Setting Up Custom Domain in Microsoft 365 via Admin Center

Introduction

Microsoft 365 is a collection of tools and cloud services that help people work together, communicate, and be more productive. It used to be called Office 365 and includes popular apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, as well as cloud services like OneDrive, SharePoint, and Microsoft Teams.

What is Domain?

A domain is like the address of your website on the internet. It's a simple way to find your site, such as www.example.com. The Domain Name System (DNS) helps with this by changing domain names into IP addresses, which are numbers that computers use to find each other online.

What is a Custom Domain?

A custom domain is a special web address that you pick for your website. Instead of using a standard address from a hosting service (like yourname.wordpress.com), a custom domain lets you have a unique and personalized address (like techshifa.com).

Step 1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center

Using the URL https://admin.microsoft.com/, go to the Microsoft Admin Center
Sign in with your administrator credentials or the credentials assigned to the Domain Name Administrator role.

Step 2. Navigate to the Domain Section

Go to the Navigation menu on the left side
Then Click on “Settings.”
And then click on “Domains.”

Step 3. Add a New Custom Domain

Click on “Add domain.”
Type in the custom domain name you want to add (like techshifa.com)
And then click “Use this Domain.”

Step 4. Verify Your Domain Ownership

Before setting up techshifa.com, you need to sign in to your domain host and confirm that you own the domain.

Pick a way to verify you own the domain. The usual method is to add a TXT record to your domain’s DNS settings.
Then click to "Continue"
GoDaddy is My DNS hosting provider

Step 5. Add a record to confirm ownership.

The TXT DNS record is provided by Microsoft to verify domain ownership.

Step 6. Link your DNS records at GoDaddy to Microsoft 365.:

Go to GoDaddy using the URL https://ae.godaddy.com/ and then use your credentials to log in to your account.
In the left-hand navigation pane, select “Domain”.
Choose your domain to verify the DNS record to connect to Microsoft 365. (I choose techshifa.com)
Then Click "DNS"

Step 7. Manually create DNS records.

Click "Add New Record"

Step 8. Add a TXT record to verify.

Type the TXT record provided by Microsoft 365.
- Type: TXT
- Name: @
- Value: MS=ms9******
- TTL: 3600 / 1 Hour
Then click 'Save' to save the record.

Step 9. Verify Ownership

Go back to the Microsoft Admin Center
Then Click Verify to verify the domain ownership

Step 10. Configure Domain Services

Add your own DNS record
Then Click "Continue"

Step 11. Add the DNS records

Choose this option if your organization uses Skype for Business for chat, conference calls, and video calls, in addition to Microsoft Teams. Skype needs 4 records: 2 SRV records for user communication and 2 CNAME records for sign-in and connecting users.

Go to the DNS records section from the domain hosting
Click “New Record."
Add the required records by Click "Add more Record"
Then Click "Save All the Records"

Ones new DNS record updated on the domain hosting. Then Click "Continue"

Step 12. Complete the setup

Click "Done" to complete the setup
The new domain has been successfully added to Microsoft 365.

Conclusion

Setting up your custom domain in Microsoft 365 using the Admin Center involves a few steps. First, add your domain and confirm you own it. Next, set up the DNS records for email and other services. Finally, finish the setup to complete the process. This ensures your custom domain works with Microsoft 365.