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Passwords & Accounts & Email

In order to use computing facilities and services on campus you must log in with a userid and password.

Your userid will be the same on all systems you use. It is automatically generated from a combination of your last name and initials.

Getting your userid and Password

Waterloo Identity and Access Management (WatIAM) is a database of information about faculty, staff, and students. WatIAM userids and passwords are used by Quest, Jobmine, Waterloo LEARN, myHRinfo and many others.

  • obtain your userid and password using account activation
  • log in to change your password or information (such as your email address or web page)
  • NEVER share your password

Obtaining an Email Account

Students are given email accounts on mailservices.

Mailservices offers:

  • 1 gig quota
  • accessibility from the web (SquirrelMail and MyWaterloo) and IMAP email clients (Outlook, Thunderbird, etc.)
  • authentication using WatIAM/Quest userid and password

Obtaining a Nexus Userid

Nexus is the main computing network for student labs on campus. It provides a consistent environment for students on lab PCs anywhere on campus.

A "Nexus account" includes access to:

  • a Windows account in the nexus.uwaterloo.ca domain;
  • a faculty email account; and
  • a faculty file server account (a specialized network storage device).

The Windows account is created automatically but the password has to be set for it. To do this, most faculties (except FES, and Math) use a self-serve web utility called Scratch. Scratch is also available from the log-in screen on any Nexus workstation.

Students in FES and Math must visit their Faculty Help Desk to have their accounts activated.