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Summary
When opening a Vancouver Island University (VIU) email account in Microsoft Outlook, users may see a prompt asking:
“Allow this website to configure your.account@viu.ca server settings?”
This article explains why this message appears, whether it is safe, and what action to take.
Symptoms
While adding or opening a VIU email account in Outlook, a pop-up window appears with the following message:
Allow this website to configure your.accounts@viu.ca server settings?
https://mail.viu.ca/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml
Your account was redirected to this website for settings.
The message includes options to Allow or Cancel, along with a checkbox to avoid future prompts.
Cause
This message is caused by Microsoft Outlook’s Autodiscover process, which automatically configures email accounts.
What is Autodiscover?
Autodiscover is a standard Microsoft service that:
- Autodiscover is the service Outlook uses to retrieve an account's email settings
- Detects the correct email server for your account
- Applies mailbox, security, and Microsoft 365 settings
- Simplifies email setup without manual configuration
For VIU email accounts, Outlook is redirected to:
https://autodiscover.outlook.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml
Because this process includes a redirect, Outlook displays a permission prompt to protect users from potentially malicious sites.
Solution
You can ALLOW this prompt if:
- The website address is autodiscover.outlook.com
- You are configuring or using a VIU email account
- The URL uses HTTPS (secure connection)
When should you NOT allow this:
- The domain does not match autodiscover.outlook.com
- You were not setting up a VIU account
- The URL appears misspelled or unfamiliar
If you are unsure, contact the VIU IT Service Desk.