Contents

Admin home
Overview
Admin overview
Sign up for Office 365
Video training
About the admin center
What subscription do I have?
Learn about Office 365 Germany
Admin Mobile App
Setup
Set up Office 365
Plan your setup
Add domain
Domains FAQ
Install applications
Migrate email and contacts
Roll out Teams
Set up file storage and sharing
Customize team site
Upgrade users to latest Office client
Customize Sign-in page
Create distribution groups
Customize your organization theme
Users and roles
Add users
Delete a user
Restore user
Reset passwords
Set password to never expire
 Let users reset passwords
Resend user password
Give mailbox permissions to another user
Change a user name and email address
Create, edit, or delete a custom user view
Add new employee
Remove former employee
Get access to and back up a former user's data
About admin roles
Assign admin roles
About Exchange Online admin role
Email
Email in Office 365
Office 365 user email settings
Add another email alias for a user
Create a shared mailbox
Convert user mailbox to shared mailbox
Change email address
Configure Focused Inbox
Create signatures and disclaimers
Create, edit, or delete a security group
Configure email forwarding
Email collaboration
Add user or contact to distribution group
Configure Clutter
Remove license from shared mailbox
Secure your business data
Top 10 ways to secure your data
Set up multi-factor authentication
Set up multi-factor authentication (with Office 2013)
GDPR compliance
Activity reports and analytics
Activity reports overview
 Activity reports overview
Usage analytics
Enable usage analytics
Get the latest version of usage analytics
Navigate and utilize reports
Active user in usage reports
Customize reports
Usage analytics data model
Usage analytics errors
Manage
Manage Office 365
Change contact preferences
Change address, contact, and more
Update phone number and email address
Set password expiration policy
Customize the app launcher
Requirements for Centralized Deployment
Use Centralized Deployment to deploy add-ins
Find your partner or reseller
Room and equipment mailboxes
Send email as distribution list
Upgrade distribution lists
Share sites with external users
Share calendars with external users
Subscriptions and billing
Manage your subscriptions
Sign up for an Office 365 trial subscription
Extend your trial
Buy a subscription from your free trial
Buy another subscription
Buy or edit an add-on
Add storage space
View your bill or invoice
 Understand your invoice
Pay for your subscription
Add, update, or remove credit card or bank account
Change payment method
Change your billing addresses
What tax will I be charged?
Apply for tax exempt status
Renew your subscription
Reactivate your subscription
Switch to a different plan
What does switching plans do to my service and billing?
Back up data before switching plans
Cancel your subscription
What if my subscription expires?
Subscriptions and licenses
Buy licenses
Assign licenses to users
Unassign licenses from users
Remove licenses from subscription
Resolve license conflicts
Domains
Domains in Office 365
What is a domain?
Buy a domain name
Find your domain registrar
DNS basics
Information for DNS records
Find and fix issues
Domain Connect
Set up your domain (host-specific instructions)
Change nameservers at any domain registrar
Create DNS records at any DNS hosting provider
 Remove a domain
Transfer data manually
Groups
Groups overview
Compare groups
Create an Office 365 Group
Plan for governance in Office 365 Groups
Manage creation of Groups
Choose domain to create Groups
Groups naming policy
Allow members to send as or send on behalf of Group
Add or remove members from groups
Office 365 Group Expiration Policy
Restore deleted Group
Manage guest access in Groups
Office 365 operated by 21Vianet
About Office 365 operated by 21Vianet
Buy or try subscriptions
View your bill or get a Fapiao
Apply for a Fapiao
Azure Information Protection parity
Get new features
About the new admin center
What's new in the new admin center
Stay on top of changes
Release options in Office 365
Message center
Try or buy Microsoft 365
What's next
Contact support for business products
Learn about resources available for admins.

Buy Office

Setup

Contact support

Get new features

Multi-factor authentication

Microsoft 365

For your small business

Build your small business with Office 365.

For the Enterprise

Guidance for IT Professionals who are deploying, configuring, and managing Office 365 in enterprise organizations.

For everyone: Office training center

Find training for all Office applications.

Featured Articles
Get started
Who is my admin?
Plan your setup
Add users

Troubleshoot
Fix Office install issues
Fix Outlook and Office 365 problems with Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant for Office 365
Fix email issues
Fix OneDrive for Business sync issues
Learn more
Learn about the admin center
Microsoft Teams documentation
Advanced IT Pro training from LinkedIn Learning

Subscribe
Buy a subscription from your free trial
Cancel your subscription
 Office 365 admin overview
10/3/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

When you buy an Office 365 business plan or a Microsoft 365 for business plan, we give you a special account
that has admin permissions. This account is called an admin account.
With this account you can access the Microsoft 365 admin center to manage your business: add users, manage
your subscription, reset passwords, and more. Try it!
Sign in with your admin account at https://admin.microsoft.com.
Sign in with your admin account to Office 365 Germany at https://portal.office.de.
Sign in with your admin account to Office 365 operated by 21Vianet at
https://portal.partner.microsoftonline.cn.
If you get the message "You don't have permission to access this page or perform this action," you aren't an
admin.

Who has admin permissions in my business?

When looking for your admin to reset your password, delete an account, or do other tasks, here's who you should
contact:
Universities and schools: Contact your technical support team. Usually you can find a link on your
university site. At smaller schools, there may be just a few individuals who have admin permissions.
Large businesses: Contact your internal help desk / technical support.
Small businesses: Contact the business owner / co-owner. Often they give admin permissions to their IT
consultant who does all the computer maintenance work for their business.
By default, the person who signs up for and buys an Office 365 for business subscription gets admin permissions.
That person can assign admin permissions to other people to help them manage Office 365 for their organization.
If you have no idea who to contact at your work or school for help, try asking the person who gave you your user
account and password.
 How to sign up for Office 365 - Admin Help
9/27/2019 • 3 minutes to read • Edit Online

Sign up for Office 365 for business so your team can begin using the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint,
and other Office programs in your business.
Watch a quick overview of the three Office 365 for business plans, or scroll down for more info.

Sign up for Office 365 for business so your team can begin using the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint,
and other Office programs in your business.
Watch a quick overview of the three plans best for your business. or scroll down for more info.

Office 365 operated by 21Vianet is designed to meet the needs for secure, reliable and scalable cloud services in
China. This service is powered by technology that Microsoft has licensed to 21Vianet. Microsoft does not operate
the service itself. 21Vianet operates, provides and manages delivery of the service. 21Vianet is the largest carrier-
neutral Internet data center services provider in China, providing hosting, managed network services, and cloud
computing infrastructure services. By licensing Microsoft technologies, 21Vianet operates local Office 365
datacenters to provide you the ability to use Office 365 services while keeping your data within China. 21Vianet
also provides your subscription and billing services, as well as support.

NOTE
These services are subject to Chinese laws.

When you sign up for Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, your team can begin using the latest versions of Word,
Excel, PowerPoint, and other Office programs in your business.
Ready to sign up? Select a Plan.

Choose a plan
Before you buy, put some thought into the plan you sign up for. This will help prevent growing pains later.
Need help choosing? Sales consultants are available to answer your questions. Just go to Compare all products
and choose one of the contact support options listed at the left side of the page.

Choose a plan
Before you buy, put some thought into the plan you sign up for. This will help prevent growing pains later.
Need help choosing? Sales consultants are available to answer your questions. Just go to Compare all products
and choose one of the contact support options listed at the left side of the page.

Ready to sign up for a free trial or buy a subscription?

Go to Compare all products to choose the plan you want to buy and to start the sign-up wizard.
If you start with a free trial, you can buy it later. All your users and data from the trial will still be there.
You don't need to cancel your trial. If you don't buy the trial subscription, it automatically expires at the end of the
trial period, and all the information is permanently deleted.

Ready to sign up for a free trial or buy a subscription?

Go to Compare all products to choose the plan you want to buy and to start the sign-up wizard.
If you start with a free trial, you can buy it later. All your users and data from the trial will still be there.
You don't need to cancel your trial. If you don't buy the trial subscription, it automatically expires at the end of the
trial period, and all the information is permanently deleted.

You'll be asked for the following information when you sign up

The address and contact information for your subscription:
Country where the services will be used. You won't be able to change this later, even during the sign
up process; you'll have to re-start the sign up wizard.
Email and phone number so we can contact you if needed about your subscription. For example, if
you forget your password, we would use this information to send you a temporary one. We also send
your billing information to the email address you specify.

NOTE
The email address you enter here is different from your Office 365 email address (your logon name, below).
Because this is where we also send your billing information, we recommend you use an e-mail address that's
appropriate for receiving business email.

A sign-in name (user ID ): This becomes your initial Office 365 email address, just to get you started
quickly.
This is the email address you use to sign in. For example, if your business name is Fourth Coffee, you might
choose rob@fourthcoffee.onmicrosoft.com for your user ID.
Most people add their own custom domain shortly after they sign up so they can start getting email to it.
For example, if you have a custom domain named fourthcoffee.com, you can set up your email address as
rob@fourthcoffee.com.
Payment information:
You can pay for your subscription with a credit card. If the cost reaches a certain amount, you may also have
the option to pay by invoice.

IMPORTANT
When you sign up, be sure to choose the best payment option for your organization. Changing payment options
involves calling billing support.
 About the Microsoft 365 admin center
10/4/2019 • 3 minutes to read • Edit Online

If you purchased an Office 365 business plan AND you have admin permissions, you have access to the
admin center. This article is for you!
If you are a user or have an Office 365 home plan, you do not have an admin center. To set up Office 365,
go to Download and install or reinstall Office 365 or Office 2016 on a PC or Mac.
You use the admin center to set up your organization in the cloud, manage users, manage subscriptions, and much
more. In this article, learn how to get to the admin center and learn about available features and settings.

How to get to the admin center

1. Sign in at admin.microsoft.com with your admin account.
1. Sign in to the admin center with your admin account.
1. Sign in to the admin center with your admin account.
2. Select the app launcher icon in the upper-left and choose Admin.
The Admin tile appears only to people who have Office 365 admin permissions. If you don't see the tile,
then you don't have permissions to access the admin center for your organization.

Admin center features and settings

Here are the features and settings you'll find in the left-hand navigation of the admin center. Learn more about
admin tasks in admin help.

MENU WHAT IT'S FOR

Home This is the landing page in the new admin center. You'll see
where to manage users, billing, service health, and reports.

Users Create and manage users in your organization, like employees

or students. You can also set their permission level or reset
their passwords.

Groups Create and manage groups in your organization, such as an

Office 365 group, distribution group, security group, or
shared mailbox. Learn how to create and manage groups.

Resources Create and manage resources, like a SharePoint site collection.

Learn how to create site collections.
 MENU WHAT IT'S FOR

Billing View, purchase, or cancel subscriptions for your organization.

View past billing statements or view the number of assigned
licenses to individual users. Learn how to manage billing.

Support View existing service requests or create new ones. Learn more
in Contact support for business products - Admin Help.

Settings Manage global settings for apps like email, sites, and the
Office suite. Change your password policy and expiration date.
Add and update domain names like contoso.com. Change
your organization profile and release preferences. And choose
whether partners can access your admin center.

Setup Manage existing domains, turn on and manage multi-factor

authentication, manage admin access, migrate user mailboxes
to Office 365, manage feature updates, and help users install
their Office apps.

Reports See at a glance how your organization is using Office 365 with
detailed reports on email use, Office activations, and more.
Learn how to use the new activity reports.

Health View the service health at a glance. You can also check out
more details and the service health history. Check out How to
check service health.
Use Message center to keep track of upcoming changes to
features and services. We post announcements there with
information that helps you plan for change and understand
how it may affect users. Get more details in Message center in
Office 365.

Admin centers Open separate admin centers for Exchange, Skype for
Business, SharePoint, Yammer, and Azure AD. Each admin
center includes all available settings for that service.
For example, in the Exchange admin center, set up and
manage email, calendars, distribution groups, and more. In
the SharePoint admin center, create and manage site
collections, site settings, and OneDrive for Business. In the
Skype for Business admin center, set up instant messaging
notifications, dial-in conferencing, and online presence.
Learn more about the Exchange admin center and SharePoint
Admin Center.
Note: The admin centers available to you depend on your
plan and region.

Common tasks in the admin center

Manage users: Add users individually, Delete or restore users, or Reset a user's password.
Get help with billing: Billing
See activity reports: Activity Reports
Manage Office 365 groups: Create and manage Office 365 groups in Admin Center
 What subscription do I have?
9/27/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

If you're an admin, you can verify which subscriptions your organization has by going to the admin center.
Not an admin? See What Office 365 business product or license do I have?

Use the new admin center to determine what subscriptions you have
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Products & services page.
2. Your subscriptions are displayed on the Products & services page, together with the subscription name,
information about the subscription, and its status. To see a condensed view, select Table view.

Use the old admin center to determine what subscriptions you have
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Subscriptions page.
2. If you have only one subscription, it will be displayed on the Subscriptions page, along with the
subscription name, information about the subscription, and its status. In the following screenshot, you can
see that I have an Office 365 Business subscription.

3. If you have multiple subscriptions, you'll see a column next to the detailed subscription information that lists
the subscriptions that have been purchased, as well as any trial subscriptions. By default, the subscription at
the top of the list is automatically selected, and the detailed information for that subscription is shown.
If you have multiple subscriptions, choose the one for which you want to see detailed information. The
subscription card will update with information about that subscription.
 NOTE
If you have subscriptions that have expired or have been disabled, they'll be listed based on their current state.

Related topics
Subscriptions and billing
 Learn about Office 365 Germany
7/19/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

Office 365 Germany is a differentiated option to the Office 365 services already available across Europe. It helps
address the needs of the most regulated customers in Germany, the European Union (EU ), and the European Free
Trade Association (EFTA) by delivering our industry-leading productivity services for digital work, from German
datacenters, with data residency in Germany, and strict data access and control measures via a unique data trustee
model governed under German law.
The data trustee, T-Systems International, an independent German company and subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom,
controls physical and logical access to customer data. Customer data cannot be accessed without approval from or
supervision by the data trustee, which is governed by German law.
Learn more about how Office 365 Germany is designed to meet compliance and regulatory needs.

What Microsoft online services are available in Office 365 Germany?

