OHIO Accounts: Deactivation and Deletion Process

If you do not use your account for an extended period, or if your role at the university changes, your account may be deactivated or deleted. Ohio University reserves the right to deactivate online accounts.

• A deactivated account still exists, it just has been "turned off" from accessing any OHIO or other services (i.e. Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft OneDrive, etc.). 
• A deleted account no longer exists. The account has been removed from our system and the files, emails, and other items in the account are deleted.

Table of Contents

1. Safety and security
2. Avoiding deactivation
3. Account types
   1. Employees
   2. Former students and alumni
   3. Guests
   4. Retirees and emeriti

Safety and Security

The Office of Information Technology at Ohio University works hard to keep you and your private information safe and secure by preventing unauthorized access to your OHIO account with our built-in security protections. Keeping you safe means having strong privacy practices that minimize how long we store your personal files and any data associated with them. We want to protect your private information and prevent any unauthorized access to your account even if you’re no longer using our services.

To protect your private information and enhance our security, the OHIO accounts for former students, alumni, retirees, and emeriti that have not been accessed in 18 months will be deactivated. An account is inactive if it has not been signed into or used within the 18 month period. Former students, alumni, and guest accounts are deleted 30 days after deactivation.  Notification of the impending deactivation will be sent to the OHIO email of the account after 12 months of inactivity.  Monthly deactivation notifications will continue for the next 6 months until the account is deactivated, or until the account is accessed or used and the account is no longer inactive.

Employees and guests who leave OHIO will be deactivated upon separation.

Student and alumni accounts that have not been logged into for 18 months will be deactivated.

• A deactivated student/alumni account can be re-enabled by contacting the IT Service Desk within 30 days of deactivation.

  • If you do not contact us within 30 days, your account will be scheduled for deletion. If you enroll in classes again after your account has been deleted, you may receive a new OHIO account or your original account may be restored depending on availability. Please note that if your account is deleted, all items stored in the account (emails, OneDrive files, etc.) will be deleted as well.