Body
On October 17th 2025, the Microsoft 365 environment at Purdue Fort Wayne will merge with West Lafayette and Northwest to create a more robust and secure tenant. Due to potential user impact, there will be action items that will need to be taken by most faculty/staff users.
Live Updates (available during migration):
10/22/2025 (12:30P ET): We are aware that some users are having permissions issues with Calendaring. Particularly, these issues affect how calendars are shared - with many needing to be re-shared, or permissions set back up. We plan on running a fix for this, which should be in full effect by the end of the week, so permissions to these shared calendars should be repaired.
10/22/2025 (8:30A ET): If you are receiving an error that you are not found in the tenant - ensure that you are fully signed out of the Outlook app - regardless of device (tablet, laptop, etc.) - then "add account" and sign back in with your username@purdue.edu.
If your password works on PFW resources, such as GoPFW, but does not work to sign into Microsoft services (such as e-mail,) changing your password will resolve that issue. Visit mypassword.pfw.edu and reset your password. Wait up to 30 minutes, and then try again. If you are still experiencing issues, please contact the helpdesk.10/20/2025 (3:50P ET): Throughout the day, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has been experiencing a nationwide outage impacting many systems across the country. As a result, some Purdue services, including Brightspace, SAP, Kaltura, and GoPFW, may be slow or temporarily unavailable. Our teams are actively monitoring the situation and will restore full access as soon as AWS services return to normal. These issues are not related to this weekend’s tenant migration.
10/20/2025 (3:00P ET): Reminder, if you are using a PFW-managed Windows computer, and are having issues signing into Microsoft applications, including email, please run the Migration Tool. If you are on a non-managed computer, you will need to manually sign out of all of the Microsoft applications. If you use Microsoft Edge as your web browser, you may also need to remove your PFW profile from that browser, and sign back in with your @purdue.edu email address.
10/20/2025 (10:00A ET): Users who receive an error that they are "locked" out of their account should ensure that they are signing in with their username@purdue.edu, not @pfw.edu. Additionally, ensure that you are signed out of all Microsoft applications on your device. If you are on a PFW-managed, Windows computer - that can be done with the Migration Tool. Alternatively, or if you are not on one of those computers, you can manually sign out of all of the Microsoft applications and then sign back in with your username@purdue.edu.
10/20/2025 (9:15A ET): The issue causing the error: "does not exist in Tenant" should mostly be resolved. Users who received that error should attempt to sign-in again, making sure to use their username@purdue.edu, not @pfw.edu.
10/20/2025 (6:45A ET): At this time, all users should be able to authenticate to Microsoft services, including e-mail. Emails sent over the weekend will begin to appear in your mailbox throughout the morning as the system processes and releases them. Reminder: from this point forward, all PFW faculty, staff, and students should use their username@purdue.edu to sign into Microsoft services, including e-mail, and the same password you used prior to the migration. Your e-mail address is still pfw.edu. This is for authentication only.
10/19/2025 (10:30P ET): At this time, while a few final steps remain, we are on target to issue an all-clear Monday morning. You may see some new emails (sent to you over the weekend) appear throughout the early morning, but we expect Microsoft services, including email, to be fully available Monday morning. Please stay tuned to this page for updates. We will also send an all-clear notification to your e-mail inbox once the process is complete.
10/18/2025 (7:22P ET): The migration process continues. Due to the large number of files being transferred, the outage for the e-mail component may extend beyond Sunday, October 19th. The team will monitor the progress overnight and a more accurate resolution time, and further instructions on accessing your files, will be announced here.
10/17/2025 (6:00P ET): The Tenant Migration is underway. PFW users will be unable to send/receive emails to their @pfw.edu email address. Additionally, you will be unable to authenticate to Microsoft services using your @pfw.edu email address. Stay tuned to this article for pertinent information. Users should sign out of Microsoft services if they have not already. If you remain logged in, and continue working, your work may not be saved. The current estimated time to resolution is Sunday, October 19th, time: TBD.
10/15/2025: The migration is set to proceed as scheduled beginning on October 17th at 6pm ET. Updates (as needed) throughout the process, including the "all-clear" will be posted here.
9/10/2025: No updates at this time.
What actions will all students/faculty/staff need to take?
- Sign out of all Microsoft apps (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, etc.) and sign back in with your “username@purdue.edu”. This includes locally installed Microsoft software and web versions (office.com).
- Sign out of all mobile email apps (Apple Mail on iOS devices, Samsung Mail, Google Mail clients, etc.) and sign back in with your “username@purdue.edu”. (Your email address will continue to be “username@pfw.edu” when you send/receive email.)
- Set up Microsoft Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on your “@purdue.edu” account. (The first time you sign back in with your “username@purdue.edu”, you will be prompted to set up MFA. This will happen automatically.)
- If you have any files being shared from OneDrive/SharePoint, you will need to re-share those files. All existing file sharing/links, etc. to other users will be removed during the migration.
- Cancel all recurring meeting you have scheduled (or set them to end on October 16) and re-send those on October 22.
- If you previously set up rules in Outlook (or another mail client) to manage emails, please review those rules. Edit or delete any in red marked '(error)'.
Quick Reference Questions
Will I lose my email address?
What change will I notice immediately?
- All users will need to authenticate to all Microsoft services (Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, etc.) with their “username@purdue.edu”. Your email address is NOT changing – only the way you authenticate to Microsoft services.
Is my username or password changing?
- Usernames will not change. However, the password to sign into Microsoft may not be the same as your GoPFW password. To sync those two passwords, please reset your GoPFW password here.
