Frequently Asked Questions

Transitioning from your Carthage Gmail account to a personal email account

The purpose of this guide is to walk you through the step-by-step process of migrating and transitioning from your Carthage Gmail account to a personal email account.

IMPORTANT!  If you need extra time or later discover that you require temporary access to that email address to assist with a provider you forgot, please contact us at help@carthage.edu. We will do our best to make sure that your transition goes smoothly.
 

Step 1 - Identify or create a personal email address

If you don’t already have an appropriate personal email to use, you should create one. We recommend a Gmail account because:

• It will function and have the same features as your carthage.edu account, which is built on Gmail
• It will allow you to easily transfer your carthage.edu content to the new account

Consider creating the account with a professional-sounding name.

Step 2 - Set up an auto-responder (vacation away message) in your carthage.edu email account

Create an automatic message to inform people that you are migrating away from your account. This might say something like:

“As of March 1, 2026, I will no longer have access to this email account. Please update my contact information to my personal email address of ?????@gmail.com. Thank you for your understanding."

Please see this link for instructions on setting up the vacation responder.

Step 3 - Begin reconnecting other sites and apps to your new, personal account

You may have many apps and web services connected to your carthage.edu account. Other sites may have your carthage.edu email listed as the contact. Transitioning these will be different for every app. Whenever possible, you can add your new email, wait a bit while you test, and then remove your carthage.edu account. Consider sites and apps like:  

• Amazon and other shopping sites
• Your bank, PayPal, and other financial sites
• Facebook and other social media
• Travel and retail shopping sites
• MyChart, medical providers, and pharmacies

Each site should provide instructions on how to transition from one email address to another and/or change your email contact. In this process, you may want to consider using a password manager connected to your personal email so that your logins and passwords aren’t lost. Many sites now offer the option to use your mobile phone number as your primary contact method instead of an email address.
 

Step 4 - Migrate your carthage.edu content to your personal Gmail

You can find the instructions for migration here.

Please note that the export process may take up to a few days.

If you also log into YouTube using your carthage.edu address, you will need to migrate your playlists and download any content.

Step 5 - Stay connected with Carthage, Aspire, and fellow alumni

• Update your Carthage preferred contact information by using this form on the Carthage website.
• Sign up for the Beacon, Carthage's monthly alumni e-newsletter, using your personal email address on this form.
• Follow these instructions on the Suitable webpage to change your contact information for Aspire services. If you have questions or need assistance, please feel free to reach out to The Aspire Center at aspire@carthage.edu.