In this second article from my “Beginner’s Guide” series, I will show you how to add your custom domain to your Microsoft 365 tenant. In case you missed the first article on how to create your own Microsoft 365 tenant, you can read it here.

The first thing you need is a domain name. There are several domain registrars available in the world, I bought mine on Vimexx. Second thing is to have access to the DNS management of your domain. You need to be able to add DNS records (SRV, MX, TXT, CNAME,…).

Do you have the above ready? Let’s get started with how to add your custom domain to Microsoft 365!

Step 1: Sing in to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center

Go to the Microsoft 365 admin center and sign in with your Global Administrator. If you don’t see all options available in the left menu, click “Show all”.

Go to Settings => Domains.

Step 2: Add custom domain

Click on “+ Add domain”.

Now fill in your purchased domain name and click “Use this domain“.

Choose the option “Add a TXT record to the domain’s DNS records” and click “Continue“.

On the next screen you will get information for creating an TXT record for your domain. Next step is to sign in to your DNS management where your domain is registered and add this record. This record is needed to verify you own this domain name. Sometimes it can take up to 48h, but 90% of the time it’s within 10 minutes.
Did you add your TXT record? Click on “Verify“.

Step 3: Add DNS records

Has your domain been verified? Choose “Add your own DNS records” and click “Continue“.

You will you get an overview of al required DNS records for the Exchange Online services, click on “Advanced Options” at the end of the screen.

Now you will also see all required DNS records for other services, now mark both services.
As you can see there is a service Skype for Business, this is a little misleading because these records are also needed for Microsoft Teams.

As you can see there is a service Skype for Business, this is a little misleading because these records are also needed for Microsoft Teams.
Add all those DNS records and click “Continue“.

If all DNS records are known (can take up to 24h, so be patient) your domain is ready to go. Click “Done“.

You domain is not visible in the domains overview and has the status Healthy.

That’s it! Your custom domain is now ready to use with your Microsoft 365 tenant. Next step, is to add users to your tenant and assign licenses to them. There will be an article coming soon on how you can add your users, so stay tuned for Part 3.

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