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Technology Resources for Incoming Students

Technology Resources for incoming students

Stanford has one of the most extensive and diverse campus computing environments in the world. Your Stanford University Network Identifier (SUNet ID) and password will give you access to many online services, including email, collaboration tools, course information, and security systems. 

This guide on technology resources will help you get started as an incoming student at Stanford.

For more help with technology at Stanford, including interactive guides, live chat, and more tech resources, visit techsource.stanford.edu.


Tech Support

Tech Resources & Support website

New this 2023-24 academic year, the Tech Resouces & Support site is the go-to for students seeking technology help at Stanford.

On the site, you will find:

  • Information curated and created just for students
  • Interactive help guides
  • Tech resources to enhance studying, innovating, and collaborating 
  • Quick ways to connect with the right support team (including live chat!)

Visit Tech Resources & Support site

Student Technical Support

Contact Student Technical Support (STS) in any of the following ways:

  • Book an in-person or phone appointment with STS during technical support hours 
  • Submit a support ticket
  • Call for assistance: 650-723-9204

Get more STS information

University IT

For urgent issues outside of STS hours, students should contact the University IT Service Desk: 

Get more information about UIT help services


Campus Connections

Connect with campus — courses, peers, Stanford news and events — from anywhere.

Axess

Axess is Stanford’s primary website for managing your course enrollment, keeping your contact information current, reviewing your university bill, and viewing financial aid information.

Launch Axess

The Stanford Directory

  • StanfordWho, also known as the Stanford People and Organization Search, is the web application that enables you to search the Stanford directory of faculty, staff, students, and sponsored affiliates at Stanford University and the Stanford hospitals. StanfordWho provides contact and organization information.
  • StanfordYou is the web application that enables you to update your contact information​ and SUNet accounts, including password, vacation auto-reply, profile, and privacy settings.

Stanford Mobile

The Stanford Mobile app allows you to explore campus dining options, upcoming events, recent news stories, campus and shuttle maps, and more at your fingertips.

You can even log in and access the Stanford Health Check to submit your health status, and Mobile ID and Mobile Key features to access buildings (excluding student residences), access library resources, retrieve print jobs at Cardinal Print stations, and pay for food at dining halls.

Get the Stanford Mobile app


Collaboration Tools

Stay connected to your network with these Stanford-provided resources that enable collaboration, feedback, brainstorming, and communication from any location.

Zoom Video Conferencing at Stanford

An easy, reliable cloud platform for video, voice, content sharing, and chat across mobile devices, desktops, telephones, and room systems. Every student is eligible for a Stanford Zoom video conferencing license. 

Learn more and set up your Zoom account

Stanford Slack

A communication platform to chat live online and keep conversations organized and accessible from anywhere, anytime. 

Get tips to log in to Slack for the first time and how to get the most out of the tool

Google Shared drives

Shared spaces where teams can easily store, search, and access their files anywhere, from any device. You can access files from your computer using any web browser or you can install the mobile application to access your files from your Android or iOS mobile device.

Get started with Google Shared drives today


Email and Calendar

Set up your Stanford email and web-based calendar.

Your Stanford Email Account

Email is an important way of communicating with faculty, staff, and other students. All official Stanford emails will be sent to your @stanford.edu account. You should regularly check your Stanford email account for official information from Stanford. 

Learn more about email acocunt services

Your Stanford Calendar

Manage your personal web-based calendar, resource calendar, and contact list using Office 365 or Google Workspace.

Learn more about your calendaring options


Network, Storage, and Computing

Explore Stanford’s network, shared computing environment, and storage spaces.

The Stanford Network

Stanford’s centrally-provided network allows you to connect to resources here and across the globe.

Google Drive

Get unlimited storage space to store and share files in the cloud with Google Drive. You can also install the desktop and mobile application to access your files from your computer, Android or iOS mobile device. 

Learn more about Google Drive

Microsoft OneDrive

Microsoft Office Online and OneDrive are now available through your Office 365 account, providing you with online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, as well as 5TB of cloud storage. The storage offered through OneDrive is in addition to your email storage of 100GB.