Office 365 Germany plan offerings are aligned with global offers as much as possible. Exclusions include Yammer-
related plans, plans that are nearing their end-of-life, and plans available by way of non-profit programs. Office
365 E5, SPE, and other services will be available after general availability of Office 365 Germany.
The following services and features are available in some Office 365 Germany subscription plans. Additionally, see
the Online Services Terms.
Office 365 ProPlus, Office 2016, and Office 20131. Note that Office 2013 requires using Office 365 modern
authentication with Office clients.
Exchange Online
SharePoint Online
OneDrive for Business
Skype for Business
Exchange Online Protection
Office apps for the web
Office 365 Video
Project for the web
Visio for the web
Groups
Office 365 Security & Compliance Center
Customer Lockbox
Advanced eDiscovery
Advanced Threat Protection
Office 365 Threat Intelligence
 Office 365 Advanced Data Governance
Audit Log Search
Power BI Pro
Delve
1Office 365 Germany plans include client software applications that are installed and run on an end-user's device
("client software applications"), such as Office 365 ProPlus, Office 2013, and Office 2016. Client software
applications do not operate exclusively in German data centers and may enable an end-user to access online
services that are not German Online Services. For purposes of your agreement with Microsoft, client software
applications are not German Online Services. German data residency commitments and access control by German
data trustee apply only to the German Online Services.

General information

Sign in portal https://portal.office.de

Subscriptions, billing, and technical support Germany-based support available in German and English For
details, see Contact support for business products - Admin
Help.

IP Addresses and URLs See Office 365 Germany endpoints.

Yammer Not available.

Versions of Office older than Office 2013 or Office 365 Not supported.
ProPlus1

Office Lens Not available.

Ability to buy a domain from within Office 365 Not available.

SharePoint Store Each app that is available in a Microsoft app store is provided
by either Microsoft or a third-party app publisher and is
subject to a separate privacy statement and terms and
conditions. Data provided through the use of a Microsoft app
store and any app may be accessible to Microsoft or the third-
party app publisher, as applicable, and transferred to, stored,
and processed in the United States or any other country
where Microsoft or the app publisher and their affiliates or
service providers maintain facilities. Please work with the app
publisher to make sure it meets requirements for your Office
365 Germany deployment.

For a more detailed look at services available for each Office 365 plan, see the Office 365 Service Description.
 About the Microsoft 365 admin mobile app
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

Are you an admin who's usually on the go? Then check out the Microsoft 365 Admin app. You can use the app to
manage your online organization from your phone or tablet. You can get the app from the Apple Store, and from
Google Play.

The admin app is a feature-rich app that has over 80 features to help you manage your org when you can't get to a
computer. Here's a list of just a few of the tasks you can do from the app:
Get service health and change notifications
Create a service request
Reset a user's password
Assign licenses
Add or remove group memberships
Add users
And if you're someone who is responsible for more than one online organization, you sign in to multiple orgs and
quickly switch between them.

IMPORTANT
If you're having trouble using the Admin mobile app on iOS or Android, email us at feedback365@microsoft.com to let us
know.

Download the admin mobile app

Microsoft 365 Admin mobile app.

Frequently asked questions

Below are answers to some frequently asked questions people ask about the app.
What do I need to do to be able to use the app?
You need to have a valid Office 365 for business or Microsoft 365 Business subscription with admin privileges to
sign in and use the app. The Admin mobile app isn't an email client. It's a rich administrative app with over 80
features to help you support your org while your on the go.
Can I use the app with my Office 365 for home subscription?
No, the app only works with Office 365 for business and Microsoft 365 Business subscriptions.
Will the app work if my organization has directory synchronization enabled?
Yes, but with reduced functionality. You'll be able to sign in and view service information, but most of the user
management functions will be read-only. You won't be able to add, edit, or delete users. However, you'll be able to
assign licenses to users in your organization, and get notifications.
What languages are supported by the app?
The app supports all 39 languages that the web-based Microsoft 365 admin center supports.
Why does the Messages tile on the Home screen show numbers even after I've read the new messages?
The numbers are the total messages from the last week, not unread messages.
How can I share the Service Incidents and Messages with the rest of my organization?
If you select a specific service incident or a message, the share option will be in the top right corner. We currently
support email sharing.
My app is acting funny. What can I do to troubleshoot weird app behavior?
You can try some common mobile app troubleshooting steps:
1. Close and reopen the app.
2. Uninstall and reinstall the app.
3. If that doesn't work, you can email us at feedback365@microsoft.com to let us know.
What do I do if my question isn't answered?
Email feedback365@microsoft.com to report an issue with the app. Or you can give feedback at the bottom of this
article.
 Set up Office 365 for business
9/27/2019 • 10 minutes to read • Edit Online

Follow these five steps to get your business or nonprofit up and running with Office 365 Business Premium.
Not a business? See Set up for Office 365 Home or Office 365 Personal.
Business Premium
Business Essentials
Business
Education
These steps are for businesses and nonprofits that have the Office 365 Business Premium plan.
1. Sign up
1. To sign up for an Office 365 business plan, go to the Office Products site and select Buy now.
2. Choose the plan you want to sign up for, such as Office 365 Business Premium.
3. Follow the steps to sign up for an Office 365 business plan and then add users and connect your domain.

More at Sign up for Office 365 Business Premium.

2. Install Office
To install the Office apps, go to the admin center at https://admin.microsoft.com.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this admin center.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this admin center.
1. To start the wizard, select Go to setup.
2. Under Install your Office apps, select Get started.
3. Under Microsoft Office Professional Plus, select Install now.
4. Choose your language, and then Install.

More at Install Office.

3. Set up Outlook for email
1. On the Windows Start menu, search for Outlook, and select it.
(If you're using a Mac, open Outlook from the toolbar or locate it using the Finder.)
If you've just installed Outlook, on the Welcome page, select Next.
2. Choose File > Info > Add Account.
3. Enter your Office 365 email address and select Connect.

More at Set up Outlook for email.

4. Import email
If you were using Outlook with another email account, you can import your previous email, calendar, and contacts
into your new Office 365 account.
1. Export your old email
In Outlook, choose File > Open & Export > Import/Export.
Select Export to a File and then follow the steps to export your Outlook Data File (.pst) and any
subfolders.
2. Import your old email
In Outlook, choose File > Open & Export > Import/Export again.
This time, select Import from another program or file and follow the steps to import the backup file you
created when you exported your old email.

More at Import email with Outlook.

5. Use a public website
Office 365 doesn't include a public website for your business. If you want to set one up, consider using a Microsoft
partner, such as GoDaddy or WIX.
1. From the admin center, go to Resources, and then select Public website.
2. Select Learn more under one of the options, and then sign up with a website partner and use their tools to
set up and design your site.

More at Use a public website.

Need help? We're here for you!

Admins, have your account details ready when you call Microsoft Support.

In the United States, call 1 800 865 9408. In Canada, call 1 800 865 9408.
In Australia, call 1 800 197 503. In the United Kingdom, call 0800 032 6417.

For other countries, see Contact support for business products - Admin Help.
 Plan your setup of Office 365 for business
9/18/2019 • 10 minutes to read • Edit Online

This article is for people who have subscribed to an Office 365 business plan.
There are a few things you need to decide, and info you need to have on hand, before moving your business to
Office 365.

Info to have on hand before you run the Office 365 setup wizard
When you're ready to run the Office 365 setup wizard and move your domain to Office 365, here's the info you'll
need to have on hand:
1. List of people you want to add to Office 365. Even if you've already added them to Office 365, if you're
updating your domain information, you need to enter their names here.
2. How you're going to notify your employees of their Office 365 user ID and password so they can sign in.
Are you going to call them with the info? Or send it to their personal email address? They won't have access
to their Office 365 email, so you can't use that.
3. If you have a domain name for your business (such as contoso.com) and you plan on using Office 365
email, you'll need to know where your domain is registered and have sign-on information.

What happens when you run the Office 365 setup wizard
Here are the steps you'll do when you run the setup wizard:
1. Add your domain, such as contoso.com.
When you signed up for Office 365, you got a user ID that includes an "onmicrosoft.com" domain. In this
step, you can add your own domain so your user ID and email are personalized for your business, like
rob@contoso.com. Domain setup can be confusing, but we'll guide you through it step by step. What's a
domain?

2. Verify your domain. In this step, the wizard gives you a code - called a TXT value - that you enter at your
domain registrar. If your registrar is GoDaddy, the wizard prompts you to login in at GoDaddy so Office 365
can enter the code for you!
3. Add your users. You can add users later, too; see Add users individually or in bulk.

NOTE
If you need to Assign admin roles in Office 365 for business to the users you add in the wizard, you can do that later
on the Users page.

4. Migrate email and contacts from another email service that uses IMAP (such as Gmail). For more migration
options, or if you just want to migrate your email later, see Migrate email and contacts to Office 365.
5. Setup online services, such as email and Skype for Business.

6. Change your nameservers. (You don't have to do this step if your domain registrar is GoDaddy.)
IMPORTANT: After you do this step, your user's email will be delivered to their Office 365 mailbox. It may
take up to 72 hours for your domain provider to start rerouting email.

7. Congratulations! You're finished!

8. Now you can go to the Microsoft 365 admin center, where you can change the domain of your admin
account. Plus you can manage your billing information, add or remove users, reset passwords, and do other
business functions.

NOTE
You can also update your account to the new domain on the Active users page.

If you get stuck at any point, call us. We're here to help!

When not to use the setup wizard: Active Directory synchronization

and hybrid environments
There are a couple of scenarios that include either migrating data or users from on-premises environments, or
setting up a hybrid system that includes directory synchronization. If you are in this category, follow the
instructions in these articles.
To set up directory synchronization with your on-premises Active Directory, see Set up directory
synchronization for Office 365, and to understand the different identity models in Office 365, read
Understanding Office 365 identity and Azure Active Directory.
To set-up an Exchange hybrid, the full set of instructions that guide you through all the different ways of
setting up a hybrid exchange (including setting up DNS records) can be found here: Exchange Server
Deployment Assistant
To set up a SharePoint hybrid, particularly hybrid search and site features, see Hybrid Search in SharePoint.

Do you want someone to help you set up Office 365?

If you have fewer than 50 employees:
Ask for help and we'll call you. After you buy Office 365, you can access your Microsoft 365
admin center (you don't need to run setup to get to it). At the bottom of your admin center page,
select Need help? Describe your problem, and we'll call you.
Call Office 365 for Business Support with your questions. We're here to help!
Consider hiring a Microsoft partner. If you're short on time, or have advanced requirements (like
moving thousands of files to Office 365 cloud storage or integrating with other software), an
experienced partner can be a big help.
If you have more than 50 employees, the FastTrack Onboarding Center is available to help you with your
deployment.
Move to Office all at once or in stages
Do you want to move your business to Office 365 all at once? If so, then plan to move your domain to
Office 365 right away. Start by running the Office 365 setup wizard; it will prompt you to set up your
domain.
Or do you want to move to Office 365 gradually? If you want to move to Office 365 in stages, then skip
running the Office 365 setup wizard and consider adopting Office 365 features in the following order:
1. Add your employees to Office 365 so they can download and install the Office apps.
2. Download and install the Office apps to use Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on your computer and devices.
3. Install Skype for Business to use for your meetings.
4. Move your content to Office 365 cloud storage (OneDrive or team sites).
5. And, when you're ready, run the Office 365 setup wizard to move your domain and email.

Check that your devices meet system requirements

Each person in your business can install the Office 2016 suite of apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and so on) on up
to 5 PCs and Macs. See the operating system and computer requirements for installing Office 2016 suites for
business.
Mobile apps can be installed on iOS, Android, and Windows devices. You can find information on mobile device
and browser support in System requirements for Office.

Plan for email

If you're planning to move from an existing email service to Office 365, it usually takes 2 days to make the switch.
Plan for email downtime
If you're going to use Office 365 for your email:
To move your business email address (such as *rob@contoso.com*) from another email service to Office
365, you need to direct your mail to be delivered to your new Office 365 mailbox. You do this using the
Office 365 setup wizard, where we guide you through the updates you need to make at your domain host,
step by step.
After you update your domain host, the changes typically take effect in just an hour or two. But be aware
that it can sometimes take up to 72 hours for the changes update across the Internet.
Because you might have email downtime, we recommend you plan to switch to Office 365 email during an
evening or weekend when you receive fewer emails.
Plan to move your existing email, contacts, and calendar
If you're going to use Office 365 for your email account, you can bring your existing email, contacts, and calendar
with you. The Office 365 setup wizard helps you move your existing email and contacts for most scenarios. We
also have step-by-step guides to move one or many mailboxes.

HOW MANY MAILBOXES? RECOMMENDATION

Just a few If you don't want to use the setup wizard to migrate the
mailboxes, you can let mailbox owners migrate their own email
and contacts. See Migrate email and contacts to Office 365 for
business.
 HOW MANY MAILBOXES? RECOMMENDATION

Several If you are migrating from Gmail, see Migrate G Suite

mailboxes to Office 365.
If you are migrating from another email provider, including
Exchange, see Ways to migrate multiple email accounts to
Office 365.

Plan for file storage and migration

Office 365 provides cloud storage for individuals, small businesses, and enterprises. For guidance about what to
store where, see Where you can store documents in Office 365.
You can move hundreds files to OneDrive or to an Office 365 team site. You can upload 100 files at a time.
Avoid uploading files larger than 2GB, which is the maximum file size by default.
If you want to move several thousand files to Office 365 storage, review the SharePoint Online Limits. We
recommend that you use a migration tool or consider hiring a partner to help you with the migration. For
information about how to migrate a large number of files, see SharePoint Online and OneDrive Migration User
Guide.

Plan for Skype for Business

If you have Office 365 Business Premium or Business Essentials, you can use Skype for Business to make calls to
other people in your business who are on your subscription. For example, if your business has 10 people, you can
call and IM each other using Skype for Business without any special setup.
For the following features, you need to take some additional steps:
Make and receive calls from people external to your business
To make and receive phone calls from people external to your business, you have two options:
Option 1. Use the free Skype app. If you have a very small business (for example, 1-2 people) using the
Skype app is the better way to go. It's less expensive to use for domestic and international calls. You can still
hold conference calls, make video calls, and share your desktop for presentations. Check out the rates and
payment options.
Note that the Skype app isn't part of the Office 365 suite, so it won't be integrated with Outlook 2016 the
way Skype for Business is. This means your contacts in Outlook 2016 won't show up in Skype; you'll need
to add your contacts to Skype.
We recommend starting with the Skype app to see if it meets your needs. If it doesn't, then consider the next
option, to upgrade your plan.
Option 2. Upgrade your plan, and buy Cloud PBX and the PSTN Calling plan.
1. Switch to the E1 or E3 plan :
Buy the E1 plan if you don't want to receive voicemail.
Buy the E3 plan if you do want to receive voicemail. Here's how Cloud PBX voicemail works: When a user
receives a voicemail, it will be delivered to their mailbox as an email with the voicemail message as an
attachment. They can also listen to their messages over their Skype certified desktop phone, all Skype for
Business applications.
2. Buy the Cloud PBX add-on.
3. Buy a PSTN Calling plan: you can only buy this after you buy the Cloud PBX add-on.
 This second option is ideal for businesses with several people who make and receive external phone calls.
There are other Skype for Business features you can add to your subscription, too. To learn more, see Skype for
Business add-on licensing.
Do you want to use Skype Meeting Broadcast?
Skype Meeting Broadcast is a feature that lets you produce, host, and broadcast meetings with up to 10,000
attendees. To learn more about how it works, see What is Skype Meeting Broadcast?
To use Skype Meeting Broadcast, you need to enable it, configure your network, and schedule a practice meeting
and have a user join it.
IM with Skype contacts or other external Skype for Business users
By default, everyone in the world who uses Skype for Business will be able to contact you, assuming they know
your email address, your firewall is configured to allow it, and they have open communication policies.
If you want to allow your users to communicate with some businesses but not others, see Allow users to contact
external Skype for Business users.
Skype for Business and the free Skype app are two different services. You can give your users permissions to
search for and IM with people who are using the free Skype app. To do this, see Let users add external contacts
from Skype.
Choose who sees whether co -workers are online
The presence feature shows who's online and what their availability is, such as available, busy, away, or presenting.
You can choose the default settings for everyone in your business. For instructions, see Configure presence in
Skype for Business Online.

