Student Accounts Activation

Please be aware that as of April 13th, 2026 your existing student email account has been transitioned to a new CUNY-wide Microsoft 365 system. This new account will serve as your official email for all York College and CUNY communications. Your new account format is the same as your CUNY Login cunyloginusername@login.cuny.edu. This account will be the one you use to login and authenticate. The account will drive two additional identities, A York-specific address (example: firstname.lastname@stu-mail.york.cuny.edu) and the other A universal CUNY address (cunyloginusername@cuny.edu). Email from your existing firstname.lastname@yorkmail.cuny.edu will remain available for a limited time during the transition. You will need to create or activate a new MFA for the new account. By going to Office.com and using your CUNY ID, you will be prompted to setup MFA.

All new students have received an email to your alternate email account informing you regarding the status of your newly provisioned Microsoft 365 York Outlook email account.  Registering for classes triggers this notice.

Email Address: firstname.lastname@stu-mail.york.cuny.edu (Please be aware that the last 2 or 3 digits from your CUNY Login ID is added to after the last name, if you received an email informing you of the provisioned account it will reflect the correct ID)

Temporary Password: Your DOB (Yc + MMYYYY + LAST 4 of SSN )

Use the above credentials at the following link: http://outlook.office.com/mail

Academic Communications at York College: Activation of your newly provisioned Microsoft 365 York Outlook email account is critical to your communication with all academic and campus businesses at York College as this will be the only email York College communicates to while you are a registered student with our institution. The following is information essential to the use of this account.

Your York College “Network” account is a critical access ID for campus resources. The account is generally provisioned during the registration process but is not fully active until a few days before the start of classes.  This account uses the same password convention as your York College student email account: "Temporary Password: (Uppercase (Y) + Lowercase (c) + MMYYYY + LAST 4 of SSN -  (eg. Yc1219985400)". 

To activate the account you must know your account name. The convention for the name is the first initial followed by your last name. However, there may be a number immediately following your last name.

To know for sure the exact account name use MYID. This link will provide the correct account information once you provide your CUNYfirst EmpID and the last 5 digits of your social security number.

Once you know your account name you can activate the account using the link provided in the MYID link which will take you to a page that will allow you to enter the temporary password using the same syntax as your email temporary password.

If you do not change the temporary password during the activation stage or choose to wait until you get on campus,  the first time you log in to a York College student computer on campus using the temporary password, you will be asked to make a new password.

Once the new password is setup you can use the York College Student Network Account to access the following resources:

• York College Cardinal App (download from Google Play or App Store, look up York College)
• Student VPN
• YCWIFI (campus-wide wireless network services)
• Parking Permit online system (for parking permit purchases)
• York College Library printing, scanning, and copying services
• York College Library computer reservation system
• York College Library computers remotely
• York College student computers outside the Library at other labs and locations

What to expect when you activate your Network Account:

1. Expect to use the network ID you searched using MYID
2. Expect to enter this network ID and your temporary password
3. Expect to be prompted to answer security challenge questions as you will be required to create a profile that will give you the ability to reset your password anytime you need to or forget it for the York Network account
4. Expect at least two security questions in creating your profile and one custom question you created. Be sure to choose questions in which the answers are meaningful, easy to remember and concise.
5. Expect your responses are not case sensitive
6. Expect to enter a new password and to confirm your new password

When you " Submit" expect a " Change Successful" message to appear stating " Your Password has been changed".

Once you have updated your default password and tested it by logging back into your newly activated account apply the following security practices in order to protect your account against any cyber security threats:

Do not use any existing passwords you already use for other accounts including CUNYfirst. While this makes remembering passwords a breeze, it compromises the integrity of all your security because once one account is figured out, all accounts are at risk. Please create a unique password and follow the following rules:

• Password must be between 8 characters and 13 characters
• Password must not be one of 4 previous passwords.
• Password must contain at least 1 uppercase letter.
• Password must contain at least 1 numeric character.
• Password must contain at least 1 special character.

Once you have reset your default password to a unique password your new email account or network account is considered activated. All York College official business and information pertaining to your academic journey here at York will go to the yorkmail account and this account alone. If at any time you believe the account has been compromised or hacked, immediately change your password and report any incidents to the York College Information Technology department.

If you need help, contact IT Services by visiting the Welcome Center located in the main entrance of the Academic Core

For additional information on cyber security please visit CUNY's Security Awareness website at CUNY Security.

Resource on MFA

Below you will find additional information on what Multi-Factor Authentication is all about. However, if you do not have a cell phone to receive the multi-factor code at this time Multi-Factor Authentication will not work properly for you. If this is the case contact our Service Desk by filling out the following form and cut and paste the following message in the comments:

" I do not have a cell phone and therefore cannot participate in the MFA additional security at this time, please reset my account"

Remove MFA IT department will validate your request. If the statement above is not in the comments section of the form we will not be able to remove MFA.

As part of ongoing efforts to protect digital identities and related York College information, Information Technology is following guidance and security protocols from our Central Office and other campuses have enabled multi-factor authentication (MFA) for student Office 365 email services.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) for Office365 email login has become mandatory for students starting in March 2021.  Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a security enhancement that requires two forms of verification when using your Office365 Login and adds critical protection for your sign-on credentials.

We are deploying MFA for CUNY Office 365 Logon in response to a dramatic rise in the scope and sophistication of phishing, spear phishing, and malware attacks that are targeting our students, faculty, and staff. The high rate of successfully compromised passwords is a severe and pervasive threat to information security at York College.