Learn more about Microsoft OneDrive

Shared Computing Environment

Stanford’s shared computing environment, called Farmshare, provides Linux facilities for general and research computing with your SUNet ID. 

Learn more about our Shared Computing Environment


Phone

Get access to telephone and mobile services.

Telephone Services

Stanford operates its own telephone system and provides a phone with basic service in most dorm rooms with call waiting and free local and long-distance calls. The phone line will be active when you arrive on campus. All residents in Stanford student housing are assessed a technology fee on the quarterly university bill, which includes basic phone and network service.

Learn more about telephone services

Mobile Device Services

Stanford has partnered with AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile to help save you money on your personal mobile device plans and accessories. Just by being a Stanford student, you may be eligible to receive discounts on qualifying monthly service plan charges.

Learn more about discounts for personal mobile device plans


Print, Scan, and Copy

With Cardinal Print, you can securely print, scan, and copy documents from locations all across campus. Send your and retrieve your print jobs at any Cardinal Print device with your Stanford ID (your physical card or digital through Mobile Key).


Security

Protect yourself and Stanford with secure computing practices.

Security Awareness Video

Check out this Stanford Information Security Awareness video to learn how to protect yourself from digital crimes.

Watch the video

Information Security

There are steps you can take to keep your computing devices and the entire Stanford network secure. The first time you connect your computer to the campus network, you will be automatically directed to the Student Technology Services Network Registration System to register your computer with the university. After you register your computer, the university provides a number of additional resources to help you maintain a secure configuration.

Browse the secure computing practices guide

Two-Step Authentication

Two-Step Authentication is an extra layer of security for your Stanford account. It is required to access many Stanford systems and protects your Stanford account should someone else learn your password. 

Two forms of authentication are required to verify your identity: 

  1. Your SUNet ID and password 
  2. A dynamic, single-use mechanism (could be a mobile device app or a hardware token)
    *You are strongly encouraged to configure more than one dynamic mechanism in case your primary is lost or otherwise unavailable.

You can view and modify your settings at accounts.stanford.edu. For problems with Two-Step Authentication, call the University IT Service Desk at (650) 725-HELP or submit a Help request.

Learn more about Two-Step Authentication

Cardinal Key

Go passwordless with Cardinal Key. Cardinal Keys reduce or eliminate the need to use your SUNet ID and password for web-based logins and eliminate the need to use your username, password, and two-step authentication for VPN connections — all while providing stronger protection for your account. Cardinal Key is optional for students but required for employee devices.

Learn more and install a Cardinal Key today

Dashlane Password Manager

Dashlane is a tool that remembers your passwords for you. It instantly logs you into the websites that you use daily and helps you populate common information for online forms. Stanford provides a Dashlane Premium account free of charge to all students. 

Learn more about Dashlane and password management

Mobile Device Management (Workspace ONE)

Mobile Device Management (MDM) provides enhanced protection, convenient configuration, and self-service tools for mobile devices. It also keeps you up to date with best practices.

Learn more about Mobile Device Management


Software

Safe and secure access to Stanford’s software programs.

Stanford Software

Get applications that help you plug into the Stanford network and access university computing services safely and securely. Software selections are filtered by platform, accessibility, collaboration, compliance, file transfer, networks and connectivity, productivity, and utilities.

Learn more on the Essential Stanford Software page

Software Licensing

Additionally, the University IT Software Licensing office acts as the main point of contact for software that is available for purchase or use on campus.

Learn more about the software offerings on the Software Licensing page


Web

Get access to web-based applications and personal web space.

For a broader overview of web-related services, visit the University Web Services page.

Stanford Sites

Stanford Sites is a free, self-service tool for building and managing websites for university work. It offers design flexibility, integration with Stanford systems, and substantial functionality through Drupal. Websites are hosted in the cloud on a system designed for fast performance and high availability.

Learn more about Stanford Sites

Website for Individuals

Stanford provides several no-cost options to individuals with a full-service SUNet ID for publishing a personal website.

Learn more about publishing a personal website

Web Infrastructure and Resources

Stanford’s centrally provided web services are part of the main campus computing infrastructure and are handled by a server called web.stanford.edu.

Learn more about web infrastructure and resources