Plan for integration with Active Directory or other software

Do you want to integrate with your on-premises Active Directory? You can integrate your on-premises
Active Directory with Office 365 by using Azure Active Directory Connect. For instructions, see Set up directory
synchronization for Office 365.
Do you want to integrate Office 365 with software made by other companies? If you need to integrate
Office 365 with other software in your business, we recommend you consider hiring a partner to help you with
your deployment.
 Add a domain to Office 365
9/27/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

Check the Domains FAQ if you don't find what you're looking for.
To Add, modify or remove domains you must be a Global Administrator of a business or enterprise plan. These
changes affect the whole tenant, Customized administrators or regular users won't be able to make these
changes.

1. Go to the admin center at https://admin.microsoft.com.

1. Go to the admin center at https://portal.office.de/adminportal.
1. Go to the admin center at https://portal.partner.microsoftonline.cn.
2. Go to the Settings > Domains page.
3. Select Add domain.
4. Enter the name of the domain you want to add, then select Next.
5. Choose how you want to verify that you own the domain.
a. If your domain is registered at GoDaddy or 1&1, select Sign in > Next and Office 365 will set up
your records automatically.
b. You can have an email sent to the registered contact for the domain with a verification code. If you
don't recognize or have access to the email on record, you can use the third option.
c. You can use a TXT record to verify your domain. Select this and select Next to see instructions for
how to add this DNS record to your registrar's website. This can take up to 30 minutes to verify
after you've added the record.
6. Choose how you want to make the DNS changes required for Office to use your domain.
a. Choose Add the DNS records for me if you want Office to configure your DNS automatically.
b. Choose I'll add the DNS records myself if you want to attach only specific Office 365 services to
your domain or if you want to skip this for now and do this later. Choose this option if you know
exactly what you're doing.
7. If you chose to add DNS records yourself , select Next and you'll see a page with all the records that you
need to add to your registrars website to set up your domain.
If the portal doesn't recognize your registrar, you can follow these general instructions.
Check our list of host-specific instructions to find your host and follow the steps to add all the records you
need.
If you don't know the DNS hosting provider or domain registrar for your domain, see Find your domain
registrar or DNS hosting provider.
If you want to wait for later, scroll to the bottom and select Skip this step.
8. Select Finish - you're done!
TIP
Need help with the steps in this topic? We’ve got you covered. Make an appointment at your local Microsoft Store with an
Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and choose your location to schedule an
appointment.
 Domains FAQ
9/27/2019 • 17 minutes to read • Edit Online

This article contains answers to Frequently Asked Questions about domains in Office 365.
If you can't find an answer to your question, let us know by leaving a comment and we'll add it to the list.

What is MX priority?
Mail is delivered to the mail exchange server with the lowest preference number (highest priority), so the MX
record you use for mail routing should have the lowest preference number, typically 0 or High priority.
When you create an MX record, most DNS hosting providers require you to set the preference number.
Some label the box preference , and some label it priority .
Some require a number, and some ask you to select Low , Medium , or High .
If you only have one MX record, any value is fine for priority or preference.
If you have more than one, make sure the MX record for mail routing is higher priority than the one used
for validating that you own the domain.

How can I validate SPF records for my domain?

It's important that you have or create only one TXT record for SPF. If you already have an SPF record, you
should append the new Office 365 values to it, rather than create a new one. After you've added or updated your
SPF record for Office 365 email, you should check to make sure that the syntax is correct with one of these tools:
SPF Record Testing Tools
SPF Surveyor
Dig web interface

How does Office 365 manage my DNS records?

There are two options for DNS management with Office 365:
1. You change your nameserver (NS ) records, and then Office 365 takes care of all the service-specific
records, like setting up your MX record for email. (Recommended)
2. You add DNS records for email and other Office 365 services at your DNS host yourself. (Experts only)
Office 365 creates and hosts the DNS records
Advantages
You don't have to worry about making mistakes in the values you enter for the DNS records for Office 365
services.
You have more flexibility in your choice of domain registrar and DNS host.
Any provider that lets you change your nameserver records will work, even if the provider doesn't support all
the required record types.
When Office 365 adds new DNS records, you don't have to make updates.
Disadvantages
 You can't change your DNS records to host email outside of Office 365.
If you already use a public website with your domain for its address, like www.fourthcoffee.com, you must
redirect people to that address from Office 365.
Setting up redirection requires a static IP address, which is not always easily available for public websites. - If
your current domain registrar doesn't allow you to change your domain's nameserver records, you have to
switch to a different registrar to use this DNS management option.
You manage the DNS records yourself
Advantages
You control the DNS records for Office 365 services.
If you have a public website with your domain for its address, like www.fourthcoffee.com, you don't have to
worry about using redirection to make sure people can still get to your website after you set up your domain
in Office 365.
You have the flexibility to host email somewhere else, such as with an on-premises Exchange server.
Disadvantages
You have to set up the DNS records for Office 365 services yourself (unless you have a GoDaddy domain).
If your current DNS host doesn't support all of the required record types for Office 365, some Office 365
features won't be available and you might need to switch to a different DNS host.
When Office 365 changes requirements for DNS records, or adds new services, you have to make updates
yourself at your DNS host.

What is a domain name?

A domain is a unique name that appears after the @ sign in email addresses, and after www. in web addresses.
It typically takes the form of your organization's name and a standard Internet suffix, such as yourbusiness.com
or stateuniversity.edu.
Using a custom domain like "**rob@contoso.com**" with Office 365 can help build credibility and recognition
for your brand.
You can buy a domain in Office 365 and we'll set it up automatically, or you can buy or bring one you already
own from a domain registrar.

Can I transfer a domain I purchased from Microsoft to another

provider?
Yes, but you can't transfer an Office 365 domain to another registrar until 60 days after you purchased it with
Office 365.
Please note that a Whois query will show an Office 365 purchased domain registrar as Wild West Domains LLC.
However, only Office 365 should be contacted regarding your Office 365 purchased domain.
Follow the steps below to get the code at Office 365, and then go to the other domain registrar's website to set
up transferring your domain name to that registrar.
1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Domains page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Domains page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Domains page.
2. On the Domains page, select the Office 365 domain that you want to transfer to another domain
registrar, and then select Domain Transfer > Enable domain transfer.
3. Follow the steps to prepare for transferring your domain.
4. After you get the code, go to the website of the domain registrar where you want to manage your domain
name going forward and follow their directions for transferring a domain (search for help on their
website).
5. If you need to see the code again, on the Domain settings page in Office 365, select View
authorization code for domain transfer.
6. After the transfer is complete, you'll renew your domain at the new domain registrar.
7. To finish the process, go back to the admin center Domains page and select Complete Domain
Transfer.
Note: Please note that Office 365 purchased domains are not eligible for Name Server changes or transferring
the domain between Office 365 Tenants. If either of these are required, the domain registration will need to be
transferred to another registrar.

How do I change how my DNS records are managed in Office 365?

Change DNS management to a DNS host outside Office 365
1. Sign in to the domain registrar for your domain.
2. Find the area on the registrar's website where you update nameserver records, and update the
nameservers to point to your domain's DNS host. (The DNS host is often the domain registrar.)
3. Follow a link to go to the domains setup wizard:
4. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Domains page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Domains page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Domains page.
5. On the Domains page, select the domain you're switching, and select DNS management.
6. In the domains setup wizard, on the Set up your online services page, select I'll manage my own
DNS records, and then select Next.
7. Add the DNS records suggested by the wizard on the Update DNS settings page to your registrar's
website.
8. After you've added the records, come back to Office 365 and select Verify.
Change DNS management to Office 365
1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Domains page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Domains page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Domains page.
2. On the Domains page, select the domain you're switching, and select DNS Management.
3. In the domains setup wizard, on the Set up your online services page, select Set up my online
services for me. (Recommended), and then select Next.
4. If you haven't verified the domain yet, follow the steps to do that first.
5. On the Update DNS settings page, we list the nameservers for Office 365. Go to the domain registrar
for your domain, and update the nameservers to the Office 365 nameservers.
6. After you've updated the nameservers, wait at least an hour. Then, back in the wizard in Office 365,
select Verify.
What happens if my DNS provider doesn't support certain record
types?
If you manage your own DNS records and your DNS host does not support all the DNS records that Office 365
needs, some Office 365 features won't work. We recommend that you transfer your domain to a registrar that
supports all required DNS records.
Providers that support all required DNS records:
Dynadot
eNomCentral
Europe Registry
GoDaddy
Hover
MyHosting.com
Name.com
Nearly Free Speech
Nettica
Network Information Center (NIC )
Network Solutions
Register.com
If SRV records are not supported, the following Office 365 features are not available:
Skype for Business Online IM and presence integration with Outlook Web App
External communication (federation) with Skype for Business Online users in other organizations.
Public Internet Connectivity (PIC ) with Skype for Business Online users signed in with a Microsoft
account (formerly known as a Windows Live ID ).
If multiple CNAME records are not supported, you have to choose between the following features for Skype
for Business Online:
Email desktop clients and mobile clients can use Autodiscover to automatically find the Exchange Online
service so that users can sign in without having to enter a server name.
Skype for Business Online desktop clients can use Autodiscover to automatically find the Skype for
Business Online service so that users can sign in without having to enter a server name.
Skype for Business Online mobile clients can use Autodiscover to automatically find the Skype for
Business Online service so that users can sign in without having to enter a server name.
If SPF/TXT records are not supported, other people may be able to use your domain to send spam or other
malicious email. SPF records work by identifying the servers that are authorized to send email from your
domain.

How do I change the default domain in Office 365?

You must have at least one custom domain that you've added to Office 365 before you can choose a default
domain.
1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Domains page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Domains page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Domains page.
2. On the Domains page, select the domain you want to set as the default for new email addresses.
3. Select Set as default.
You cannot change the name of your initial .onmicrosoft.com domain.
You cannot change the name of your initial .onmicrosoft.de domain.
You cannot change the name of your initial .partner.onmschina.cn domain.

Can I add custom subdomains or multiple domains to Office 365?

Yes! To add subdomains, you must manage your own DNS settings at your registrar's website. If you are letting
Microsoft manage your DNS settings with NS records, or if you bought the domain from Microsoft, you can't
add subdomains.
Yes! To add subdomains, you must manage your own DNS settings at your registrar's website. If you are letting
Microsoft manage your DNS settings with NS records, or if you bought the domain from Microsoft, you can't
add subdomains.
Yes! To add subdomains, you must manage your own DNS settings at your registrar's website. If you are letting
21Vianet manage your DNS settings with NS records, you can't add subdomains.
Typically, you can add up to 900 domains to your Office 365 subscription.
For example, you could add the domains contoso.com and contosomarketing.com, and then add the subdomains
www.contoso.com, www.partners.contoso.com, www.partners.marketing.contoso.com, and so on.
When you add a subdomain, it is automatically verified based on the parent domain that is being verified.
When you add multiple domains to Office 365, you can host any of the services (like email) on any of the
domains you've added. When you change your email to Office 365, by updating a domain's MX record, ALL
email sent to that domain will start coming to Office 365.

Why do I have an "onmicrosoft.com" domain?

Office 365 creates a domain for you, like contoso.onmicrosoft.com, when you sign up with the service. The user
ID that you create when you sign up includes the domain, like *alan@contoso.onmicrosoft.com*.
**If you want to have your email look like *alan@contoso.com*:** buy the domain or just follow the steps in Add
your users and domain to Office 365 if you own it already.
You can't rename the onmicrosoft domain after sign-up. For example, if the initial domain you chose
was fourthcoffee.onmicrosoft.com, you can't change it to be fabrikam.onmicrosoft.com. To use a different
onmicrosoft.com domain, you'd have to start a new subscription with Office 365.
You can't rename your team site URL. Your team site URL is based on your onmicrosoft.com domain
name. Unfortunately, because of the way SharePoint Online architecture works, you can't rename the
team site.
You can't remove your onmicrosoft domain. Office 365 needs to keep it around because it's used
behind the scenes for your subscription. But you don't have to use the domain yourself after you've added
 a custom domain.
You can keep using the initial onmicrosoft.com domain even after you add your domain. It still works for email
and other services, so it's your choice.

Why do I have an "onmicrosoft.de" domain?

Office 365 creates a domain for you, like contoso.onmicrosoft.de, when you sign up with the service. The user ID
that you create when you sign up includes the domain, like *alan@contoso.onmicrosoft.de*.
**If you want to have your email look like *alan@contoso.de*:** buy the domain or just follow the steps in Add
your users and domain to Office 365 if you own it already.
You can't rename the onmicrosoft domain after sign-up. For example, if the initial domain you chose
was fourthcoffee.onmicrosoft.de, you can't change it to be fabrikam.onmicrosoft.de. To use a different
onmicrosoft.de domain, you'd have to start a new subscription with Office 365.
You can't rename your team site URL. Your team site URL is based on your onmicrosoft.de domain
name.Unfortunately, because of the way SharePoint Online architecture works, you can't rename the team
site.
You can't remove your onmicrosoft domain. Office 365 needs to keep it around because it's used
behind the scenes for your subscription. But you don't have to use the domain yourself after you've added
a custom domain.
You can keep using the initial onmicrosoft.de domain even after you add your domain. It still works for email and
other services, so it's your choice.

How do I verify my nonprofit or education status?

