Students GSB email FAQ

Email Support Policy

Business School E-mail Forwarding (@gsb.columbia.edu)

The Business School provides MBA students with lifetime email forwarding from the time you join the Business School's community. You will have this address for your entire life, and while you are here in the MBA program, this address will be used for all official school communication, and will be published in all School and University publications. It is critical that you read all email sent to this address.

Before prospectives go through the Incoming Student Computer Configuration and once students graduate, this address acts only as a forwarding address. This forwarding address is not a mailbox and will not store any mail. It is much like a forwarding card that you give to the Post Office when you move. You fill out that card to have all your mail forwarded to your new residence. Similarly, your @gsb.columbia.edu address forwards your mail to whatever you designate as your current email account. During these periods you can change the account to which your address forwards mail at any time, and to any account. This can be done through the committed students' website or the alumni services website, respectively.

Columbia University E-mail (@columbia.edu)

If you do not have an email account, or would prefer to use the Columbia University supplied one as you e-mail box, you can use the one automatically given to you by the University. If you choose to use this address, please make sure you update your Business Schools forwarding address to this address.

If you choose to use this Columbia account, you must activate it before being able to receive mail. CUIT creates these accounts and maintains the servers that provide this service. Any Columbia University e-mail issues are referred to the CUIT help desk for resolution. ITG will work with you to resolve these issues but if we are not able to resolve your problem internally, we will escalate the issue to CUIT. In most cases, you will not be required to visit CUIT after visiting ITG.

If you’re having problems logging into your GSB email…

Please make sure that your username is in the correct format for signing in to Microsoft services. It needs to be [email protected] with your Columbia password. For more information and frequently asked questions, continue reading below:


Why do I need to use [email protected]?

Microsoft requires a domain after your username for access to their services. Your username is your UNI so the full format is “[email protected]”. For example, MBA student John Doe with UNI jd1234 would enter [email protected] as his username with his Columbia password.

Is [email protected] an email address?

No, this is specifically the username format that needs to be used when signing into Microsoft services. Your GSB email format is [email protected] (XX = grad year). For example, John Doe’s GSB email would be [email protected] assuming that his expected graduation date is 2023. John would sign in using the username “[email protected]” and his Columbia password.

What’s the difference between my GSB email and LionMail?

You have two emails at Columbia. The first one is LionMail. This email is [email protected] This email is available to all Columbia affiliates and runs on the gmail platform. The second email is [email protected] (XX = grad year) and this is where all business school communications will be sent. GSB email runs on Outlook Exchange.

Prospective/Admitted Students

Closer to the start of your first semester, you will receive correspondence from ITG regarding tech setup and configuration. One of these steps will include configuring your GSB email account. Until then, all messages will be forwarded to your personal account. You can check the admitted students website  https://apply.gsb.columbia.edu/account/   as that is where new info will be posted.

I’m having trouble signing in

Please double check that your username is in the correct format ([email protected]). If you still cannot sign in, please go to  http://uni.columbia.edu/  and reset your password. This will change your password for all Columbia services and at the same time resync your accounts which can often fix login issues.

I’m an alumni and having trouble signing in

After you graduated from CBS, your GSB email changed into a forwarding address only. There is no inbox anymore to log into. All emails are forwarded to an email of your choosing. Please go to  https://www6.gsb.columbia.edu/community/network/edit/email-and-forwarding  to update your forwarding address. You can find more information and instructions here:   https://business.columbia.edu/alumni/lifetime-network/graduating-students 

If you still have questions or trouble log in please contact us:  https://www.gsb.columbia.edu/itg/students