St. Ambrose email, files, and Teams moved into the Microsoft 365 environment we share with Mount Mercy over the weekend of August 13. Your email address did not change. Your mail, files, and Teams conversations came with you.
The first time you sign in after the move, you will need to set a few things back up. Plan on about ten minutes on a phone, about twenty on a work computer. The guides at the bottom of this page walk you through it.
Signing in
- Go to outlook.office.com
- Sign in with your usual SAU email address and password. (Your ID-format username, for example ab1234567@sau.edu, also works. Both go to the same account.)
- Set up Microsoft Authenticator when prompted:
- Setting it up for the first time: just follow the prompts on your screen. The app is free, from Microsoft, in the App Store and Google Play.
- Had Authenticator for SAU before: your old St. Ambrose entry no longer works. Remove it from the app first, then follow the prompts to add it again. See the Authenticator guide below.
If it will not let you in, or keeps signing you in as the wrong account
Your browser is holding on to your old sign-in. Two ways through:
The quick way, no settings changed: sign in using your ID username with the ending @mtmercy.onmicrosoft.com, for example ab1234567@mtmercy.onmicrosoft.com, with your normal SAU password. This is an internal system name for the same account, and it forces the sign-in to the new system, past whatever your browser has stored. It looks odd, but it is your account: once you are in, your email address is still your sau.edu address, and mail you send still comes from it.
The permanent fix: clear your browser data. Two details matter, and skipping either is why it often fails:
- Set the time range to All time, not the last hour or day
- Include cookies and other site data, not just history
You will be signed out of other websites afterward. That is expected. Then go back to outlook.office.com and sign in normally.
A private or incognito window (Ctrl+Shift+N in Chrome and Edge, Ctrl+Shift+P in Firefox, Cmd+Shift+P on a Mac) also works temporarily, but only for that window.
Still stuck? Call 563-333-6368 or write ITSupport@sau.edu. If the desktop setup tool on your work computer stalls or will not finish, let us know.
Which guides do I need?
Not everyone needs all three. Start with the first, then use whichever others apply to you.
1. Guide to Removing Old Authenticator Account · Returning users, first
Covers removing the old St. Ambrose entry and adding the new one, on both iPhone and Android. First-time users can skip this and just follow the on-screen prompts.
2. On Demand Migration User Guide · University-owned Windows computers
A tool called the On Demand Migration Desktop Update Agent is already installed on your computer and reconnects Outlook, OneDrive, and Teams for you. It may open on its own; if not, open it from your Start menu. Save your work and close Office applications before you click Start. When it asks you to sign in, choose "Sign in to this app only" rather than "Sign in to all apps, websites, and services."
3. Mobile Device M365 and Email Reconfiguration Guide · Phones and tablets, only if needed
Most phones reconnect on their own. Use this guide if mail stops arriving or you are asked to sign in over and over. Note: your password has not changed. If the guide mentions a new password, disregard that line unless we contacted you directly.
On a Mac or a personal computer, there is no tool to run. Sign out of Outlook, Teams, and OneDrive, then sign back in with your usual St. Ambrose username and password.
A few things worth knowing
- Let the Windows tool finish. It works through six steps in about 10 to 15 minutes and can look stalled partway through. Do not restart your computer or reopen Outlook, Teams, or OneDrive while it runs. If it still has not finished after 15 minutes, contact us.
- Your existing Outlook setup is preserved. Nothing is deleted in the process.
- The screenshots are examples. Your screens may look a little different depending on your device and app version, and some show placeholder addresses from a test account. The steps still apply.
- Skip the optional "Security Info" section at the end of the Authenticator guide unless IT specifically asks you to use it.
Microsoft Forms
Forms is the one thing the migration could not carry over automatically. Your forms and their responses are not lost. They are intact in the old system, and we are finalizing a recovery process with our migration partners. If you rely on a form, especially one still collecting responses such as an event RSVP or intake form, tell us now at ITSupport@sau.edu with the form's name. Those get priority. Fuller instructions will follow shortly.
SharePoint sites and older links
Site addresses changed and now begin with mtmercy, for example https://mtmercy.sharepoint.com/sites/mysau. Links and bookmarks saved before the migration may not work. Search for the site by name in SharePoint or Teams instead, and update your bookmarks. We are working with our partners on a redirect solution that would make many old links work again automatically.
File links people sent you before August 13 no longer work. Ask the sender to reshare, which takes them a few seconds. If the file's owner has left the university, send us the dead link itself, exactly as you have it. Even when it looks like gibberish, it often tells us exactly where the file lives so we can recover it.
Something not working?
Tell us rather than working around it, particularly if a SharePoint site, Team, shared mailbox, or set of files is missing or you cannot get into it. The more specific you can be, such as the exact site or mailbox name, the faster the fix.
Nothing was deleted in this migration. The old system remains intact while we work through these items, so if something of yours seems missing, the answer is recovery, not loss.
Reach us at 563-333-6368, ITSupport@sau.edu, or https://zendesk.sau.edu.
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