1. Select Setup in the admin center to start the wizard. (Be sure to sign in to Office 365 first.)
2. To become the admin for your school, select the Become an admin option in Office 365.
3. You'll be prompted to add a TXT DNS record at the DNS host website for your domain. Why? Because by
signing in at the DNS host and adding a record for your domain, you prove to Office 365 that you own
the domain name.
4. After you add the record, you'll go back to the Office 365 portal and confirm that you've added it, so
Office 365 can check.
Have a nonprofit and want to get Office 365? Make sure your organization qualifies and then sign up for the
service.
Want to know more about becoming the admin for your school? Learn all about it.

Can I pilot Office 365 with just a few email addresses from my custom
domain?
You can, but there are limitations:
Your current email provider must provide email forwarding.
You need to manage your Office 365-related DNS records at your DNS hosting provider, rather than
having Office 365 manage these records for you. To learn what this entails, see Add your domain to Office
365 when you want to manage your own DNS records.
Some Office 365 features won't be available:
 Users won't be able to see free/busy information for the users who are on the other email provider.
Admins won't be able to administer everyone's accounts from one place.
Users may not be able to use Office 365 spam filtering
How to set up an Office 365 pilot
1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center
a. Sign in to Office 365 with your work or school account.
b. Go to Settings > Domains.
2. Verify that you own the domain you want to use
a. On the Domains page, select Add domain.
b. In the panel, type the domain, in this example cohowinery.com, and then select Next.
c. On the Verify domain page, follow the step-by-step instructions.
d. In the drop-down list, select your DNS hosting provider, and follow the instructions to show that
you own the domain.
e. Select Verify. It takes between a few minutes and 72 hours for DNS changes to take effect.
f. When verification is successful, you'll be asked to modify your DNS records.
3. Mark the domain as shared in Exchange Online
a. Go to the Exchange admin center (EAC ).
b. In the Mail flow section, select Accepted domains.
c. Double-click the domain you want to modify.
d. In the window that opens, select Internal Relay.
e. Select Save. This setting may require a few minutes to take effect.
4. Optionally, unblock the existing email server
a. Office 365 uses Exchange Online Protection (EOP ) for spam protection. If EOP detects a high
volume of spam being forwarded by your current mail server, it may block it, which would prevent
forwarding from working. If you are confident with the spam protection your other email provider
uses, you can whitelist their server in Office 365. However, this will also allow any spam that
arrives through your original server to come through to the Office 365 mailboxes, and you won't
be able to evaluate how well Office 365 prevents spam.
b. Go to Exchange admin center (EAC ).
c. In EAC, select Protection, and then select Connection filter.
d. In the IP Allow list, select +, and add the mail server IP address that you can get from your
current email provider.
5. Create user accounts and set the primary (reply-to) address
a. Go to the Microsoft 365 admin center.
b. On the left navigation bar, select Users > Active Users.
c. Create the user accounts.
 d. For each account select + (New), and fill out the required information.
e. To keep user's email the same as it is currently, the User name field should be exactly the same as
the user's existing email address.
f. Next to User name, select your custom domain name from the drop-down list.
g. Select Create > Close.
6. Update DNS records at your DNS hosting provider
a. Sign in to your DNS hosting provider's website, and follow the Create DNS records at any DNS
hosting provider for Office 365 steps. Make the following exceptions:
a. Do not create a new MX record or change your existing MX record.
b. If you already have a Sender Policy Framework (SPF ) record for your previous email
provider, instead of creating a new SPF (TXT) record for Exchange Online, just add
"include:spf.protection.outlook.com" to the current TXT record. For example, "v=spf1 mx
include:adatum.com include:spf.protection.outlook.com ~all".
c. If you don't have an SPF record yet, modify the one recommended by Office 365 to include
the domain for your current email provider, plus spf.protection.outlook.com. This authorizes
outgoing messages from both email systems.
7. Set up email forwarding at your current provider
a. At your current email provider, set up forwarding for your users email accounts to your
onmicrosoft.com domain:
b. User A's mailbox should forward to usera@yourcompany.onmicrosoft.com
c. User B's mailbox should forward to userb@yourcompany.onmicrosoft.com
d. When you complete this step:
e. All mail sent to usera@yourcompany.com and userb@yourcompany.com will be available in Office
365.
f. Notes:
Contact your current email provider for the exact steps for setting up forwarding.
You don't need to keep a copy of messages at the current email provider.
Most providers forward email leaving the Reply-to address of the sender intact, so that
replies go to the original sender.
8. Test mail flow
a. Sign in to Outlook Web App using User A's credentials.
b. Perform the following tests:
c. Test local Office 365 email. For example, send an email to User B. This email should be delivered
immediately. In this scenario, the message will not be routed to User B's mailbox on your original
server because Office 365 sees the mailbox as being local.
d. Test email to someone who's on the other email system. For example, send an email to User C. This
email should be delivered to User C's mailbox on your original mail server.
e. From an outside account, or from an employee's email account on the other email system, verify
 that forwarding is set up properly on the other email system. For example, from User C's origninal
server account or a Hotmail account, send User A an email and verify that it arrives in User A's
Office 365 mailbox.
9. Move mailbox contents
a. Since there are only two users to move, and since User A and User B are both using Outlook
already, the email can be moved by opening the old .PST file in the new Outlook profile and
copying the messages, calendar items, contacts, etc. as shown in Import Outlook items from an
Outlook Data File (.pst). Once organized in the proper locations in the Office 365 mailbox, the
items can all be accessed from any device, anywhere.
b. When more mailboxes are involved, or if the employees are not already using Outlook, you can use
the migration tools available in the Exchange admin center. To get started, go to Exchange admin
center and follow the directions in Migrate Email from an IMAP Server to Exchange Online
Mailboxes.
 Install Office applications
7/5/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

Now that you have setup Office 365, you can set up the Office applications on your Mac, PC, or mobile devices.
Follow these links for information on how to set up:
Install Office applications: Install Office on your PC or Mac
Setup mobile devices: Office 365 mobile setup - Help
Setup email in Outlook: Windows or Mac
Having trouble? These troubleshooting resources can help:
Troubleshoot installing Office and Office 365
 Migrate email and contacts to Office 365
9/27/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

Import or copy email from Gmail or another email provider to Office 365.
Want help with this? Contact Office 365 for business support .
You need to use a version of Outlook that is installed on your desktop for this task. Outlook is included in most
Office 365 plans.
Import from Gmail
Follow these steps to import email, contacts, and calendar from Gmail into Outlook with Office 365:
Import Gmail to Outlook
Import contacts to Outlook
Import Google Calendar

Import from Outlook (desktop)

Follow these steps to export email, contacts and calendars from Outlook to a .pst file, and then import that file to
Outlook with Office 365:
1. Export email, contacts, and calendar
2. Import mail, contacts, and calendar
If you just want contacts, follow these steps:
1. Export contacts from Outlook
2. Import contacts to Outlook
To start the process, open Outlook and choose File > Open & Export > Import/Export.

See other email accounts in Outlook

Just want to see your email from another provider (like Gmail, Yahoo, or Live.com) in Outlook? No need to import
or migrate. You can set up Outlook or Outlook Web App so you can access your other accounts from the same
place as your Office 365 mailbox and send, receive, and read email sent to those accounts.
Outlook (desktop)
Add an account, such as your private Gmail account, to Outlook.
Open Outlook, then go to File > Add account.
Need more detailed steps? See Add an account.

Multiple mailboxes: Admins can bulk import email, contacts, and

calendars to Office 365
Depending on your source email system, you can choose from several bulk migration methods. Read Ways to
migrate multiple email accounts to Office 365 to decide which method works for you.
 Set up Office 365 file storage and sharing
8/8/2019 • 9 minutes to read • Edit Online

One of the best ways to set up file storage and sharing for your business is to use OneDrive for Business and a
team site together. This is ideal if you have a small business with a few employees.
Office 365 includes a basic team site for you to get started. You can immediately start storing files in OneDrive and
collaborating on files in the team site.

NOTE
The basic team site is still provided but is now hidden. It can only be accessed from the Microsoft 365 admin center or the
SharePoint Online admin center.

Where you can store documents in Office 365

OneDrive is designed for individual use, with the occasional sharing of files.
A SharePoint team site is designed for sharing and collaborating on files regularly. A team site is ideal for
storing files that have shared ownership where several people own the files and might collaborate on them.
Create a Microsoft Team to add a SharePoint site. Learn more at Create a team in Teams.
Both OneDrive and team sites provide anywhere access for you and your employees.

Here are recommendations for what to store in each location when you use OneDrive and team sites together:

Storage location What it's for What to store here

 OneDrive Storing content in OneDrive is like Business files that other team members
storing files on your computer; no one won't need to collaborate on or access
else can easily access them. regularly.
For more info, see What is OneDrive for
Business?

SharePoint team sites Collaboration. When you create an Files that have shared ownership. We
Office 365 group (for example, in the recommend separate team sites for
Microsoft 365 admin center, in Outlook, each unit of work in your organization.
or by creating a team in Microsoft For example, to keep personnel and
Teams) a SharePoint team site is created financial documents private to a small
for that group. Likewise, when you team, create a separate team site.
create a new SharePoint team site from
the SharePoint home page or from the
new SharePoint admin center preview, it
also creates an Office 365 group. For
more info see What is a SharePoint
team site? and Create a team site in
SharePoint Online.

NOTE
SharePoint also has other types of sites you can use for your business. You can use communication sites in your intranet to
publish information for a broad audience. And you can use hub sites to connect sites in your intranet.

Start using OneDrive and your team site

Team members can store their own files in OneDrive
Each person in your business who has an Office 365 license assigned (and SharePoint Online selected) gets
OneDrive cloud storage. They can store business-related files here for access from any device, and they are only
available to that user. For example, they might store a draft proposal, their meeting notes, or the script for a demo
they're going to deliver.
Employees can also share OneDrive files and folders. If an employee is away or leaves the company, others can
access shared files stored in OneDrive.
Here's how each person on your team can set up OneDrive and share files.
1. Go to the admin center, and sign in with your user name and password.
2. From the App launcher, select OneDrive.
3. In OneDrive, team members can store their own business-related files. You can share either individual files,
or a whole folder. Pick a file or folder, right-click, and then choose Share.
4. On the Send Link page, leave the default selection Anyone with the link can view and edit.
Type names or email addresses of team members who you want to have access to the folder, and add an
optional message.
If you want your own copy of the email that will be sent, add your email address to the list.

5. When you're done entering who you want to share with, select Send. The email is immediately sent to the
people you invite.
6. Here's what the email looks like.

Explore your team site

Office 365 includes a basic team site with some features to help you get started. Only the people in your business
can access this internal website.
Here's how you get to your team site:
1. Go to the admin center, and sign in with your user name and password.
2. From the App launcher, select SharePoint, then choose your team site link on the left-hand navigation
menu.
3. You'll see your team's home page. This page includes:
The main page displays team News and Activity, such as new files added or recently edited.
The +New button to add elements to the home page, such as a document library, list, or new page.
 The left-hand navigation menu to get to other areas on your team site, like the team document library.
Upload files to your team site for online collaboration
To help you get started storing and sharing files quickly, your team site comes with a place to store files. It's called
the Documents library as in a "library of documents."
Here are the steps to add files:
1. On the home page of your team site, choose Documents from the left-hand navigation menu. This will take
you to your Documents library.
2. While you're still signed in to Office 365, open Windows File Explorer from your taskbar or other location.
Go to the files you want to upload to your team site.
3. Select the files you want to upload to your team site, and then drag them to the Document library.
4. When you're done, the files will be stored in both your team site and your computer.
5. You can delete the files from your computer. In the next step, Sync online files with your PC or Mac, you're
going to create a new location for these files on your computer.
If you have a lot of files or large files to upload to your team site, read these tips on uploading large or many
files to a library.
If you need more storage space, see Change storage space for your subscription.
Sync online files with your PC or Mac
Now that you have files on your team site, you can set them up to sync with your PC or Mac. This way, you can
work on your files from your PC or Mac instead of working in Microsoft Edge, Chrome, or another browser. It's
also useful to have a version of your files synced on your computer for situations when you need to get to a file
and you aren't connected to the Internet.
After you set up files to sync with your computer, when you're connected to the Internet, they'll be synchronized
automatically.
Here's how to synchronize files on your team site with your desktop:
1. On the home page of your team site, choose Documents from the left-hand navigation menu. This takes
you to your Documents library.

TIP
When syncing files on your team site, you're syncing each file library on the site, not the entire site.

2. Choose Sync to synchronize all the files. Or browse to the specific folder you want to sync.
3. If prompted to switch apps, choose Yes. OneDrive is the process doing the synchronization.
4. If you then get a Set up OneDrive prompt, sign in with your work or school account.
5. If you haven't yet synced your OneDrive, you might see a This is your OneDrive folder screen. Check the
path under Your OneDrive folder is here. Choose Change Location if you want to use a different path,
and then select Next.

6. The files in your team sites will appear in the left pane of File Explorer under the name of your organization.
The files in OneDrive will appear under "OneDrive - <Name of Organization>"

7. Test the synchronization by opening a file in the team's folder on your computer. Make a change, and then
choose Save.

Best practices for file storage and sharing

Here are a few tips for getting the most from OneDrive or your SharePoint team site.
File storage and collaboration recommendations for other types of small businesses
Sole proprietorships: Use OneDrive to store your own files and share them with customers on a case-by-
 case basis.
Co-ownerships: Both owners use OneDrive and share files back and forth.
Businesses with external clients or partners who need access to files: Create a new team site to store
and share documents intended for a specific customer. Set up the site to allow access to only that customer.
You then don't need to worry that one customer will accidentally get access to information intended for
another customer.
Keep private files private
When you store a file in OneDrive it's only accessible by you, unless you share it with others. When you share files,
you can choose to create a link that can be forwarded, or to share with only specific people. You can also create
separate folders in OneDrive for different purposes such as public, personal, or for individual projects. Each folder
can be shared with a different person or group, or nobody else at all.
For more information on sharing, also see Share files and folders in OneDrive for Business.
Track how much space you have left
To see how much storage space you have left in OneDrive, see Manage your OneDrive for Business storage.
What files can be stored in OneDrive and a team site?
While you can upload almost all types of files, some file names and characters in file names aren't allowed. For
more info, see Invalid file characters and file types in OneDrive for Business.
Enable or disable third-party storage services
You can enable third-party storage for your users in Office 365 so they can store and share documents using
services like Dropbox in addition to OneDrive for Business and team sites. This can be a great way to provide
services that your users may already be using or prefer to use for business projects. If you don't want people in
your organization using Office to open files in a third-party service, follow these steps to turn it off.

IMPORTANT
Third-party storage is enabled by default so you need to perform these steps right away if you don't want it available to your
users.

