HMS account, including email access, within 24 hours.
Please note: A role type must not be chosen solely to obtain email access. It must be assigned based on the individual's actual relationship with the University.
Departmental shared mailboxes
Enhance team communicationMicrosoft 365 shared mailboxes enhance team communication with features like 2FA, customized permissions, and streamlined message management. To request a shared mailbox, submit the departmental email request form.
Security
Secure your email with two-factor verification (2FA)Your email and calendar tools require two-factor verification to access, enhancing security. Note that the University email system isn't HIPAA-compliant, so rely on the secure file transfer service for sensitive data.
Set up your email account
Follow these instructions to set up your email in OutlookAfter activating your HMS account, you can use your email in a web browser or in the Outlook app, depending on your eligibility.
Use email in your web browser
Go to Outlook on the web (outlook.office365.com/mail) and sign in with your HMS email address. You don't need to install anything.
Use the Outlook app
All Harvard-managed devices should already have the Outlook app installed. To add your HMS account to Outlook, follow Microsoft's instructions for your device:
Important: When Outlook asks for your email address, always use your HMS email address.
Don't have the Outlook app?
- Harvard-managed Mac: Open the HMS Self Service for Macintosh app and install Office 2024, which comes with Outlook.
- Any other computer: Download Outlook from Microsoft.