Digital mail sent by authorities is now surer to reach you – you’ll get a notification when you identify yourself in authorities’ e-services

- Suomi.fi Messages already notifies users of new messages. You’ll get a notification of a new electronic message to the e-mail address you have entered for Suomi.fi Messages. If you are using the Suomi.fi application, it’ll notify you of any new messages as well. The notification that is now being added to the identification process is another way of getting you to notice unread messages, helping you not to miss anything important”, says Maria Juka-Lahdenperä, Service Owner of Suomi.fi Messages at the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.

The notification about a new message is displayed during authentication when the message has arrived after the previous visit to Suomi.fi Messages. The notification is no longer shown once the user has visited Suomi.fi Messages after the message arrived, even if the message remains unread.

Mail from public authorities to be primarily sent electronically from 2026 onwards

In 2026, when the legislation on the primacy of digital official mail enters into force, Suomi.fi Messages will be activated for all adults who use digital services and have not activated the service before. Suomi.fi Messages will be activated when a person identifies themselves for the first time in the online service of a public authority after the legislation enters into force in 2026. During identification, the user will be informed of the activation of Suomi.fi Messages and asked to provide the email address where they want to receive notifications of their new messages in Suomi.fi Messages. After the change is implemented, more than four million people will primarily receive their official mail digitally.

The change will not apply to persons who do not use the public administration's e-services, to minors, or to people who are under guardianship or have a valid continuing power of attorney. These people will continue to receive paper mail from public authorities.

Users can later switch back to receiving paper mail if they want to. Switching back to paper mail can be done by changing the relevant setting in Suomi.fi Messages or by contacting the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s customer service.

- Still, you won’t be able to switch back to receiving paper mail until before the Suomi.fi Messages are activated in 2026, after the legislation has entered into force and the electronic mailbox has been created, not beforehand. The setting for receiving paper mail will remain active for six months at a time. After six months, Suomi.fi Messages will be reactivated when the user identifies themselves again in the e-services of public authorities, says Juka-Lahdenperä. 

Practical guidelines for using Suomi.fi Messages:

• Visit Suomi.fi Messages regularly to make sure that you read all your important messages.
• The Suomi.fi application and email notifications help you notice messages straight away.
• You can find the Suomi.fi application in app stores.
• Never go to Suomi.fi Messages by clicking on a link in an email, text message or some other place. If you use a computer or phone browser to access Suomi.fi Messages, it is best if you type the address suomi.fi/messages in the browser's address bar. Do not use search engine results or other links that may lead to the wrong site.

Additional information for citizens

Helpline for Suomi.fi services: tel. +358 295 0000