1. Sign in to to the admin center.

2. Go to Settings > Services and add-ins > Office on the web.
3. Select the check box to turn third-party storage on or off.

Next steps
Customize your team site for file storage and sharing . This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to you can
take advantage of more storage and collaboration features.
Set up Office apps on your tablets and phones. You need to do this so you can edit files that are stored
in OneDrive and on team sites from your tablet or phone. If you don't install the Office apps for your tablet
or phone, you'll be able to view the files but not edit them.
Install and set up Office on an Android with Office 365
Install and set up Office on an iPhone or iPad with Office 365
Set up Office on Windows Phone with Office 365
 Customize your team site for file storage and sharing
7/5/2019 • 5 minutes to read • Edit Online

If you have a small business with a few employees, one of the best ways to set up and facilitate file sharing and
online collaboration is to use OneDrive for Business and a SharePoint team site together. Office 365 subscriptions
come with a classic team site. We recommend leaving it alone and creating a new team site that's connected to an
Office 365 group. If you want to use chat, you can create this site by creating a team in Microsoft Teams. For more
info about Teams, see Video: What is Microsoft Teams?. If you don't want to use Teams, you can create a team site
from the SharePoint start page.
What is a SharePoint team site?
Create a team site in SharePoint Online
Here are some ideas and links to help you customize, organize, and manage your team site.

Add, delete, and work with document libraries

A team site includes a Documents library that you can start using immediately. If you outgrow the default
Documents library, or want to organize by project, client, or subject, add more libraries to your team site. Think
about how you want to group files on your team site and what you want to name the libraries so the files are easy
to find.
For more info on creating libraries, see Create a document library in SharePoint.
Learn how to edit, delete, check out files, and more. For more info, see Work with files in a document library .
For info on creating views of libraries to surface specific data, see Create a custom view of a document library.

Add, delete, and work with lists to organize data

SharePoint includes many templates for lists that you can add to your site, such as a list of links, a calendar,
contacts, or tasks.
Learn how to Create a list in SharePoint.
To remove a unneeded list or restore a deleted list, see Delete a list in SharePoint.
For info on expanding your lists with more columns, see Create a column in a SharePoint list or library.
To display specific data in a list, see Create and edit public views of a list or library .
If you're storing a lot of data, see how to manage limits with Manage large lists and libraries in SharePoint.
View a video on adding calendars to your site, see Create a shared calendar in Office 365.

Customize the start page on your team site

To give more visibility to data on a team site, you can customize the SharePoint start page to help you and your
employees get to the information you need quickly. For example, you might have a links to employee OneDrive for
Business folders, and links to Documents, Contacts, Tasks, Calendars, and a OneNote notebook where you store
meeting agendas and notes.
For info on customizing the look and feel of your start page, see Change the look of your SharePoint site.
Improve navigation on your site with Customize the navigation on your SharePoint site.
To add or update links to important pages on you start page, see Change the Links list on the SharePoint Online
start page.
To add an image to a team site start page, see Add a picture or image file to a SharePoint page.
You can see how to add pages to your site with Add a page to a site.
To learn about team site settings, see Manage your SharePoint team site settings.

Create additional sites to organize and manage different clients

Your team site shares almost everything with all members of the group associated with the site. If you want to
have a separate site for specific customers, you can create additional team sites, and manage them using
SharePoint hub sites. Here's more information.
Create additional team sites as needed. For more info see Create a team site in SharePoint Online.
Need to limit who can create new sites, see Manage site creation in SharePoint Online.
Hub sites let you add and associate sites. For more info see What is a SharePoint hub site?.
Ready to build a hub site, see Create a hub site in SharePoint Online.
To learn how to add sites to a hub site, see Associate a SharePoint site with a hub site.

Sharing files with the team

While storage and organizing is a start, sharing with your team and external clients is also important. Here are
some links to topics that will help you manage users and share your data.
For file sharing with your team, see Share SharePoint files or folders in Office 365.
To understand sharing outside your team, see Manage external sharing for your SharePoint Online environment .
For best practices and tips with external users, see Manage sharing with external users in Office 365 Small
Business.
Learn about assigning permissions for sites, lists, libraries, and items in Understanding permission levels in
SharePoint.

Managing users and groups

As you manage your team site, you may have to add or remove users. Here's information to help you understand,
add, and manage users on your team site.
View a video on groups with Understand and manage groups.
To add users to an Office 365 group, see Add users individually or in bulk to Office 365 - Admin Help.
Learn how to handle access requests with Set up and manage access requests .
To change and assign user permissions, see Customize SharePoint site permissions.

Here are more topics you might be interested in

Set up Office apps on your tablets and phones. You need to do this so you can edit files that are stored
on your team site from your tablet or phone. If you don't install the Office apps for your tablet or phone,
you'll be able to view the files on your team site, but not edit them.
 Install and set up Office on an Android with Office 365
Install and set up Office on an iPhone or iPad with Office 365
Set up Office on Windows Phone with Office 365
Learn more about using OneDrive.
 Upgrade your Office 365 for business users to the
latest Office client
8/8/2019 • 5 minutes to read • Edit Online

Is this the right topic for you?

If you use Office 365 for business in your organization and you're the person responsible for upgrading users to
the latest version of Office, you're in the right place.
If you're not an admin and you have an Office for home product, see How do I upgrade Office for information
about upgrading your older, home use version of Office.

Getting ready to upgrade

As an admin, you control what version of Office people in your organization can install. We highly recommend that
you help users in your organization running older versions of Office such as Office 2007, Office 2010, Office 2013,
or Office 2016 upgrade to the latest version to take advantage of its security and productivity improvements.

Office 2007 reaches end-of-support

Office 2007 reached end-of-support on October 10, 2017, and anyone using Outlook 2007 in your organization
can no longer connect to their Office 365 email as of Oct 31, 2017. To make sure you and your users can continue
accessing email, you'll need to install an updated version of Office or access your email from a web browser only
by signing in to outlook.office365.com.
In addition, since February 28, 2017, users in your organization can no longer download and install Office 2013
themselves from the Office 365 software page. See Office 2013 is no longer available for installation with an Office
365 subscription.

TIP
Check mainstream support end dates for all Office software at Microsoft Lifecycle Policy.

Upgrade steps
The steps below will guide you through the process of upgrading your users to the latest Office desktop client. We
recommend you read through these steps before beginning the upgrade process.

NOTE
For IT Professionals IT Professional responsible for planning and testing large scale deployments of Office in an
enterprise should also see Office 2007 end of support roadmap.

Step 1 - Check system requirements

Check the system requirements for Office to make sure your devices are compatible with Office 2016. For example,
newer versions of Office can't be installed on computers running Windows XP or Windows Vista.
 TIP
If your current install of Office is on a PC or laptop running an older versions of Windows and you want information about
upgrading your operating system, see Windows 10 system requirements.

Check application compatibility

To ensure a successful upgrade, we recommend identifying your Office applications--including VBA scripts,
macros, third-party add-ins, and complex documents and spreadsheets--and assessing their compatibility with the
latest version of Office.
For example, if you're using third-party add-ins with your current Office install, contact the manufacture to make
sure they're compatible with the latest version of Office.

Step 2 - Check your existing subscription plan

Some Office 365 plans don't include the full desktop versions of Office and the steps to upgrade are different if
your plan doesn't include Office.
Not sure which subscription plan you have? See What Office 365 for business subscription do I have?
Subscriptions that include the fully installed Office applications
Office 365 Business
Office 365 Business Premium
Office 365 ProPlus
Office 365 A5
Office 365 ProPlus
Office 365 Enterprise E3
Office 365 Enterprise E4
Office 365 Enterprise E5
Office 365 Nonprofit Business Premium
Office 365 Nonprofit E3
Office 365 Nonprofit E5
Office 365 U.S. Government E3
Office 365 U.S. Government E4
Discontinued subscriptions:
Office 365 Small Business Premium
Office 365 Mid-size Business
Subscriptions that don't include the fully installed Office applications
Office 365 Business Essentials
Office 365 Enterprise E1
Office 365 A1
 Office 365 Nonprofit Business Essentials
Office 365 Nonprofit E1
Office 365 U.S. Government E1
Exchange Online Plan 1
Exchange Online Plan 2
Project Online Essentials
Discontinued subscriptions:
Office 365 Small Business
If your existing plan includes Office, move on to Step 3 - Uninstall Office.
If your existing plan doesn't include Office, then select from the options below:
Upgrade options for plans that don't include Office
Option 1: Switch Office 365 subscriptions
Switch to a subscription that includes Office. See Switch to a different Office 365 for business plan.
Option 2: Buy individual, one-time purchases of Office, or buy Office through a volume license
Buy an individual, one-time purchase of Office. See Office Home & Business or Office Professional
OR
Buy multiple copies of Office through a volume license. See, Compare suites available through volume
licensing.

Step 3 - Uninstall Office

Before installing the latest version of Office, we recommend you uninstall all older versions of Office. However, if
you change your mind about upgrading Office, note the following instances where you won't be able to reinstall
Office after uninstalling it.
We recommend if you have third-party add-ins, contact the manufacturer to see if there's an update that will work
with the latest version of Office.
Known issues trying to reinstall older versions of Office after an uninstall
Office through a volume license If you no longer have access to the source files of these volume license
versions of Office, you won't be able to reinstall it.
Office pre-installed on your computer If you no longer have a disc or product key (if Office came with one) you
won't be able to reinstall it.
Non-supported Office 365 subscriptions If your copy of Office was obtained through discontinued
subscriptions, such as Office 365 Small Business Premium or Office 365 Mid-size Business, you won't be able to
install an older version of Office unless you have the product key that came with your subscription.
If you'd prefer to install your older version of Office side-by-side with the latest version, you can see a list of
versions where this is supported in, Install and use different versions of Office on the same PC. A side-by-side
installation might be the right choice for you, if for example, you've installed third-party add-ins you're using with
your older version of Office and you're not yet sure they're compatible with the latest version.
Select the version of Office you want to uninstall
Office 2013 (from a PC )
 Office for Mac
Office 2010
Office 2007
Office 2003

Step 4 - Assign Office licenses to users

If you haven't already done so, assign licenses to any users in your organization who need to install Office, see
Assign licenses to users in Office 365 for business.

Step 5 - Install Office

After you've verified the users you want to upgrade all have licenses, the final step is to have them install Office, see
Download and install or reinstall Office on your PC or Mac.

TIP
If you don't want your users installing Office themselves, see Manage software download settings in Office 365. You can use
the Office Deployment Tool to download the Office software to your local network and then deploy Office by using the
software deployment method you typically use.
 Add your company branding to Office 365 Sign In
page
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

You can now use the Azure Active Directory (AD ) subscription that is included with your Office 365 subscription to
customize the sign-in page your users see.

Add company branding to your sign in page and Access Panel pages
If you have a paid subscription to Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, Enterprise Mobility Suite, or other
Microsoft services, you have a free subscription to Azure Active Directory. You can use Azure Active Directory to
create and manage user and group accounts, and add company branding to your pages. To activate this
subscription and access the Microsoft Azure Management Portal, you have to complete a one-time registration
process. Afterward, you can access Azure Active Directory from your Microsoft service that uses it. For instructions
on how to register your Office 365 subscription see Register your free Azure Active Directory subscription, and see
Manage the directory for your Office 365 subscription in Azure for general management instructions.
The following figure shows which parts of the sign-in page can be modified in Azure.

1. The large illustration and/or its background color

2. The banner logo
3. You can also add text to this area
In addition to the sign-in page, you can customize the Access Panel page in Azure.
If you are ready to add branding, explore the customization options in the Azure content set: Add company
branding to your Sign-in and Access Panel pages.
 Create distribution groups in the Microsoft 365 admin
center
9/25/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

Used when you want to send email to group of people without having to type each individual recipient's name,
distribution groups are organized by a particular discussion subject (such as "Marketing") or by users who share
common work that requires them to communicate frequently. They also provide a way for you to automatically
forward email to multiple email addresses.
Distribution groups are sometimes called distribution lists.

Create a distribution group (list)

Go to the admin center at https://admin.microsoft.com.
Go to the admin center at https://portal.office.de/adminportal.
Go to the admin center at https://portal.partner.microsoftonline.cn/adminportal.
1. Select the app launcher icon and choose Admin.
Can't find the app you're looking for? From the app launcher, selectAll apps to see an alphabetical list of
the Office 365 apps available to you. From there, you can search for a specific app.
2. Select Groups > Groups in the left navigation pane, and then select Add a group.
3. On the Choose a group type page, choose Distribution, and then choose Next.
4. Follow the steps to enter a name, description, and email alias for your new group, and choose whether you
want people outside your organization to send email to the group. Choose Next.
5. On the final page, make any changes if needed, select Create group, and then choose Close to view your
group.
6. To add users to your distribution group, see Add a user or contact to an Office 365 distribution group.
Check out how to use group in Outlook 2016 and Outlook on the web in the Use contact groups (formerly
distribution lists) in Outlook topic.
Check out Troubleshooting distribution group issues for help with distribution group issues.
 Customize the Office 365 theme for your
organization
8/8/2019 • 4 minutes to read • Edit Online

Learn how to customize your theme in the Microsoft 365 admin center. As the admin of your Office 365 for
business subscription, you can change the default theme that appears in the top navigation bar for everyone in the
organization. You can add your company logo and change the colors to match the rest of your brand. You can even
add a destination link for users to navigate to when they select your logo. You can see here the default theme and
custom theme result in Office 365.

Customize your theme in the admin center

1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Organization profile page.
2. Next to Manage custom themes for your organization, select Edit.
3. Change the theme elements you want for your organization:
Logo image: Choose whether to use an image from a URL or to upload an image. If you use a URL, please
ensure that the URL uses HTTPS and is 200 x 30 pixels of any format of any size. You may upload a logo
under 10 KB that is 200 x 30 pixels in JPG, PNG, GIF, or SVG format.
URL for a clickable logo: You may use your logo in the navigation bar as a link to any company resource.
You may enter the URL for the logo here, starting with http:// or https://. This is optional.
Background image: Select the image and upload your own JPG, PNG, or GIF with a resolution of 1366 x
50 pixels, no larger than 15 KB. The background image appears in the top navigation bar on every page.

NOTE
Images that contain text may not display as expected. Built-in elements that appear on the right and left sides of the
navigation bar can vary across services, and your text may be obscured by those elements. Due to the dynamic
nature of the navigation bar, at this time we are unable to provide guidance for image padding that would result in a
consistent experience.

