Microsoft 365 – the productivity and collaboration suite offered by Microsoft is quite a popular tool ideal for organizations of all sizes – from small and medium businesses to enterprises, and even startups. The familiar tools like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, Outlook, etc. have become synonymous with workplace productivity.
One of the most sought-after tools available in your Microsoft 365 suite is Outlook – to manage business emails and communications.
However, many times businesses and admins struggle when they have to set up their M365 business email.
In this article, we will walk you through a step-by-step guide to help you set up your Microsoft 365 Business email easily and quickly. Whether you’re a beginner to M365 or need a quick refresher – dive in.
Microsoft 365 Business Email Setup Guide
1) Selecting the M365 Plan (Pre-requisite)
In order to set up a business email for your domain – you must first purchase a Microsoft 365 Plan.
Microsoft offers a wide range of Microsoft 365 Plans for both Business and Enterprise customers.
If you want a detailed guide on selecting the right Microsoft 365 plan for your business, you can check out this article: Microsoft 365 buying guide: How to pick the right version for your business?
2) Install Office on your PC or device and add users
In the next step, you will need to install Office on your PC or your MAC device. Microsoft offers a simple installation guide – that takes only a few minutes to install.
3) Set up email with a custom domain
Now, we have come to the most important section – setting up the email.
Before you start the process, you must ensure that you are a global administrator for the Microsoft 365 account. Usually, the person who signs up becomes the tech administrator by default. You can later add or define admin roles as per the size of your organization.
3.1 Add a domain to your M365 subscription
The first step when setting an email – is to add a domain. Now, Microsoft 365 subscription allows you to add either an existing domain or purchase a new domain. If you don’t have any existing domain, you can purchase a new domain from the provider of your choice. You can also buy domain names from ZNetLive, here – and get free value-added services.
Moving on, once you have a domain name, you can follow the following steps:
Or,
Login to >>https://admin.microsoft.com/ >> Go to https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home?source=applauncher#/Domains/ >> Add domain
Here is a screenshot of the Admin Panel Console for your reference.
The next, step is to verify the ownership.
3.2 Verifying the domain
The next important step is to verify the domain you just entered in the previous step. Microsoft requires you to verify that you are the owner of the entered domain. This is done by adding the DNS settings of your domain. You will need to enter the TXT record – you can get it from your domain name registrar.
Click on ‘Verify Ownership’ to begin the process.
Now, Microsoft allows you to auto-verify the domain if the hosting provider is enabled with the Domain Connect service by Microsoft. In this guide, we will share the verification process for different registrars.
How to verify your GoDaddy domain with Microsoft 365?
If your domain registrar is GoDaddy, you can follow the steps below for verification:
Enter the domain name in the provided space (Fig 3)
Enter your domain name. For this guide, we have kept the domain name as “setupo365.tk”
Now click on the ‘Sign in to GoDaddy‘ option on the screen. (Fig 4)
After clicking on VERIFY, the window will navigate to the login page of GoDaddy. Sign in and all the records will be created automatically. With this, your domain verification with GoDaddy is complete.
How to verify the ZNetLive domain with Microsoft 365?
Follow steps 1, 2, and 3 . Once you are on the Domain Add Screen (Fig 3), enter your domain name.
Click on >> Use this domain.
On the next screen, select More Options.
Select Add the TXT record from the DNS panel option on this screen. (Fig 6)
** VERIFYING THE DOMAIN IS A MUST else Microsoft will not allow proceeding further.
Now, add a TXT record, and click on Verify, as shown in the below screenshot.
Once you add the TXT record, you will also need to add this record to your DNS settings. The DNS Settings will vary according to the domain registrar. Once you get the TXT value from here – you’ll need to enter this into your domain’s TXT value – and ensure that the two match.
Now, if your DNS Server provider is ZNetLive, you will need to add records in your member panel as well.
If you’re using any of the below domain default nameservers of the ZNetLive:
dns1.znetlive.com
dns2.znetlive.com
dns4.znetlive.com
dns3.znetlive.com
Follow the below steps for verifying the domain: Login to manage.znetlive.com/memberp >> My Services >> List Search Services >> Select the domain>> Domain Control Centre >> DNS Management >> TXT Record>> Add
When using the hosting nameservers of the ZNetLive for Plesk Panel
Log in to your hosting panel >> Select the domain >> Hosting & DNS >> DNS Settings >> Add record
Verification Complete.
And with this last step, the domain verification is complete. Let’s move on to the next step.
3.3 Connect the domain (Adding DNS)
After the verification, Click on Continue >> Add the provided 3 records i.e., MX, CNAME & TXT >> Continue.
To Connect the domain, you will need to add the three records as shown in the screenshot below:
When using domain default nameservers of ZNetLive
If you’re using the below domain default nameservers of ZNetLive, you will need to add the records in Member Panel, as shown in the image below.
When using hosting nameservers of ZNetLive
If you are using the hosting nameservers of ZNetLive, follow these steps to add the records
Websites & Domains >> Select the domain name >> DNS Settings >> Add Record >> OK >> Update after all the 3 records.
Once all the records are added, go back to M365 Admin Console & click on CONTINUE
With this, the domain setup is complete.
What’s next? – Add users
Once your domain is added, verified, and connected, you can simply log in to your newly created business email containing your domain. You can update or add the email addresses of the users as per the new domain name.
Here’s how you can add new users:
- Login to https://admin.microsoft.com/ >> Users >> Active Users >> Add user
2. Enter the basic details like the first name, last name, display name, etc. as shown in the screenshot below:
Now, Microsoft also allows you to assign licenses to the users you’re adding in your organization. This allows them to enjoy the features associated with a particular license.
After assigning the license in the previous step, click Next. Now, you will see the Optional Settings. You can click on NEXT to move on to the next screen.
The last step is to review the details you have added for the user. Once done, you can click on Finish Adding.
Now, the screen will display the details of the user you have just added. You can save the user details (as shown in the screenshot below) and then close the window.
With this, we have reached the end of our M365 Business Email Setup Guide. Hope you enjoyed it. Do share your thoughts in the comments section below.
If you would like to know more about Microsoft 365 plans, you can get in touch with us at sales@znetlive.com.
Priya an ambivert by nature, believes in giving shape to her ideas through her write ups. She is an intellectual person who loves exploring and researching about new things. In her free times she loves reading novels along with some soft music.
