Frequently Asked Questions

• Do I have to use USC Web Mail?
• Does USC Web Mail have a time-out feature?
• What is my email quota?
• How can I check my email quota?
• Do messages in the Trash folder count toward my quota?
• Will I receive notification when I have exceeded my storage limit?
• What happens if I go over my quota?
• How many email addresses does the USC Web Mail address book hold?
• What is the maximum attachment size that USC Web Mail will allow?
• How long can I store messages in my email.usc.edu account?
• How can I make sure that I don’t lose important email messages?
• Which website browsers does USC Web Mail support?
• Does USC email system support secure IMAP and/or POP (i.e., with SSL/TLS)?
• Why do I instantly get an error message that says "Session Timed Out. Log In Again" after I have logged into USC Web Mail?

Do I have to use USC Web Mail?

You can use any of the ITS-supported email programs, but some functions (such as email forwarding and checking your mail quota) must be done via USC Web Mail.

Does USC Web Mail have a time-out feature?

As a security feature of USC Web Mail, your session will time out if it is idle for 60 minutes. You will be automatically logged out if there is no activity in your USC Web Mail window(s) for 60 minutes or more. If your USC Web Mail session times out, login again.

Note: The time you spend writing an email message does not count as activity. Therefore, your session may time out if you spend more than 60 minutes composing a message. When this happens, you may lose the message you were composing if you haven't saved it as a draft. To prevent losing a message you are writing, periodically click the Save Draft icon in the Compose window.

What is my email quota?

The email quota for students is 75 megabytes; for faculty and staff it is 4 gigabytes. When you are looking at the Inbox tab in USC Web Mail, the amount of your quota that is currently in use is displayed in megabytes at the bottom of the window to the left of your total quota.

Do messages in the Trash folder count toward my quota?

Yes, the messages in the Trash folder count as part of your quota usage.

How can I check my email quota?

Quota information is available from the Options tab in the USC Web Mail navigation. Click Options. The Quota will appear at the bottom of the window.

When your Inbox and other IMAP folders reach 90% of your quota, you will get an alert warning you that your email box is almost full. This alert will pop up every time you login to your email account until you delete enough messages for your account to fall back under the 90% mark.

Back to top

What happens if I go over my quota?

When you use up your email quota, all subsequent messages that are sent to you will be bounced back to the sender. The system will not save messages for later delivery. Your account will function normally as soon as you delete enough messages for your account to fall back under the 75MB or 4GB quota.

How many email addresses does the USC Web Mail address book hold?

The USC Web Mail address book can accommodate up to 250 email addresses.

What is the maximum attachment size that USC Web Mail will allow?

The maximum message size accepted by USC Web Mail is 25 MB; you can send and receive messages up to 25 MB.

How long can I store messages in my email.usc.edu account?

In accordance with the university's email retention policy, ITS retains email (and attachments) on email servers for one year after the emails have been received or sent. Email older than one year will be automatically and permanently deleted.

Back to top

How can I make sure that I don’t lose important email messages?

If you don’t want to lose important email messages, you should download your messages to local folders on your computer with an email client, or program, such as Outlook, Outlook Express, Mozilla Thunderbird, or Eudora. These clients will remove email from the server, email.usc.edu, and store them on your computer’s hard drive. Messages stored on your computer’s hard drive do not count toward your email quota.

Which browsers does USC Web Mail support?

USC WebMail should work on any browser capable of SSL and interpreting JavaScript. You can use Internet Explorer, Netscape, and Mozilla Firefox, as well as other browsers such as Safari.

Does USC email system support secure IMAP and/or POP (i.e., with SSL/TLS)?

Yes, the email system has this capability. HTTPS, IMAPS, POP and SMTP over SSL are currently enabled.

Why do I instantly get an error message that says "Session Timed Out. Log In Again" after I have logged into USC Web Mail?

Your browser may not be configured to accept cookies--the small files that USC Web Mail uses to keep track of your email session. In order to log into USC Web Mail, your website browser has to accept first-party cookies.

To set this option in Internet Explorer, go to the Tools menu and select Internet Options. In the Internet Options window, click the Privacy Tab and then lower your privacy settings to Medium or lower. Then click the OK button to close the Internet Options window. Alternatively, you may also click the Advanced button on the Privacy tab and in the Advanced Privacy Settings window, select Override Automatic Cookie Handling and Accept under the First-Party Cookies heading. Then click OK to close both the Advanced Privacy Settings window and OK to close the Internet Options window.

Back to top