Prevent users from overriding theme: Flip this toggle to prevent users from choosing their own theme
from our theme selection. This does not prevent users from being able to set a high contrast theme.
Nav bar background color: Select a color to use for the background of the navigation bar. The appears at
the top on every page.
Text and icons: Select a color to use for the text and icons on the top navigation bar.
Accent color: Select a color to use for the navigation bar button hover color and page accents like buttons
 and text on certain applications.
User name: Choose whether to show a user's full name at the entry point to the account manager in the top
right of the page when the user is signed in. By default, users will see their photo or their initials if a photo
hasn't been uploaded.
4. Select Save.
You'll see your new theme on the admin center right away and after a short delay, you'll see it throughout Office
365, including Outlook and SharePoint pages. You can remove your custom icon or custom colors at any time. Just
return to the theme page and select Remove custom theming.

Best Practices
When choosing a Logo image, we recommend using an SVG file type, wherever possible, so that your logo will
have a high resolution appearance on all screens and at all zoom levels.
When choosing custom colors, choose a Nav bar background color that has a high contrast ratio with the Logo
image that you picked. Also choose a Text and icons color with a high contrast ratio to the Nav bar background
color to ensure that all text and icons are easily visible.
When choosing custom colors, pick an Accent color that shows up well on a white or light background. The
Accent color is used to color some links and buttons that show up on a white or light background. For example,
the Accent color is used to color elements in a user's inbox and on their Office.com portal page.
The recommended contrast ratio between text, icon, or button color and background color is 4.5:1.
Here is a simple flow chart to help you quickly get set up with a visually appealing custom Office 365 theme for
your organization:
I would like to use a colorful version of our logo.
We recommend the following settings:
Logo image: Your organization's colorful logo.
Navigation bar color: A neutral color. We recommend #FAF9F7 for a light color and #252423
for a dark color.
Text and icon color: A color to contrast the Navigation bar color. We recommend #FAF9F7 for
a light color and #252423 for a dark color.
Accent color: A dark brand color. With certain applications, this color must be visible on a light
background.
I would like to use a neutral version of our logo and represent color in the navigation bar.
We recommend the following settings:
Logo image: Your organization's neutral logo.
Navigation bar color: A brand color that contrasts against your logo.
Text and icon color: Choose a color that contrasts against the brand color you chose for the
Navigation bar color. We recommend #252423 for a dark color and #FAF9F7 for a light color.
Accent color: A dark brand color. With certain applications, this color must be visible on a light
background.

See Also
Add custom tiles to the My apps page and app launcher
 Add users individually or in bulk to Office 365
9/27/2019 • 4 minutes to read • Edit Online

The people on your team each need a user account before they can sign in and access Office 365 for business.
The easiest way to add user accounts is to add them one at a time in the Microsoft 365 admin center. After you
do this step, your users will have Office 365 licenses, sign in credentials, and Office 365 mailboxes.

TIP
Need help with the steps in this topic? We’ve got you covered. Make an appointment at your local Microsoft Store with an
Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and choose your location to schedule an
appointment.

Use the new admin center to add users

The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. Go to the admin center at https://admin.microsoft.com.
2. Go to Users > Active users, and select Add a user.
3. In the Set up the basics pane, fill in the following information, and then select Next.
Name Fill in first, last, display name, and username.
Domain For example, if the user's username is Jakob, and his domain is contoso.com, he'll sign in to
Office 365 by typing jakob@contoso.com.
Password settings Choose to the use auto-generated password or create your own strong password for
the user.
They'll need to change their password after 90 days. Or you can choose to Require this user to
change their password when they first sign in.
Choose whether you want to send the password in email when the user has been added.
4. In the Assign product licenses pane, select the location and the appropriate license for the user. If you
don't have any licenses available, you can still add a user and buy additional licenses. Select Next.
5. In the Optional settings page, expand Roles if you want to make this user an admin, and expand Profile
info if you want to add additional information about the user.
6. Select Next, review your new user's settings, make any changes you like, and then select Finish adding.
Use the old admin center to add users
1. Go to the admin center at https://admin.microsoft.com.
1. Go to the admin center at https://portal.office.de/adminportal.
1. Go to the admin center at https://portal.partner.microsoftonline.cn.
2. Go to Users > Active users, and select Add a user.
In the New user pane, fill in the following information. Select Add when you are done.
Name Fill in first, last, display name, and user name.
Domain For example, if the user's username is Jakob, and his domain is contoso.com, he'll sign in to
Office 365 by typing jakob@contoso.com.
Contact information Expand to fill in a mobile phone number, address, and so on.
Password Use the auto-generated password or expand to specify a strong password for the user.
They'll need to change their password after 90 days. Or you can choose to Make this user change their
password when they first sign in.
Roles Expand if you need to make this user an admin.
Product licenses Expand this section and select the appropriate license. If you don't have any licenses
available, you can still add a user and buy additional licenses.
After you add a user, you'll get an email notification from the Microsoft Online Services Team. The email will
contain the person's Office 365 user ID and password so they can sign in to Office 365. You need to tell your
new user about their Office 365 sign in information. Use your normal process for communicating new
passwords.

NOTE
If you create users by migrating mail boxes, you will need to activate Office 365 user accounts by assigning licenses. If you
don't assign a license to a user, their mailbox will be disabled after a grace period of 30 days. See how to assign licenses to
users using the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Video: Add and manage users in the admin center

Next steps
Share the Employee quick start guide with your new users to set things up, like Office on a PC or Mac and Office
mobile apps.

Need help?
Contact Office 365 for business support.

Have hundreds or thousands of users to add?

To add multiple users at the same time, follow these steps:
Use a spreadsheet to add people in bulk. See Add several users at the same time.
Automate adding accounts and assigning licenses. See Create user accounts with Office 365
PowerShell. Choose this method if you're already familiar with using Windows PowerShell cmdlets.
Using ActiveDirectory? Set up directory synchronization for Office 365. Use the Azure AD Connect
tool to replicate Active Directory user accounts (and other Active Directory objects) in Office 365. The
sync only adds the user accounts. You will need to assign licenses to the synced users before they can use
email and other Office apps.
Migrating from Exchange? Ways to migrate multiple email accounts to Office 365. When you migrate
multiple mailboxes to Office 365 by using either cutover, staged, or a hybrid Exchange method, you will
add users automatically as part of the migration. The migration only adds the user accounts. You will need
assign licenses to the users before they can use email and other Office apps.
 Delete a user from your organization
8/8/2019 • 8 minutes to read • Edit Online

Looking for how to delete your own Office 365 user account that you use at work or school? Contact the technical
support at your work or university to do these steps for you.

Global admin: Delete a user, stop paying for their license, and choose
what to do with their email and OneDrive content
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appointment.

If you are a global administrator, when you delete a user you can also give another user access to their email, and
choose what to do with their OneDrive content.
Things to consider...
Before you begin, think about what you want to do with the user's email and OneDrive content, and whether you
want to keep the license or stop paying for it.

Product licenses You can remove the license from the user and remove it from
your subscriptions to stop paying for that license. If you select
this option, the license will be removed automatically from
your subscriptions.

You can't remove the license if you bought it through a

Partner or volume licensing. If you are paying for an annual
plan or if you are in the middle of a billing cycle, you won't be
able to remove the license from your subscription until your
commitment is completed.

OneDrive content If the user saved their files to OneDrive, you can give another
user access to these files.

You'll need to move the files you want to keep within the
retention period that is set for OneDrive files. By default, the
retention period is 30 days. If you don't move the files
within the retention period after deleting the user, the
OneDrive content will be permanently deleted. To increase the
number of days that you retain OneDrive files for deleted
accounts, see Set the OneDrive retention for deleted users.

Important! If the deleted user used a personal computer to

download files from SharePoint and OneDrive, there's no way
for you to wipe those files they stored on their computer. They
will continue to have access to any files that were synced from
OneDrive.
 Email Giving another user access to the deleted user's email will
convert the deleted user's mailbox to a shared mailbox. The
new mailbox owner can then access the mailbox and monitor
for new email. You'll also have the following options:

Change the display name - We recommend changing the

display name so that it will be easy to identify the shared
mailbox in the Active users list.
Turn on automatic replies - We've already written a polite
automatic reply for you. You can send a different automatic
replies to people within your organization and people from
outside your organization.

Clean up aliases - Aliases are additional email addresses for

users. Some organizations don't use them, so if you don't
have any you don't need to do anything else here. If the user
does have aliases, we recommend removing them so that you
can re-use those email addresses. Otherwise, you can’t re-use
those email addresses until the retention period for deleted
mailboxes has passed. By default, a deleted mailbox is
recoverable for 30 days. For more information, see Delete or
restore user mailboxes in Exchange Online.

Active Directory If your business uses Active Directory that is synchronizing

with Azure AD, you need to delete the user account from
Active Directory. You can't do it through Office 365. For
instructions, see Delete a User Account.

Get started
Since the guided experience walks through the steps to delete a user, here's how to get started.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
3. Select the user you want to delete, and then select Delete user.

User management admin: Delete one or more users from Office 365
IMPORTANT: Don't delete a user's account if you've converted it to a shared mailbox or if you've set up email
forwarding on the account. Those functions need the account there. If you've converted it to a shared mailbox, you
can Stop paying for the license from it so you aren't paying for it. If you set up email forwarding, you cannot
remove the license. Doing so will stop the email forwarding and inactivate the mailbox.
Use the new admin center to delete one or more users
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365
admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the names of the users that you want to delete, select More options (...), and then choose Delete
user.

Although you deleted the user's account, you're still paying for the license. See the next procedure to
stop paying for the license. Or, you can assign the license to another user. It won't be assigned to someone
 automatically.
Use the old admin center to delete one or more users
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the names of the users that you want to delete, and in the Bulk actions pane, choose Delete users.

Although you deleted the user's account, you're still paying for the license. See the next procedure to stop
paying for the license. Or, you can assign the license to another user. It won't be assigned to someone
automatically.
Stop paying for the license
Reducing the number of licenses is a separate step that can only be performed by the global admin or billing
admin.
Use the new admin center to remove a license
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365
admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Products & services page. If you don't see this option, you aren't a
global admin or billing admin, and can't do this step.
2. Select the subscription (if you have more than one) and then select Add/Remove licenses to delete the
license so you don't pay for it until you hire another person.
Later when you go through the steps to add another person to your business, you'll be prompted to buy a
license at the same time, with just one step!
Use the old admin center to remove a license
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page. If you don't see this option, you aren't a global
admin or billing admin, and can't do this step.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page. If you don't see this option, you aren't a global
admin or billing admin, and can't do this step.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page. If you don't see this option, you aren't a global
admin or billing admin, and can't do this step.
2. Select the subscription (if you have more than one) and then select Add/Remove licenses to delete the
license so you don't pay for it until you hire another person.
Later when you go through the steps to add another person to your business, you'll be prompted to buy a
license at the same time, with just one step!

Delete many users at the same time

See the Remove-MsolUser PowerShell cmdlet.

What you need to know about deleting users

Only people who have Office 365 global admin or User management permissions for the business or
school can delete user accounts.
 You have 30 days to restore the account before the user's data is permanently deleted.
If you want to keep the user's OneDrive data, move it to a different location. You can even do this up to 30
days after deleting the account. See Get access to and back up a former user's data. You don't need to move
their SharePoint files; you'll still have access to them.
If you want to keep the user's email, BEFORE you delete the account, move the email to a different location.
If you've already deleted the account: if it's been less than 30 days you can restore it, then move the email
data, then delete the account. See Get access to and back up a former user's data.
If you have an Enterprise subscription, like Office 365 Enterprise E3, you can preserve the mailbox data of a
deleted Office 365 user account by turn it into an inactive mailbox. To learn more, see Manage inactive
mailboxes in Exchange Online.

Fix issues with deleting a user

Here are the most common issues people encounter when deleting a user:
You get an error message along the lines of "User cannot be deleted. Please try again later."
Doublecheck whether the account has email forwarding set up on it, or it's been converted to a shared
mailbox. Both of these will cause that error. Don't delete the account if it has email forwarding or it's been
converted to a shared mailbox.
You don't have the appropriate permissions to delete a user. Only people who are Office 365 global
admins or user management admins can delete users. Usually this is the technical support in your school or
business.
You delete the user but their name continues appear in your global address book. This happens
when a business is using Active Directory. You have to delete the users account from Active Directory. For
instructions, see this TechNet article: Delete a User Account.

Do you want to delete Office 365 from your computer? Go to Cancel your subscription.

Related articles
Restore a user
Permanently delete a mailbox
Delete a User Account: use these instructions if your business uses Active Directory that is synchronizing with
Azure AD. You can't do it through Office 365.
 Restore a user in Office 365
8/8/2019 • 3 minutes to read • Edit Online

TIP
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Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and choose your location to schedule an
appointment.

When you restore a user account within 30 days after deleting it, the account and all associated data are restored.
The user can sign in with the same work or school account. Their mailbox will be fully restored. To find out how
much time remains before a specific user account can no longer be restored, contact us.
Here are a couple of tips:
Make sure there are Office 365 licenses available that you can assign to the account.
If your business uses Active Directory, see How to troubleshoot deleted user accounts in Office 365 for
instructions on restoring a user account.

Restore one or more user accounts

You must be a global admin or user management admin in Office 365 to do these steps.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Deleted users page.
1. Go to the admin center, and then select Users > Deleted users.
1. Go to the admin center, and then select Users > Deleted users.
2. On the Deleted users page, select the names of the users who you want to restore, and then select
Restore.
3. Follow the prompts to set their password, and then select Restore.
4. If the user is successfully restored, select Send email and close. If you encounter a name conflict or proxy
address conflict, see the instructions below for how to restore those accounts.
After you've restored a user, make sure you notify them that their password changed and you follow up with them.

Restore a user that has a user name conflict

A user name conflict occurs when you delete a user account, create a new user account with the same user name
(either for the same user or another user with a similar name), and later try to restore the deleted account.
To fix this, replace the active user account with the one that you are restoring. Or, assign a different user name to
the account that you are restoring so that there aren't two accounts with the same user name. Here are the steps.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Deleted users page.
1. Go to the admin center, and then select Users > Deleted users.
1. Go to the admin center, and then select Users > Deleted users.
2. On the Deleted users page, select the names of the users that you want to restore, and then select
Restore.

NOTE
If two or more users fail to be restored, an error message advises you that the restore operation failed for some
users. View the log to see which users were not restored, and then restore the failed accounts one at a time.

3. Follow the prompts to set the password and select Restore.

4. A message pops up that says there was a problem restoring the account. Do one of the following:
Cancel the restore and rename the current active user. Then attempt the restore again.
OR, type a new primary email address for the user and select Restore.
5. Review the results, and then select Close.

