Adding Domain

Question

I would like to add my domain to an email. How do I add a domain?

Answer 1

Hi John Porter

From your post, I understand that you want to add a domain to an email.

I can see there's already a Q&A Assist reply under your post. To avoid repeating it, could you please confirm whether you already tried those steps, and if yes, what happened?

To narrow this down, could you please also clarify which account you're using?:

• a personal Outlook.com account (home/personal mailbox), or
• a Microsoft 365 business account (with admin access)?

Looking forward to your reply so I can provide you with the correct guidance. Thank you for your understanding.

Answer 2

Hi! Are you trying to use it with a personal Outlook.com account or a Microsoft 365 business account? For a custom domain, Microsoft only supports this through Microsoft 365, not standard Outlook.com anymore, so you need to sign up for a Microsoft 365 plan, then go to the admin center, add your domain under Settings, Domains, verify ownership through DNS records at your domain registrar, and then assign that domain to your users’ email addresses.

Answer 3

To add a custom domain so email uses that domain instead of the default yourcompany.onmicrosoft.com, first add the domain to Microsoft 365, then update user email addresses to use it.

1. Ensure admin permissions
   • Must be a Domain Name Administrator or global admin on a Microsoft 365 business/enterprise subscription.
2. Add the custom domain to Microsoft 365
   • Go to the Microsoft 365 admin center.
   • Either:
     • Go to Setup → under Sign-in and security select Get your custom domain set up → Get Started, or
     • Go to Settings → Domains → + Add domain.
   • Enter the domain name to add and select Use this domain.
   • Follow the steps to verify ownership:
     • If the registrar supports Domain Connect, sign in to the registrar when prompted and authorize adding the TXT DNS record.
     • If not, manually add the TXT record at the registrar as instructed, then continue once verification succeeds.
   • On How do you want to connect your domain, select Continue.
   • On Add DNS records, choose the Microsoft 365 services (such as email/Exchange, Teams) and select Add DNS records.
     • With Domain Connect, authorize the DNS changes in the registrar window.
     • With manual DNS, add the shown MX, CNAME, TXT, and other records at the DNS host, then continue.
   • When DNS is correctly configured, the wizard shows Domain setup is complete.
3. Use the domain for email addresses
   • If using Microsoft 365 for email, add users and mailboxes after the domain is added but before pointing MX to Microsoft 365, to avoid mail interruption.
   • To change an existing user’s email to the new domain:
     • In the admin center, go to Users → Active users.
     • Select a user, edit the username, and change the domain part to the new custom domain.
   • Sign out and sign back in with the updated email address.

Notes:

• If an Exchange license is not assigned, the domain cannot be used to send/receive email from Microsoft 365.
• If a domain was purchased during sign-up, it is already connected and can be used directly for email.

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References:

• Add a custom domain to Microsoft 365
• Add a custom domain name
• Change your Microsoft 365 email address to use your custom domain