How to Add a Domain to Change Your Microsoft 365 Email Address
When you first sign up for Microsoft 365 for your business, you’re initially assigned an email address and username that uses the default onmicrosoft.com domain. While this is functional, it doesn’t look very professional, and can be hard for clients and colleagues to remember. To enhance your brand image and streamline communication, you’ll likely want to replace this temporary email address with your own custom business domain.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of adding your custom domain to Microsoft 365, allowing you to change your email address to something more professional and easier to remember.
Before You Start
It’s important to note that changes to your domain could impact your email service. To minimize disruptions, it’s a good idea to make these changes during off-business hours, especially if you or your employees rely heavily on email for daily operations.
Steps to Add a Domain to Microsoft 365
1. Access the Microsoft 365 Admin Center
To begin, sign in to your Microsoft 365 admin account. Once you’re in, navigate to the Admin Center. From there, select the option to Set up email with a custom domain. This will start the process of adding your new domain.
2. Choose Your Domain
Microsoft 365 will now ask whether you want to buy a new domain or use one you already own. If you don’t have a domain yet, you can purchase one directly through Microsoft. If you already have a domain registered with a different provider, you can easily add it to your Microsoft account.
3. Verify Your Domain Ownership
Once you’ve selected your domain, Microsoft will ask you to verify that you own it. This is done by adding a DNS (Domain Name System) record to your domain.
To do this:
- Sign in to your domain registrar’s website (this is the company where you bought your domain, such as GoDaddy, Namecheap, etc.).
- Depending on the registrar, Microsoft might add the DNS record automatically. If not, you’ll need to manually add it.
Here’s how to manually add the DNS record:
- Go to the section of your registrar’s site where you can manage or edit DNS records.
- Create a new DNS record by selecting the TXT record type. Microsoft will provide the values for the fields that need to be filled in. Copy the information provided in the Microsoft 365 setup screen.
- Paste the value from Microsoft 365 into the corresponding fields in your registrar’s DNS settings.
- For the TTL field, select Custom, and enter the TTL value provided by Microsoft 365.
4. Wait for the DNS Record to Propagate
After you’ve added the record, it may take a little time for Microsoft to detect it. Be patient and keep checking until Microsoft confirms that it has successfully verified your domain.
5. Update Your Email Address and Login Credentials
Once your domain is verified, you’ll be able to choose your new email address and login. This is where you can replace the onmicrosoft.com address with your professional domain name, such as name@yourcompany.com.
After setting your new email address, sign out of your current Microsoft 365 account and sign back in using your new email address, keeping the same password. This ensures your login is linked to your new domain.
6. Complete DNS Setup
Next, you’ll need to finish connecting your domain to Microsoft 365 by adding a few more DNS records. These include:
- MX Record: This will route incoming emails to the correct mail server.
- CNAME Record: This helps with certain services, such as Outlook autodiscovery.
- TXT Record: This helps with email authentication.
For each of these records, go back to your domain registrar’s website, and copy and paste the values provided by Microsoft 365 into the corresponding fields.
7. Finalize Your Setup
After completing these DNS records, return to the Microsoft 365 admin center, and confirm that your domain is fully connected. Once all the records are verified, your new email address will be ready to use!
Adding Employees to Your Domain
Now that your email address is set up with your new custom domain, you can add your employees to Microsoft 365 and assign them their own custom email addresses.
To do this:
- In the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, select the option to Add a new user.
- Enter the employee’s name, username (e.g., employee@yourcompany.com), and an existing email address so they can receive their new login credentials.
- If you have multiple employees to add, simply repeat this process for each one.
Conclusion
That’s it! You and your employees are now ready to send and receive emails using your new business email addresses with your custom domain. This simple change will not only improve the professionalism of your communications, but it also helps build your brand identity.
Thanks for reading, and good luck with your Microsoft 365 setup!
