Add a domain to Office 365
If you have a domain that you haven’t used yet, or if you have a custom domain that you use for email only, and you want to use your domain with Microsoft Office 365 for professionals and small businesses, follow the steps here.
Tip
If you have a domain that you use with a public website, you can move your email to Office 365 but keep your website with your current hosting provider, outside of Office 365. To learn how, see Move your email to Office 365 and keep your current public-facing website.
Prepare before you add your domain name
Before you add your domain name, keep in mind the following.
To add a domain name, you must have already registered a domain name and have the sign-in credentials needed for your domain registrar.
If you don’t have a custom domain name, you can buy one from a domain registrar.
If you already have a domain name but you don’t have the sign-in credentials at your domain registrar, contact the person who registered the domain name.
For more information, see Locate your domain services or buy a new domain.
Please remember! Although you configure your domain to work with the Office 365 services, you can’t let your domain expire by not paying your domain registrar. If you don’t renew your domain registration, your Office 365 services won’t work. For example, email won’t be delivered, and Lync Online won’t work. Your domain registrar will notify you when your domain registration is about to expire.
If you are currently using custom domains in Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite, you cannot add the same domains to Office 365.
When you verify your domain ownership to Office 365, you add a DNS record at your domain registrar and have to wait for the record to propagate through the DNS system. The process usually takes about 15 minutes but can take up to 72 hours. There’s also a delay for DNS propagation after you change your name server records in the final step of adding your domain.
Add a domain
To add a custom domain to Office 365, use the Add a domain wizard as follows.
To watch a video about how to add your domain, see Office 365: Adding a Registered Domain Name.
On the Admin page, in the left pane, under Management, click Domains, and then click Add a domain.
On the Add a domain page, under Specify domain, type the domain name that you want to add, and then click Next.
Note
If this information doesn’t match what you’re seeing, you may be using Office 365 after the service upgrade. Try Add your domain to Office 365 to find the information that applies to you.
Am I using Office 365 after the service upgrade?Follow the steps in the wizard to verify with Office 365 that the domain name you have added belongs to you. For step-by-step directions, see Verify your domain and change name servers.
Tip
After you add your domain to Office 365, you can change the default domain for new email addresses. For more information, see Change the default domain name. You can also update your own email address (which is also your user ID) to use your custom domain name instead of the onmicrosoft.com domain. For more information about working with user accounts in Office 365, see Create or edit users.
Important
After you add and verify your domain, to complete the process so that you can use your domain in Office 365, you must update your name server records, the DNS records that direct your domain traffic, for your Office 365 account. After you switch your name server records, Office 365 hosts all DNS records for your domain and automatically creates the required records for services, such as email and Lync Online.
Need detailed instructions for changing the domain name server records on popular domain registrar websites? See Verify your domain and change name servers.
To check the status of your domain, on the Domains page, select the domain, and then, on the Domain properties page, click Troubleshoot domain.
If you have any problems, see Troubleshoot issues after changing your domain name. If your changes still aren’t working properly, see Get support for Office 365.
See Also
Troubleshoot issues after changing your domain name
Verify your domain and change name servers
Locate your domain services or buy a new domain
Use a custom domain name for your SharePoint Online public-facing website address