Email Management Guidelines

Email is one of the official means of communications for McGill administrative and faculty staff members. Any message received or sent from a @mcgill.ca email address becomes an official record – as opposed to a personal one- and is subject to the McGill University Records Retention Schedule (MURRS) and access to information requests. Email consists of communications and related file attachments.​

1. University Business Emails: They relate to the administration of Universit programs and activities in order to carry out services and function. They can attest to contracts and agreements, official policies and procedures, approved financial transaction or issues related to human resources. These emails should not be kept in a individual email inbox but saved in a shared environment such as eRAP, Sharepoint or Unifier, depending on the nature of the email and its contents. Please ensure that the appropriate access permissions are in place.​ Duplicates: there is no need for everyone concerned in a task or project to keep a copy; determine who should be responsible to save emails. ​
2. Transitory or ephemeral: They are used for a short-term period, for reference or informational purposes and should be retained in your email inbox until task or project is over. They can include meeting invites, acknowledgements, draft versions or  working copies sent for quick review, informal internal updates, duplicate copies or “FYI”.​
3. Personal: They relate to an employee personal matters. UsingUsing your university email account for personal mattersis not advised. ​

• Before writing an email, assess whether this method of communication is the most optimal and effective. In many cases, a phone call or sending a message in Teams is more efficient than writing an email, and it also helps avoid overloading the recipient’s inbox.​

• Use email when you need to officially confirm something previously discussed, document a decision or to demonstrate due diligence.​

• Proceed to read your emails within a reasonable timeframe.​

• Use your employee email account for work-related correspondence, not your personal account.​

2. Writing and sending emails​

• Use a professional and neutral tone. Remember that in the event of an access to information request, your emails may be read by third parties; therefore, use a neutral tone and stick to factual information. ​

• Avoid including sensitive, personal or legally incriminating information such as passwords, Social security numbers, bank details or negative comments about coworkers and employers.​

• Avoid the use of all caps, which is equivalent to shouting, as well as refraining from using emoticons.​

• Include a clear subject line and limit messages to one topic.​

3. Make confidentiality and security a priority​

• Limit recipients to those who need to take action on the email.​

• Limit the people copied (CC’d) to those who genuinely need to be kept informed of the information being shared.​

• Avoid unnecessary “Reply All”.​

• Do not forward sensitive material without authorization.​

• Add a confidentiality notice to your signature.  However, email offers no guarantee of confidentiality because it can be forwarded by the recipient. Respect for the confidentiality notice depends on the good faith of the person receiving the email.​

• Watch for phishing and fraudulent messages.​

• Verify suspicious attachments or links before opening.​

4. Manage your inbox effectively

• Move emails into folders as you read them.​

• Create Outlook rules to automatically route emails by subject, sender, or keywords.​

• Use rules to set retention policies where appropriate.​

• Empty Deleted Items, Sent Items and Junk folders regularly.​

5. Avoid attachments when possible 

• Attachments consume storage, they increase security risks and they create version control issues. ​

• The better approach:​

  • Upload files to OneDrive, Teams, or SharePoint.​

  • Share a link with proper permissions.​

  • Linking ensures recipients access the most current version.​

• If you must attach:​

  • Scan files before opening.​

  • Be cautious with executable file types.​

  • For mass emails, use PDFs and briefly describe the contents.​

1. In Outlook, select the message you want to save so it opens in the reading pane, or double-click the message to open to open it in a new window.
2. Click the three dots (...) in the top-right corner of the email.
3. Click on Download and then Download as MSG.

4. Your email will be downloaded in the “Downloads” section of your device.
5. Then, on Sharepoint, click the folder where you wish to upload your email.

6. Click on Create or upload and then Files upload

7. Go to the Downloads section on your device and double click on email to upload

8. The email will show up in the folder and be available for the people who have access rights. 

We discourage the use of bulk uploading. Instead:

• Be selective when assessing and sorting your emails
• Keep emails that document or support key transactions or decision-making in your unit
• Establish a shared understanding within your team about how emails will be managed. Only one person should be responsible for ensuring all emails related to a project or issue are saved.
• Organize your emails as they are sent and received, using subfolders or your department filing structure.
• Set aside regular time to carry out email management tasks.

1. Acknowledge your accountability when handling emails. Email is part of the broader organizational management framework and must be treated accordingly.
2. Avoid using email to share personal information or confidential information. When  sensitive data must be shared, always use an approved document-sharing platform such as Sharepoint.
3. Be intentional about recipients: Avoid “Reply All” and only share with members who truly need the information.
4. Keep the Inbox lean. A smaller inbox improves performance and reduces distraction.
5. Above all, manage emails promptly and methodically. As soon as an email documents decisions, key transactions or projects, approvals, or information of long‑term value, save it in an appropriate shared location and a clearly labeled, meaningful folder