Restore a user that has a proxy address conflict

A proxy address conflict occurs when you delete a user account that contains a proxy address, assign the same
proxy address to another account, and then try to restore the deleted account. Follow the steps below to fix this
issue.
You must have admin permissions in Office 365 to do this.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Deleted users page.
Go to the admin center, and then select Users > Deleted users.
1. Go to the admin center, and then select Users > Deleted users.
2. On the Deleted users page, select the user that you want to restore, and then select Restore.
3. On the Restore page, follow the instructions to set the password and select Restore. Any conflicting proxy
addresses are automatically removed from the user you are restoring.
4. Review the results, and then select Close.

Related Topics
Delete a user
 Reset Office 365 business passwords
8/8/2019 • 3 minutes to read • Edit Online

Let users reset their own passwords

We strongly recommend that you set up self-service password reset. This way you don't have to manually reset
passwords for your users. To learn how, see Let users reset their own passwords in Office 365.

Reset an Office 365 business password for someone else

These steps are only for people using an Office 365 business plan. To do them, you need to sign in with your
Microsoft 365 admin account. What's an admin account?

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Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and choose your location to schedule an
appointment.

1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.

1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. On the Active users page, select the user and then select Reset password.
3. Follow the instructions on the Reset password page to auto-generate a new password for the user or
create one for them, and then select Reset.
4. Enter an email address the user can get to so they receive the new password, and follow up with them to
make sure they got it.

Reset my Office 365 tenant admin password

Use these steps if you forgot your password but you're able to sign in to Office 365 because, for example, your
password is saved in your browser:
1. In Office 365, select Settings > Office 365 > Personal info.
2. Double-check that your Contact details and Alternate email are accurate. If not, change them now.
3. Sign out of Office 365: select your name in the upper right corner (in the above image, shown as Diane) >
Sign out.
4. Now sign in again: type your user name > Next > and then select Forgot password.
5. Follow the steps in the wizard to reset your password. It uses your alternate contact info to verify you're the
right person to reset your password.
If you forgot your password and can't sign in:
Ask another global admin in your business to reset your password for you.
 Or, call Microsoft Support.

Reset all Office 365 business passwords for everyone in your

organization at the same time
These steps work for a business with tens of users. If you have hundreds or thousands of users, see the next
section on resetting passwords in bulk.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the option next to Display name to select everyone in your business. Then unselect yourself. You
can't reset your own password at the same time you reset everyone else's password.
3. Select Reset password.
4. Follow the instructions on the Reset password page, and select Reset. If you opted for auto-generating the
passwords, the new temporary passwords will be displayed.
5. Enter an email address where you can receive the temporary passwords. You'll need to notify your users
what their temporary passwords are.

Reset Office 365 business passwords in bulk

Use PowerShell! Check out this post by Eyal Doron: Managing passwords with PowerShell.
Here's a related article: Set the passwords for multiple user accounts.
For overview information, see PowerShell for Office 365 administrators.

Force a password change for all users in your business

Check out this great blog post by Vasil Michev, Microsoft MVP: Force password change for all users in Office 365.

I'm lost!
Try this article: I forgot the username or password for the account I use with Office.

More info on resetting passwords

Set the password expiration policy for your organization
Set an individual user's password to never expire
Set the password expiration policy for your organization
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Security & privacy page.
2. Next to Password policy select Edit.
3. If passwords are set to never expire, set the toggle to Off. You'll get the option to specify the number of days
until passwords expire.

Set the password expiration policy for individual users

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Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and choose your location to schedule an
appointment.

A global admin for a Microsoft cloud service can use the Microsoft Azure AD Module for Windows PowerShell to
set passwords not to expire for specific users. You can also use Windows PowerShell cmdlets to remove the never-
expires configuration or to see which user passwords are set to never expire.
This guide applies to other providers, such as Intune and Office 365, which also rely on Azure AD for identity and
directory services. Password expiration is the only part of the policy that can be changed.

NOTE
Only passwords for user accounts that are not synchronized through directory synchronization can be configured to not
expire. For more information about directory synchronization, see Connect AD with Azure AD.

How to check the expiration policy for a password

Run one of the following commands:
To see if a single user’s password is set to never expire, run the following cmdlet by using the UPN (for
example, *user@contoso.onmicrosoft.com*) or the user ID of the user you want to check:

Get-AzureADUser -ObjectId <user id or UPN> | Select-Object UserprincipalName,@{

N="PasswordNeverExpires";E={$_.PasswordPolicies -contains "DisablePasswordExpiration"}
}

Example:

Get-AzureADUser -ObjectId userUPN@contoso.com | Select-Object UserprincipalName,@{

N="PasswordNeverExpires";E={$_.PasswordPolicies -contains "DisablePasswordExpiration"}
}

To see the Password never expires setting for all users, run the following cmdlet:
 Get-AzureADUser -All $true | Select-Object UserprincipalName,@{
N="PasswordNeverExpires";E={$_.PasswordPolicies -contains "DisablePasswordExpiration"}
}

To get a report of all the users with PasswordNeverExpires in Html on the desktop of the current user with
name ReportPasswordNeverExpires.html

Get-AzureADUser -All $true | Select-Object UserprincipalName,@{

N="PasswordNeverExpires";E={$_.PasswordPolicies -contains "DisablePasswordExpiration"}
} | ConvertTo-Html | Out-File $env:userprofile\Desktop\ReportPasswordNeverExpires.html

To get a report of all the users with PasswordNeverExpires in CSV on the desktop of the current user with
name ReportPasswordNeverExpires.csv

Get-AzureADUser -All $true | Select-Object UserprincipalName,@{

N="PasswordNeverExpires";E={$_.PasswordPolicies -contains "DisablePasswordExpiration"}
} | ConvertTo-Csv -NoTypeInformation | Out-File $env:userprofile\Desktop\ReportPasswordNeverExpires.csv

Set a password to expire

Run one of the following commands:
To set the password of one user so that the password expires, run the following cmdlet by using the UPN or the
user ID of the user:

Set-AzureADUser -ObjectId <user ID> -PasswordPolicies None

To set the passwords of all users in the organization so that they expire, use the following cmdlet:

Get-AzureADUser -All $true | Set-AzureADUser -PasswordPolicies None

Set a password to never expire

Run one of the following commands:
To set the password of one user to never expire, run the following cmdlet by using the UPN or the user ID of
the user:

Set-AzureADUser -ObjectId <user ID> -PasswordPolicies DisablePasswordExpiration

To set the passwords of all the users in an organization to never expire, run the following cmdlet:

Get-AzureADUser -All $true | Set-AzureADUser -PasswordPolicies DisablePasswordExpiration

WARNING
Passwords set to -PasswordPolicies DisablePasswordExpiration still age based on the pwdLastSet attribute. If you set
the user passwords to never expire and then 90+ days go by, the passwords expire. Based on the pwdLastSet attribute, if
you change the expiration to -PasswordPolicies None , all passwords that have a pwdLastSet older than 90 days require
the user to change them the next time they sign in. This change can affect a large number of users.
 Let users reset their own passwords
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

Getting crushed with people asking you to reset their passwords? As the Microsoft 365 admin, you can let people
use the self-service password reset tool so you don't have to reset passwords for them. Less work for you!
Here are a few things you need to know:
You get self-service password reset for cloud users free with any Office 365 business, education, or
nonprofit paid plan. It doesn't work with Office 365 trial.
It uses Azure. You'll automatically get this feature in Azure for free when you do these steps. It won't cost
you anything to turn on self-service password reset if you don't use other Azure features.
If you're using an on-premises Active Directory, the above two points don't apply. Rather, you can set
this up but it requires a paid subscription to Azure AD Premium.

Let people reset their own passwords

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Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and choose your location to schedule an
appointment.

These steps turn on self-service password reset for everyone in your business.
1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Security & privacy page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Security & privacy page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Security & privacy page.
2. Under Let your people reset their own passwords, select the link for the Azure AD admin center. You'll
get Azure for free!

3. Select Users and groups > Password reset.

4. On the Properties page, select All to enable it for everyone in your business, and then select Save.

5. When your users sign in to Office 365, they will be prompted to enter additional contact information that
will help them reset their password in the future.

Related articles
Set the password expiration policy for your organization
Set an individual user's password to never expire
 Resend a user's password in Office 365 - Admin Help
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

This article explains how to resend the notification email to a new user in Office 365. You do this by resetting the
user's password.
You must be an global admin or password administrator to perform these steps.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. On the Active users page, select the user and then select Reset password.
3. Follow the instructions on the Reset password page to auto-generate a new password for the user or create
one for them, and then select Reset.
4. Enter an email address the user can get to so they receive the new password, and follow up with them to
make sure they got it.
 Give mailbox permissions to another user in Office
365 - Admin Help
8/8/2019 • 5 minutes to read • Edit Online

TIP
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Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and choose your location to schedule an
appointment.

As the admin, you may have company requirements to allow some users access to another user's mailbox. For
example, you may want to enable an assistant to send or read email from their manager's mailbox, or one of your
user's the ability to send email on behalf of another user. This topic shows you how to accomplish this.
If you're looking for information about creating and managing shared mailboxes, check out Create a shared
mailbox.

Looking to set up mailbox permissions?

Mailbox permissions allow you to give read/write access to a mailbox to another user. The articles below might
give you the help you need to set up and use this feature:
Setting up the permissions:
The first step to setting up permissions is deciding which actions you want to allow the other user to take in the
given mailbox. You can allow a user to read emails from the mailbox, send emails on behalf of another user, and
send emails as if they were sent from that mailbox. Refer to the following articles on how to set up each type of
permissions:
Read email from another user's mailbox
Send email from another user's mailbox
Send email on behalf of a user
Changing propagation:
Once you've set up the permissions, it can take up to 60 minutes for the changes to propagate through the system
and be in effect.
How to use it once permissions are set up:
There are a few different ways you can access a mailbox once you've been given access. For help on this, refer to
this article: Access another person's mailbox

Send email from another user's mailbox

Use the new admin center to send email from another user's mailbox
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the name of the user to open their properties pane.
3. On the Mail tab, select Manage mailbox permissions.
4. Next to Send as, select Edit.
5. Select Add permissions, then choose the name of the person who you want this user to be able to send as.
6. Select Save.
Use the old admin center to send email from another user's mailbox
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the user you want, expand Mail Settings, and then Select Edit next to Mailbox permissions.
3. Next to Send as, select Edit.
4. Select Add permissions, then choose the name of the person who you want this user to be able to send as.
5. Select Save.

Read email in another user's mailbox

Use the new admin center to read email in another user's mailbox
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the name of the user to open their properties pane.
3. On the Mail tab, select Manage mailbox permissions.
4. Next to Read and manage, select Edit.
5. Select Add permissions, then choose the name of the user or users that you want to allow to read email
from this mailbox.
6. Select Save.
Use the old admin center to read email in another user's mailbox
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the user you want, expand Mail Settings, and then select Edit next to Mailbox permissions.
3. Next to Read and manage, select Edit.
4. Select Add permissions, then choose the name of the user or users that you want to allow to read email
from this mailbox.
5. Select Save.
Send email on behalf of another user
Use the new admin center to send email on behalf of another user
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the name of the user to open their properties pane.
3. On the Mail tab, select Manage mailbox permissions.
4. Next to Send on behalf, select Edit.
5. Select Add permissions, then choose the name of the user or users that you want to allow to send email on
behalf of this mailbox.
6. Select Save.
Use the old admin center to send email on behalf of another user
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the user you want, expand Mail Settings, and then select Edit next to Mailbox permissions.
3. Next to Send on behalf, select Edit.
4. Select Add permissions, then choose the name of the user or users that you want to allow to send email on
behalf of this mailbox.
5. Select Save.

Send and read from Outlook and Outlook on the web for business
Want to know how to send email from another user's mailbox? Check out the following topics:
Manage another person's mail and calendar items
Send email from another person or group
 Change a user name and email address in Office 365
8/8/2019 • 9 minutes to read • Edit Online

You may need to change someone's Office 365 email address and display name if, for example, they get married
and their last name changes.

Change a user's email address

You must be an Office 365 global admin to do these steps.
Use the new admin center to change a user's email address
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the user's name, and then on the Account tab select Manage username.
3. In the first box, type the first part of the new email address. If you added your own domain to Office 365,
you can choose the domain for the new email alias by using the drop-down list.
4. Select Save changes.
Use the old admin center to change a user's email address
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the user. In the flyout pane, next to Username / Email, select Edit.
3. In the first box, type the first part of the new email address. If you added your own domain to Office 365,
you can choose the domain for the new email alias by using the drop-down list.
4. Select Save.
IMPORTANT:
If you get the error message " A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name
'EmailAddresses," it means that it's taking a bit longer for Office 365 to finish setting up your tenant, or
your custom domain if you recently added one. The setup process can take up to 4 hours to complete. Wait a
while so the setup process has time to finish, and then try again. If the problem persists, call Support and
they will do a full sync for you.
If you get the error message "We're sorry, the user couldn't be edited. Review the user information
and try again," it means you aren't an Office 365 global admin and you don't have permissions to change
the user name.

Set the primary email address

Use the new admin center to set the primary email address
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the user's name, and then on the Account tab select Manage email aliases.
3. Select Set as Primary for the email address that you want to set as the primary email address for that
person.
IMPORTANT: You won't see this option to Set as Primary if you purchased Office 365 from GoDaddy or
another Partner service that provides a management console. Instead, sign in to the GoDaddy / partner's
management console to set the primary alias.
Also, you'll only see this option if you're an Office 365 global admin. If you don't see the option, you don't
have permissions to change a user's name and primary email address.
4. You'll see a big yellow warning that you're about to change the person's sign-in information. SelectSave,
then Close.
5. Tell the person the following information:
This change may take a while to take effect.
What their new username is. They'll need it to sign in to Office 365.
If they are using Skype for Business Online, tell them they will need to reschedule any Skype for Business
Online meetings that they organized, and that they will need to tell their external contacts to update the old
contact information.
If they are using OneDrive, tell them that the URL to this location has been changed. If they have OneNote
notebooks in their OneDrive, then they may need to close and reopen them in OneNote. If they have shared
files from their OneDrive, then the links to the files may not work and the user can reshare.
If their password changed too, tell them that they will be prompted to enter the new password on their
mobile device, or it won't sync.
Use the old admin center to set the primary email address
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the user. In the flyout pane, next to Username / Email, select Edit.
3. Select Set as Primary for the email address that you want to set as the primary email address for that
person.
IMPORTANT: You won't see this option to Set as Primary if you purchased Office 365 from GoDaddy or
another Partner service that provides a management console. Instead, sign in to the GoDaddy / partner's
management console to set the primary alias.
Also, you'll only see this option if you're an Office 365 global admin. If you don't see the option, you don't
have permissions to change a user's name and primary email address.
4. You'll see a big yellow warning that you're about to change the person's sign-in information. SelectSave,
then Close.
5. Tell the person the following information:
 This change may take a while to take effect.
What their new username is. They'll need it to sign in to Office 365.
If they are using Skype for Business Online, tell them they will need to reschedule any Skype for Business
Online meetings that they organized, and that they will need to tell their external contacts to update the old
contact information.
If they are using OneDrive, tell them that the URL to this location has been changed. If they have OneNote
notebooks in their OneDrive, then they may need to close and reopen them in OneNote. If they have shared
files from their OneDrive, then the links to the files may not work and the user can reshare.
If their password changed too, tell them that they will be prompted to enter the new password on their
mobile device, or it won't sync.

