Due to the recent update to Stanford’s security email routing system, University IT (UIT) will begin phasing out some flexibility in accepting alternate forms of email aliases this fall. The retirement of this feature on Oct. 31, 2024, will impact a small number of users who were contacted directly. While most of us won’t notice a change, this upgrade will make the system more secure and easier to manage overall.
SUNet aliases
Currently, any Stanford community member with a SUNet ID can receive emails to their alias account using different address formats.
For example, Jane’s SUNet ID is “jstan,” so her SUNet email address is jstan@stanford.edu. Her alias “jane.stanford” gives her an additional email address: jane.stanford@stanford.edu.
By default, Jane can also receive emails with the following variations of her alias account:
janestanford@stanford.edu
jane_stanford@stanford.edu
jane-stanford@stanford.edu
This level of flexibility for alias emails poses issues with system performance and upgrades; therefore, UIT will remove this customization.
With the new update, Jane can still receive emails at janestanford@stanford.edu, a flexible version of her alias. However, addresses with punctuation variations like jane_stanford@stanford.edu or jane-stanford@stanford.edu will no longer work unless configured in her account settings. Only a small subset of accounts utilize alternate aliases, and UIT will notify these users directly about the change in the coming weeks.
You can read more about the upgrade on the Email Routing page, which includes more details about this change and a new feature that could supplement the retired flexibility of aliases.
Starting Oct. 31, emails will only be delivered to addresses configured in your accounts.stanford.edu settings. Follow the steps on the Email Routing page to add an email alias with punctuation in Stanford Accounts.
Tagged messages
Unsure if you are an email flex user? Starting this month, if you receive an email sent to an unofficial or flexible email address (one that isn’t listed as your official email on accounts.stanford.edu), the subject line will include **Sent to Invalid Address**.
If you see this in your emails, consider whether you still want to receive messages from that sender ––many marketing companies use these flexible addresses to send spam.
No action is required if you don’t want these emails anymore—after Oct. 31, the sender won’t be able to contact you through that flexible email address. If you still want to receive messages from the sender or wish to keep using the flexible alias in the future, you can either add the flexible address as an alias on accounts.stanford.edu or update the sender with one of your official email addresses.
More resources
- Questions? Submit a Help request.
- Explore the Email Routing page.
- Visit this guide for more information about plus addressing.
