How To Add A Domain To Office 365? - Step By Step Guide

Domain names play a vital role in establishing trust and a personalized brand in your organization. It’s typically used in your website addresses and Email IDs. When you first sign up for Office 365, the default domain name “Your-domain.onmicrosoft.com” will be assigned.

Until you add your own domain to Office 365, any new users you create will contain the default domain name. For example, your email IDs will look like [email protected]. You can change it to a personalized address like [email protected].

Here is my step-by-step configuration guide to add a custom domain to Office 365.

Table of contents

• What is a Custom Domain in Microsoft 365?
• Why Add a Custom Domain to Microsoft 365?
• What You Need Before Adding a Domain
• Add Custom Domain to Office 365 : Step-by-Step Instructions
• Using a Custom Domain with Office 365 Services
• Troubleshooting Common Issues
• Conclusion

What is a Custom Domain in Microsoft 365?

So, what’s a custom domain? Simply put, it’s your own website address, like yourbusiness.com, that you can use with Microsoft 365 instead of the default yourbusiness.onmicrosoft.com.

Using a custom domain makes your emails and Microsoft 365 services look more professional. Imagine sending emails from [email protected] instead of [email protected], it’s a game-changer for branding!

Why Add a Custom Domain to Microsoft 365?

Think of your domain name – like yourbusiness.com – as your online street address. When you use it with Microsoft 365, it’s like having a prestigious office building at that address. Here’s why the custom domain setup is so beneficial:

• Enhanced Branding and Professionalism: Instead of [email protected], you get [email protected]. See the difference? It instantly elevates your brand image in every email you send and every interaction you have online. It tells people you’re serious.
• Improved Credibility and Trust: Let’s be honest, emails from a custom domain look more trustworthy to clients and partners. They know who they’re dealing with, and it builds confidence. I’ve personally seen a positive shift in how my communications were perceived once I made the switch.
• Greater Control Over Your Online Identity: You own your domain! This means you have control over your email addresses and other online services tied to it. If you ever switch providers, your core identity stays with you.
• Consistency Across Microsoft 365 Services: Once you add your domain, you can use it not just for email (Exchange Online) but also for other Microsoft 365 services in your tenant, like SharePoint Online and even Microsoft Teams. This creates a unified and professional online presence.

What You Need Before Adding a Domain

Before you jump into the admin portal, make sure you’ve got these covered:

• A domain name: You’ll need to purchase your own domain name from providers like GoDaddy, Namecheap, or Google Domains.
• DNS access: You’ll need to log in to wherever your domain is hosted to edit and update records. So, make sure you have the credentials for the DNS hosting provider.
• Microsoft 365 Global Admin role: Without this, you won’t be able to add or manage domains.

A lot of folks I’ve helped skipped one of these and hit a wall midway. Don’t be that person, have your logins ready. It’s best practice to add your custom domain setup, before you create user accounts or synchronize your on-premises Active Directory!

Add Custom Domain to Office 365: Step-by-Step Instructions

Adding a domain to Office 365 is a multi-step process. First, you need to verify the domain with Microsoft that you are the domain owner. Next, you need to set up the DNS records for Office 365 services.

Let’s walk through the steps:

1. Log in to the Office 365 Admin Portal, https://admin.microsoft.com/AdminPortal/.
2. From the left navigation menu, expand Settings >> Click on “Domains”. You will see a list of domains associated with your account.
3. To add a new Domain, click on the “Add domain” button on the top.

   

4. Enter the name of your domain you want to add, then click “Use this domain”. In my case, it’s “Crescent.com”.

   

5. Choose how you want to verify that you own the domain. My domain is registered with Cloudflare, So Office 365 gives me an option to sign in and set up records to verify domain automatically. You can also use a TXT record to manually verify your domain.

   

6. Select the “Sign in to Cloudflare (recommended)” option and click Next (or select your hosting provider). This pops up the login page for the hosting company’s DNS control panel. To complete this step, you must log in to your domain’s DNS host portal.
7. Select how you want to add DNS records required for Office to use your domain. In my case, I selected “Add the DNS records” so that Office 365 configures the necessary DNS entries automatically.
8. Click Next – After your domain has been successfully verified by Office 365, Office 365 prompts you to set up your online services such as MX records, SRV records, etc. You can select relevant services or select the “Set up my online services for me. (Recommended)” option.

   

9. You may get a prompt again from the domains page on the next screen. Authorize to continue making changes. The next pages give you a summary of all the required DNS changes the wizard is about to make, such as MX records for Outlook Email, CNAME records for multi-purpose, TXT records for configuration and setting purposes, and Service Protocols for Teams.

   

10. If successful, you should see the message “Congratulation! Your domain and email addresses are all set up”.

    

11. That’s all! You have Office 365 set up and ready with a custom domain. You should be able to create users and assign appropriate licenses. Furthermore, you should see the domain in your Domains list.

Now you can add user accounts to the added domain and assign the domain to the existing users.

Using a Custom Domain with Office 365 Services

Once your domain is added and DNS is verified, it’s time to connect it with Microsoft services:

• Exchange Online: Set as the default domain, so all new mailboxes use it. If you have users with the .onmicrosoft.com address, you can now change their primary email address to use your custom domain.
• Teams: No extra config needed, but user identity reflects the new domain
• SharePoint / OneDrive: The domain is part of the user’s sign-in identity
• User creation: Choose the custom domain when setting up user names

I usually update existing users with PowerShell using a loop to change UserPrincipalNames in bulk. Saves a ton of time.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Even with a clear guide, things can go wrong. I’ve hit plenty of snags while adding domains to Office 365. Here are the most common issues and how to fix them:

• Domain Verification Fails: Double-check your TXT record in DNS settings. Make sure there are no typos and that you’ve saved the changes in your registrar.
• DNS Propagation Delays: DNS changes can take up to 24 hours. Use a tool like whatsmydns.net to check if your records are live.
• Email Not Sending or Receiving: This often indicates an issue with the MX records or other DNS records. Double-check that you’ve entered all the required records correctly at your domain registrar.
• Incorrect DNS Records: If email or Teams isn’t working, verify your MX and CNAME records match Microsoft’s recommendations.

One time, I spent an hour troubleshooting a client’s domain only to realize they’d added the TXT record to the wrong domain! Always double-check your work.

Conclusion

Getting your domain into Office 365 is one of the most important steps in setting up a professional digital workspace. Whether you’re adding a domain to Microsoft 365 for email, Teams, or identity, it helps you look polished and feel in control.

Remember to verify your DNS carefully, use tools like MXToolbox for checks, and don’t be afraid to wait a few extra minutes for DNS to catch up.

Ready to get started? Head to the Microsoft 365 admin center, grab your domain registrar login, and follow these steps. You’ll be sending emails from your shiny new [email protected] address in no time!

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