Does this change the way I sign into other Purdue Login apps – such as VPN, Success Factors, Ariba, Concur, etc?
- No – continue to use the same username and password you have been using with Purdue Login.
Where do I get help?
Will I lose my Teams chats?
- Chats within a Team channel will copy over automatically. However, personal chats and meeting chats cannot be transferred. If you need to backup your personal or meeting chats, please copy/paste them into another document prior to October 17th. If critical chats are lost after the migration, and need to be recovered, please contact the service desk. It may be possible to recover this information for a short period of time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why is this being done?
A: There are currently multiple Microsoft 365 environments at the various Purdue campuses. These have been supported by a unified team for the past several years (prior to any Purdue IT re-organization.) As the environments become more complex, it has become more difficult to support and secure. This consolidation will ultimately benefit all users across the Purdue campuses.
Note: Email addresses for PFW users are NOT changing. If you currently have an @pfw.edu email address, that will stay the same after the tenant merge.
Q: When will this happen?
A: The dates for the consolidation are October 17-21, 2025
Q: When I lose access to my e-mail, how will I get updates on what's going on with the migration?
A: This page will be used throughout the migration to update you on the current status, including completion and any potential delays.
Q: I am a student, does this affect me?
A: Yes, your email, files, calendar, etc. will all be migrated to the new Microsoft environment.
Q: Will I lose my @PFW.EDU e-mail address?
A: No, your "username@pfw.edu" email address will remain the same.
Q: Will my password change?
A: You will no longer sign into Microsoft services (email, office.com, Office software, etc.) with your GoPFW email address. Instead, you will use your Purdue Career Account password (what you use to sign into Purdue Login - currently used by tools such as Success Factors, DocuSign, Concur, etc.) If you do not know this password (many students may not use this account) you can reset that password by going here. This will sync your GoPFW password and Microsoft passwords so that you no longer need to remember both.
Q: I'm a retiree, how does this affect me?
A: As with all PFW retirees, they will need to sign into Microsoft tools using their Purdue Career Account username and password. If they do not know this, they can reset that password (which syncs it to their GoPFW password) here
Q: How will this affect my mobile device?
- All users of Microsoft applications on mobile devices will need to sign out of those applications, and sign back in using “username@purdue.edu”. This will continue to use your same password.
- Alternatively, users can uninstall the Microsoft apps, and reinstall – which will prompt to sign back in.
- If you use a non-Microsoft email app (Apple Mail, Samsung Mail, etc.) you will need to sign out of your @pfw.edu account and sign back in using “username@purdue.edu” and the same password.
- This will not change your email address – it will remain @pfw.edu once you have signed in.
Q: What if I use a shared mailbox?
A: If you have access to a shared mailbox, such as a departmental mailbox, your access will not change once this is done. When you sign back into Outlook (or other desktop mail client) those shared mailboxes will continue to appear
Q: What if I use an alias for my email address?
A: This will not change. When you sign into your mail client “using your username@purdue.edu”, your alias email address @pfw.edu will continue to be your default “send as” email address
Q: Will I or my department lose files stored on OneDrive or SharePoint?
A: No, all files stored with these services will be automatically transferred during the merge. If you are missing any files after the merge has been completed, please notify the helpdesk. No files will be lost during this merge. If they do not appear post-merge, they can most likely be recovered. Box, Google Drive, etc. are not affected by this.
Q: What do I do with Microsoft Forms I have created?
A: As Microsoft Forms will not automatically transfer, Forms creators will need to take action to duplicate their current forms and import them into the new environment. The export must be done before Friday, October 17th. You can then log into Microsoft Forms with your username@purdue.edu as soon as today to import those Forms into the new environment. If you do not export your forms by this weekend, you will need to contact the CSC to have the Microsoft administrators retrieve your forms for you, which may take some time. Backup and restore instructions can be found here.
Q: What happens to the links to files that I have already shared with other users?
A: If you have any files being shared from OneDrive/SharePoint, you will need to re-share those files. All existing file sharing/links, etc. to other users will be removed during the migration.
Q: What do I do if I have bookmarks or other direct links to SharePoint/OneDrive files or folders?
A: Direct links to these files or folders will no longer work after the tenant migration. New links can be generated from SharePoint or OneDrive – or you can manually change the link URL to the new tenant. To manually change the link to the correct tenant, change links FROM “https://ind657″. TO ‘https://purdue0”.
Q: What happens to my recurring meetings in Outlook?
A: All recurring meetings will need to recreated after the migration, or links and other items attached to the meeting will not work (including links to Teams Meetings.)
Q: What will happen to my Microsoft Bookings calendar?
A: After the migration, all Bookings calendars will need to be recreated. Please contact the service desk for assistance in recreating your Bookings calendar.
Q: What if I use a token instead of the mobile app for M365 MFA Authentication?
A: After the migration, most MFA hardware tokens will continue to function properly. If you experience any issues, please contact the helpdesk. If you do not currently use a hardware token, and need one, those can be purchased here..
Q: Can I use SMS or a phone call for MFA Authentication?
A: These requests are evaluated on an individual basis. If you are unable to use the mobile app, or a hardware token, please call the helpdesk for further instructions.
Q: What happens to things I have created within Microsoft Power Platform?
A: These will not automatically copy over. Please contact colltix@purdue.edu for individual assistance. There are some self-service options if you would like to explore those. Information on that process can be found here.
Q: What happens to Microsoft Teams groups I have created and been invited to?
A: All Teams data (besides personal and meeting chats) will be transferred and will appear in the new environment.