Once MFA is activated you will start to receive alerts when you go to log in to Office365 asking you to set up your MFA credentials.  

Information on how to enroll in MFA

How do I Enroll in MFA?

Additional information on security awareness and cybersecurity:

CyberSecurity Awareness

Visit the CUNYfirst homepage.

• In the gray Sign-In box, click the " New User" link.
• On the Account Activation screen, enter your name, date of birth, last four digits of your Social Security number, and security phrase, then click "OK."
• On the following screen, select five security questions and provide answers for each of them. Answers are case-sensitive.
• On the last screen, enter a password. It must be between eight and 13 characters and must contain at least one number and one capital letter.
• After choosing a password, a confirmation page will appear, displaying your username and Employee ID. Print this screen for your records.

Usernames are required to log in to CUNYfirst, the Employee ID is used to verify your identity at student offices and Information technology.

Every 180 days you will receive messages to change your password. If you fail to do so you will be locked out and have to reset your password.

You can update your password by going to the CUNYfirst homepage and use the option for "Forgot Password".

Knowing your Employee ID and answers to your security questions will help you to reset your password.

Follow the instructions in this video to setup MFA to your new Email Acount.

Activate Your New Student Email NOW - Walk through Instructions

As you are well aware of by now, there is a new email account associated and activated by you using your CUNY ID which has been established in order to centralize all University emails to one Microsoft 365 tenant. 

In order for you not to have any disruption of any University communication or direct communication from your professors in classes you are currently taking please do the following immediately to activate your new account:

From any browser, preferably on a computer or laptop, go to outlook.com, you should be prompted to sign in, if you were already signed in, sign out. This will insure you can apply your new sign in credentials. You will used your CUNY ID to login, not your Yorkmail ID.

When you log in to Outlook.com using your CUNY Login (cunyloginusername##@login.cuny.edu) you will be prompted to create a new muliti-factor authentication (MFA). Follow the prompts to set this up. If you already have a device, like your cell phone with Microsoft Authenticator, you can use this to set up a new MFA.

What the following videos for information on the transition and ​MFA Transition and MFA Videos​ .

Additional instructions and updates will be available on the Student Email Transition webpage.

Dear York College Students,

As part of the transition to updated CUNY systems, all students are required to migrate their existing OneDrive files associated with their YorkMail account to the new OneDrive account associated with their CUNYfirst login credentials.

Please note that York College does NOT automatically migrate OneDrive files during email and account transitions. It is your responsibility to transfer any files you wish to keep.

Migration Deadline: October 1, 2026

Any files not migrated by this deadline may become inaccessible or permanently lost.

How to Manually Migrate Your Files

Please follow the steps below:

1. Log in to your old Microsoft 365 (YorkMail) account via the Microsoft 365 Login Portal
2. Go to OneDrive and select all files and folders you want to keep
3. Click Download to save them as a .zip file to your computer or flash drive
4. Log out of your old account
5. Log in using your new CUNYfirst credentials
6. Open your new OneDrive and upload the saved files

Important Reminders

• Start early to avoid last-minute issues
• Ensure all important academic, personal, and shared files are backed up
• Verify all files upload successfully to your new account

If you need assistance or encounter any issues during the migration process, please contact the York College IT Help Desk for support at helpdesk@york.cuny.edu or if onsite visit the Welcome Center and use the Qless kiosk to get on the virtual line for support from IT.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this important transition.

How to Add Your New Student Email Account to the Outlook App

These instructions are for students who already have the Outlook app on their phone and need to add their new student email account.

Step 1: Open Outlook Settings

1. Open the Outlook app on your phone.
2. Tap Inbox in the top-left corner of the screen.
3. A side panel will open.
4. At the bottom of that panel, tap the gear-shaped Settings icon.

Step 2: Go to Accounts

1. After tapping Settings, a new screen will open with several options.
2. Go to the General section.
3. Tap Accounts.
4. A new screen will open showing the email accounts currently added to Outlook.
5. You will most likely see your current @yorkmail account listed there.

Step 3: Add the New Account

1. Tap Add Account.
2. On the next screen, tap Email Account.
3. A new screen will open where you can enter your new email account information.

Step 4: Enter Your CUNY Login Credential

This is the part that can be confusing.

Even though your new student email address uses @stu-york.cuny.edu, you should sign in using your CUNY Login credential, which looks like this:

firstname.lastname##@login.cuny.edu

Do not enter the email as:

firstname.lastname##@stu-york.cuny.edu

Your new student email is connected to your CUNYfirst login. This means the same CUNY Login account is now used for email, CUNYfirst, and Brightspace.

Step 5: Switching Between Email Accounts

After the new account is added, you may see two email accounts in your Outlook app:

1. Your old @yorkmail account
2. Your new student email account

To switch between them:

1. Tap Inbox in the top-left corner of Outlook.
2. The side panel will open.
3. You should see two account icons.
4. Tap the account you want to view.

One account may appear as YC, and the other may appear differently depending on how the account is labeled. You should be able to tell which account you are selecting.

Step 6: Removing the Old Yorkmail Account

By June 12, you may remove the old @yorkmail account from the Outlook app.

Please be careful when removing an account so that you do not remove the wrong one. Make sure you are only removing the old @yorkmail account and not your new student email account.

Need Help?

We can help you with this process.

If you need assistance, please let us know and we can have someone walk you through the steps.

If you are on campus, go to the Welcome Center, sign in at the kiosk, and select IT. Someone from IT will come out to assist you. That is what we are here for.