Setting up your University IT account


We will send your new joiner email to your personal email address:

  1. If you are a member of staff this will generally be 1 day before your start date
  2. If you are a student this will be 60 days before your start date

You will need to do the following before you can use your account:

  1. Set a password for your IT account
  2. Login to Microsoft’s Security Info site
  3. Register for Two-Factor Authentication (Duo)
    This protects your account from hackers. To use your IT account you must prove your identity with something you know (your password) and with something you have (a phone or tablet). The University uses Duo to verify your identity with your phone or tablet.
  4. Register for Self Service Password Reset (SSPR)
    This allows you to get access to your account if you forget your password or if it gets ‘locked’ because the wrong password has been entered too many times.
    Once this is set up, if you have a problem with your password in the future, you can go to https://aka.ms/sspr to get access to your account.

Continue reading for a step by step guide.

Short and Long forms of your username

You will receive an email to your personal email address which contains your IT account username.

Your username will start with 4 letters followed by numbers. Some systems need you to enter your username followed by @leeds.ac.uk :

 ExampleUse for
Short formaaaaNNNNsetting your password, printers, the Employee Self Service system (booking annual leave and payslips)
Longer FormaaaaNNNN@leeds.ac.ukWiFi (eduroam), Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, OneDrive, Teams, Outlook, OneDrive), Minerva, logging in to University computers and the Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD)

 

1. Set a password for your account

Important

The password you set should be different to anything you use for any other website or company.

Do not use your first or last name as part of your password.

Your password will need to be at least 8 characters long, and contain at least one of all of the following:

Click the 'Set your password' link in the email we sent to your personal email address.

Click 'Continue' on the page that displays the username (this will already be filled in - do not change it).

A code will be sent to your registered email address.

If the email doesn't appear in your Inbox please check your Spam folder.

Enter the code from the email and click 'Continue'.

If the code is not accepted

The code is valid for 15 minutes, after that the code will expire and it won't be accepted.

If this happens close the web browser, return to the first email we sent you and click the 'Set your password' link to restart the process.

Once you pass the verification you will be prompted to set a new password.

Enter a password in the two boxes and click 'Change password'.

2. Login to Microsoft’s Security Info site

Go to Microsoft’s Security Info website https://aka.ms/ssprsetup and log in with your University username and password.

Pick your university account if it is listed, or click on 'Use another account' and enter your 'username' followed by '@leeds.ac.uk'. Click 'Next'.

Enter your password and click 'Sign in'

3. Register for Two-Factor Authentication (Duo)

You will be prompted to “Protect Your University of Leeds Account”.

To register for Two-Factor Authentication (Duo) follow the steps detailed here: Enrolling for Duo

Install Duo

If you selected mobile phone or tablet please install the Duo Mobile app on your device now.

There are other apps with similar names - pick the app with the publisher "Duo Security LLC".

You can download the Duo Mobile app directly using one of the links below:

Supported Devices

The Duo website has the latest information on which operating systems are supported in their Duo guide. 

If you have an older operating system you may be able to install the app, but will receive a security warning when you use it.

China

If you are in China or travelling to China please read the article "Using Duo in China" which you will find in the Related Articles section. 

Duo Device Registration

Once you have installed the Duo Mobile app on your device you can continue with the registration process.

If you selected 'Mobile phone' you will be asked to enter your mobile phone number. Check the number you have entered, and tick the box to confirm it is the right number, then click 'Continue'.

If you get an error when you click 'Continue'

If your login on the website timed out while you were installing the software on your phone or tablet you will get an error.

If this happens go to https://aka.ms/ssprsetup and log in with your University username and password, and the Duo registration will automatically start again.

4. Register for Self Service Password Reset (SSPR)

If you have completed the previous steps you should now be logged in on Microsoft’s Security Info site  https://mysignins.microsoft.com/security-info 

Click 'Add sign-in method'

You should add at least two methods.

We recommend 'Phone', and 'Email' – for each of these choose an option that does not rely on you being on campus or having access to your University account.

Remember – the purpose of these is to help you log into your University account if you’ve forgotten your password or have entered the wrong password too many times.

Phone

For Phone the form will ask you to select a country and enter a phone number.

You can choose for it to 'Text me a code' or 'Call me' – we recommend the Text option.

Click 'Next'.

A 6-digit code will be sent to the Phone. Enter the code and click 'Next'.

This completes the phone registration.

Email

For Email the form will ask you to enter an email address. 

Enter a non-university email address and click 'Next'.

A 6-digit code will be sent to the email address. Enter the code and click 'Next'.

This completes the email registration.

Congratulations

Well done – if you’ve followed all the steps in this article you have: