Microsoft Office 365 Family - DNS Setup
As a benefit of a Microsoft 365 Family or Personal subscription, you can create a personalized email address that's associated with your Outlook.com mailbox. For example, yourname@yourdomain.com. The official process is described on this Microsoft support article.
Unfortunately M$ announced that they will be removing the ability to use a custom domain with a 365 family/personal subscription from Nov 2023.
You can still configure and modify a domain until that date, after then no further changes will be possible.
It might be the case that you have a domain name already registered elsewhere which you don't want to move (losing already-paid-for registration time), or that you prefer not to be tied-in to GoDaddy (their sales process is notorious for upselling extras).
These instructions are essentially lifted and consolidated from the advice given in a microsoft community support thread I have M365 Family and a domain name not on GoDaddy. Thanks to all who contributed.
1. If you have no reason to NOT use GoDaddy, then use GoDaddy; it is just easier. Continuing with a different registrar is probably only for advanced computer users who will understand how to correct the settings if something goes wrong.
2. If you do prefer to use another registrar, then it is possible; Here's how:
2a. Go to Outlook.com and sign in.
2b. Click on the "Manage Premium" diamond and tell it you want a personalized email address. Click the link at the bottom, "I already own a godaddy domain" to use an existing domain (even though it's registered elsewhere).
2c. A Godaddy "domain connect" sign-in browser window will pop up. You need the mxRecordValue parameter from it.
Note that the URL might be url-encoded, where '%3F -> ?', '%3D -> =', '%26 -> &':
- normal example: https://domainconnect.godaddy.com/v2/domainTemplates/providers/outlook.com/services/personalizedoutlookemail/apply?mxRecordValue=123456789&state=abcdef123456789abcdef123456789ab&redirect_url=https%3A%2F%2Foutlook.live.com/mail/LaunchDomainConnectNextStep.html
- encoded example: https://sso.godaddy.com/login?realm=idp&app=dcc&path=%2Fmanage%2Fv2%2FdomainTemplates%2Fproviders%2Foutlook.com%2Fservices%2Fpersonalizedoutlookemail%2Fapply%3FmxRecordValue%3D987654321%26state%3Dabcdef123456789abcdef123456789ab%26domain%3Dyourdromain.com%26redirect_url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Foutlook.live.com%2Fmail%2FLaunchDomainConnectNextStep.html&auth_reason=1
Look for the text: ...?mxRecordValue=987654321&... or ...%3FmxRecordValue%3D987654321%26... - the "987654321" is your MX record value.
2d. Sign in to your registrar and enter the domain records, substituting your own MX record value for 987654321:
| Type | Name | Priority | Value | TTL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNAME | autodiscover | autodiscover.outlook.com | 1 Hour | |
| CNAME | _domainconnect | _domainconnect.gd.domaincontrol.com | 1 Hour | |
| MX | @ | 0 | 987654321.pamx1.hotmail.com | 1 Hour |
| TXT | @ | "v=spf1 include:outlook.com ~all" | 1 Hour | |
| TXT | _outlook | "987654321" | 1 Hour | |
| TXT | _dmarc | "v=DMARC1; p=none;" | 1 Hour |
Notes:
- CNAME "_domainconnect" entry enables Outlook to see your non-GoDaddy domain as one managed by GoDaddy. DomainConnect(.org) is an 'industry standard' for automating setup of email/web provider settings. It's not something that is used exclusively by Microsoft and GoDaddy. Obviously, in this instance the DomainConnect process is not going to be utilized at all as you will be entering all of the required information manually into your domain provider's DNS record.
- MX entry - You will likely have an existing entry that you should modify rather than creating a competing entry.
- MX entry - priority "0" (the highest) appears to be required for O365 to recognise the domain. Otherwise you will see the message "Your domain yourdomain.com is still being configured. This can take up to 24hrs".
- TTL may be "Automatic" eg. on Namecheap, some registrars may specify a number in seconds. Around an hour is typical but it's not critical.
2e. Check your DNS records independently
You can confirm that your records are configured properly using nslookup on the CMD-Prompt or an online tool such as mxtoolbox.com.
| Pref | Hostname | IP Address | TTL | Check | Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 987654321.pamx1.hotmail.com | 104.47.73.161 | 30 min | Blacklist Check | SMTP Test |
2f. Now go back to outlook.com and Premium > Personalized email address.
Close the window which prompted to Sign-in to GoDaddy, you've just setup all necessary DNS record entries with your own registrar.
2g. After an interval (probably at most the TTL), Outlook "Personalised email address" should display a message similar to:
"We've connected your domain yourdomain.com to Outlook, but you still need to create your personalised email address"
Learn more
Simply click the button and enter the username@yourdomain.com which you prefer.
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