Change a user's display name

Use the new admin center to change a user's display name
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the user's name, and then on the Account tab select Manage contact information.
3. In the Display name box, type a new name for the person, and then select Save.
If you get the error message "We're sorry, the user couldn't be edited. Review the user information
and try again." it means you aren't an Office 365 global admin and you don't have permissions to change
the user name.
Use the old admin center to change a user's display name
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the user. In the flyout pane, next to Contact information, select Edit.
3. In the Display name box, type a new name for the person, and then select Save.
If you get the error message "We're sorry, the user couldn't be edited. Review the user information
and try again." it means you aren't an Office 365 global admin and you don't have permissions to change
the user name.

Did you get "A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter
name 'EmailAddresses"?
If you get the error message " A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name
'EmailAddresses" it means that it's taking a bit longer for Office 365 to finish setting up your tenant, or your
custom domain if you recently added one. The setup process can take up to 4 hours to complete. Wait a while so
the set up process has time to finish, and then try again. If the problem persists, call Support and they will do a full
sync for you.

Did you get "We're sorry, the user couldn't be edited. Review the user
information and try again"?
If you get the error message " We're sorry, the user couldn't be edited. Review the user information and try
again." it means you aren't an Office 365 global admin and you don't have permissions to change the user name.
Find the global admin in your business and ask them to make the change.

More information on changing or adding email addresses

Tip: Keep the person's old email address
A person's previous primary email address is retained as an additional email address. We strongly recommend
that you don't remove the old email address.
Some people will likely continue to send email to the person's old email address and deleting it may result in NDR
failures. Office 365 will automatically route it to the new one. Also, do not reuse old SMTP email addresses and
apply them to new accounts. This can also cause NDR failures or delivery to an unintended mailbox.
How long until the new name appears across services?
It might take up to 24 hours for this change to take effect across all services. After the change has taken effect, the
person will have to sign in to Outlook, Skype for Business and SharePoint with their updated username, so be sure
to tell them about this change.
What if the person's offline address book won't sync with the Global Address List?
If they are using Exchange Online or if their Office 365 account is linked with your organization's on-premises
Exchange environment, you may see this error when you try to change a username and email address: "This user is
synchronized with your local Active Directory. Some details can be edited only through your local Active
Directory."
This is due to the Microsoft Online Email Routing Address (MOERA). The MOERA is constructed from the person's
userPrincipalName attribute in Active Directory and is automatically assigned to the cloud account during the
initial sync and once created, it cannot be modified or removed in Office 365. You can subsequently change the
username in the Active Directory, but it will not change the MOERA and you may run into issues displaying the
newly changed name in the Global Address List.
To fix this, log in to the Azure Active Directory Module for PowerShell with your Microsoft 365 administrator
credentials. and use the following syntax:

Set-MsolUserPrincipalName -UserPrincipalName anne.wallace@contoso.onmicrosoft.com -NewUserPrincipalName

anne.jones@contoso.com

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This changes the person's userPrincipalName attribute and has no bearing on their email address. It is best practice,
however, to have the person's logon UPN match their primary SMTP address.

To learn how to change someone's username in Active Directory, in Windows Server 2003 and earlier, seeRename
a user account.

Related Topics
Admins: Reset a password for one or more users
Add another email address to a user
 Create, edit, or delete a custom user view in Office
365
8/8/2019 • 5 minutes to read • Edit Online

If you're a global or user management admin of Office 365, you can create custom user views to view a specific
subset of users. These views are in addition to the standard set of views that come with Office 365. You can create,
edit, or delete custom user views, and the custom views you create are available to all admins.

Custom user views in the admin center

Use the new admin center to see custom user views
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
When you create, edit, or delete a custom user view, the changes will be shown in the Filter list that all admins in
your company see when they go to the Users page. You can create up to 50 custom views.
Use the old admin center to see custom user views
When you create, edit, or delete a custom user view, the changes will be shown in the Views list that all admins in
your company see when they go to the Users page. You can create up to 50 custom views.

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Standard user views are displayed by default in the Filters drop-down list. The standard filters include All users, Licensed
users, Guest users, Sign-in allowed, Sign-in blocked, Unlicensed users, Users with errors, Billing admins, Global
admins, Helpdesk admins, Service admins, and User management admins. You can't edit or delete standard views.

A few things to note about standard views:

Some standard views display an unsorted list if there are more than 2,000 users in the list. To locate specific
users in this list, use the search box.
If you didn't purchase Office 365 from Microsoft, Billing admins don't appear in the standard views list. For
more information, see Assigning admin roles.

Choose the filters for your custom user view

You can create and edit your custom views in the Custom view pane. (In the new admin center, this is called the
Custom filter pane.) If you select multiple filter options, you get results that contain users who match all the
selected criteria. The following example shows you how to create a custom view named "Canadian users" that
shows all users on a specific domain who are in Canada.
A - Domain If you have multiple domains for your organization, you can choose from a drop-down list of domains
that are available.
B - Sign-in status Choose users that are allowed or blocked.
C - Location Choose a location from a drop-down list of countries.
D - Assigned product license Choose from a drop-down list of licenses that are available at your organization.
Use this filter to show users who have the license you selected assigned to them. Users may also have additional
licenses.
You can also filter by additional user profile details used in your organization such as department, city, state or
province, country or region, or job title.
Other conditions:
Synchronized users only Select this box to show all users who have been synced with the local Active
Directory, regardless of whether the users have been activated or not.
Users with errors Select this box to show users who may have provisioning errors.
Unlicensed users Select this box to find all the users who haven't been assigned a license. The results for
this view can also include users who have an Exchange mailbox but don't have a license. To track those users
specifically, use the filter Unlicensed users with Exchange mailboxes or archives. The results for this
view can also include users who have an Exchange archive, but don't have a license.
Unlicensed users with Exchange mailboxes or archives Select this box to show user accounts that were
created in Exchange Online and have an Exchange mailbox, but weren't assigned an Office 365 license. The
results of this filter include users who have or who were assigned an Exchange archive.

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If you create a custom view that returns more than 2,000 users, the resulting user list isn't sorted. In this case, use the search
box to find users or edit your custom view to refine your search.

Create a custom user view

Use the new admin center to create a custom user view
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. On the Active users page, select Filters and select New filter.
3. On the Custom filter page, enter the name for your filter, choose the conditions for your custom filter, and
then select Add. Your custom view is now included in the drop-down list of filters.
Use the old admin center to create a custom user view
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. On the Active users page, select Views and select Add custom view.
3. On the Custom view page, enter the name for your filter, choose the conditions for your custom filter, and
then select Add. Your custom view is now included in the drop-down list of filters.

Edit or delete a custom user view

Use the new admin center to edit or delete a custom user view
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. On the Active users page, select Filter, select the filter you want to change, and then select Edit filter.

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You can edit only custom views.

3. On the Custom filter page, edit the information as needed, and then select Save. Or, to delete the filter, at
the bottom of the page select Delete.
Use the old admin center to edit or delete a custom user view
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. On the Active users page, select Views, select the filter you want to change, and then select Edit this view.

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You can edit only custom views.

3. On the Custom view page, edit the information as needed, and then select Save. Or, to delete the filter, at
the bottom of the page select Delete custom view.
 Add a new employee to Office 365
8/8/2019 • 4 minutes to read • Edit Online

TIP
Need help with the steps in this topic? We’ve got you covered. Make an appointment at your local Microsoft Store with an
Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and choose your location to schedule an
appointment.

This article helps you onboard a new employee to Office 365 for business. We assume you're an Admin and you've
already completed Office 365 set up, and now you have someone new joining your company.
You're in the right place if your new employee needs Office 365, and you're using an Office 365 plan that lets you
install Office apps like Word and Excel on a computer.
Not an admin? Learn your way around Office 365 helps business and home users with Office 365 set up.
No Office apps in your plan? Follow the steps below, but skip the sections for installing apps. Use the Online
versions of Office instead.
Here's a quick overview:

STEP WHY DO THIS?

Step 1: Create an Office 365 account for the employee Each time a new employee joins your business, create an
account for them so they can start using Office 365.

Step 2: Give the employee their user ID and password When you create an account, you'll get an ID and password
that you can pass to your employee so they can sign in.

Step 3: Explain where to sign in The sign in location is https://www.office.com

Step 4: Help your employee get started Let your employee know how to use OneDrive or any team
sites in your organization.

Step 1: Create an Office 365 account for the employee

For instructions, see Add users individually or in bulk to Office 365 - Admin Help. When you set up your new
employee, you can choose to send log-in details to the employee's personal account. This way, they'll receive an
email from Microsoft Online Service Team that tells them how to log in to Office 365.

Step 2: Give the employee their user ID and password

Unless you sent it to their personal email address, print out the employee's Office 365 sign in name and password,
and hand it to them. Or tell them the information over the phone.
Because they won't yet have access to their Office 365 email, don't send the information to that email address.

Step 3: Explain where to sign in

Just like Facebook, Amazon, or Gmail, your employee signs in to use Office 365. Give them the following sign in
information:
Sign in at https://www.office.com.
Select Sign in, then type the user ID and password.

Step 4: Help your employee get started

Share with them the Employee quick setup for Office 365 to sign in, install software, set up email, and more.
And here's a quick reference to help get them started:

TASK FIND THE DETAILS

Sign in to Office Go to https://www.office.com, select Sign in, and then enter

your Office 365 user ID and password.

Install Office apps onto your computer. When you sign in, the home page has a link to download and
install apps like Word and Outlook. Select Install Office. For
instructions, see How to install Office.

Set up your email in Outlook 2016 . Once Office apps are installed on your computer, set up your
email. For instructions, see How to setup Outlook.

Set up Skype for Business so you can connect with co-workers Install Skype for Business on your computer.
or business partners in your company or around the world.
You can start conversations with IM, voice, or video calls. To learn how to use Skype for Business, watch a video.

Have you set up Skype for Business so your employees can

contact people external to your business who are using the
free Skype app? If not, tell your new employee so they know
what to expect when using Skype for Business.

Install apps on your mobile device if you want to get email or If you want to set up the Outlook mobile app so you can get
use Skype for Business on your phone. email via your phone. For instructions, see iOS, Android,
Windows Phone

If you want to use Skype for Business on your mobile device,

download and install the mobile app. For instructions, see iOS,
Android, Windows Phone

Complete the OneDrive for Business training to help you learn Keep your business-related documents in the cloud by using
how to store and organize your documents, presentations, OneDrive for Business. You can always get to your content,
and spreadsheets in the cloud. even if you're signed in to Office 365 on a different computer.
Watch a video to learn how to use your OneDrive for Business

Training: OneDrive for Business training (Select OneDrive for

Business).

Complete the SharePoint Online training to help you The best place to keep documents that your coworkers will
collaborate with coworkers and share content. also access is in SharePoint Online.

Training: Video: Collaborate with team content using

SharePoint Online

Find out: How is your organization using SharePoint Online,

and what type of documents get stored there. Also, which
documents are stored in OneDrive for Business.
Related Topics
Remove a former employee from Office 365
Add users individually or in bulk to Office 365
 Remove a former employee from Office 365
8/8/2019 • 15 minutes to read • Edit Online

Sign out now!

TIP
Need help with the steps in this topic? We’ve got you covered. Make an appointment at your local Microsoft Store with an
Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and choose your location to schedule an
appointment.

Use the new admin center to remove a former employee

The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the box next to the user's name, and then select Reset password.
3. Enter a new password, and then select Reset. (Don't send it to them.)
4. Select the user's name to go to their properties pane, and on the OneDrive tab, select Initiate sign-out.
Use the old admin center to remove a former employee
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the user, and then select Reset password.
3. Enter a new password, and then select Reset. (Don't send it to them.)
4. Select the user again, expand OneDrive Settings, and then select Initiate next to Sign-out.
Within an hour - or after they leave the current Office 365 page they are on - they will be prompted to sign in
again. (The refresh token is good for an hour, so the timeline depends on how much time is left on their token and
whether they navigate out of their current webpage.)
CAVEAT: If the user is in Outlook on the web, just clicking around in their mailbox, they may not be kicked out
immediately. As soon as they select a different tile, such as OneDrive, or refresh their browser, the sign out is
initiated.
To use PowerShell to sign out a user immediately, see Revoke-AzureADUserAllRefreshToken cmdlet.
For more information about how long it takes to get someone out of email, see What you need to know about
terminating an employee's email session.

Overview of all the steps to remove an employee and secure data

A question we often get is, "What should I do to protect data when an employee leaves the organization?" This
article explains how to block access to Office 365 and the steps you should take to secure your data.
 NOTE
If you are a global administrator you can delete the employee, forward their email, choose what to do with their OneDrive
content using the new guided experience. For more information, see Global admin: Delete a user. However, we recommend
completing all of the additional steps listed here to ensure the employee doesn't have access to your company's data.

Here's a quick overview. Each step is explained in detail in this article.

Step Why do this

1. Save the contents of a former employee's mailbox This is useful for the person who is going to take over the
employee's work, or in case of litigation.

2. Forward a former employee's email to another employee or This lets you keep the former employee's email address active.
convert to a shared mailbox If you have customers or partners still sending email to the
former employee's address, this gets them to the person
taking over the work.

3. Wipe and block a former employee's mobile device Removes your business data from the phone or tablet.

4. Block a former employee's access to Office 365 data It prevents the person from accessing their old Office 365
mailbox and data.

Tip: When you block a user's access, you're still paying for
their license. You have to delete the license from your
subscription to stop paying for it (step 5).

5. Move the employee's OneDrive content If you only remove a user's license but don't delete the
account, the content in the user's OneDrive will remain
accessible to you even after 30 days.

Before you delete the account, you should move the content
of their OneDrive to another location that's easy for you to
access. After you delete an employee's account, the content in
their OneDrive is retained for 30 days. During that 30 days,
however, you can restore the user's account, and gain access
to their OneDrive content. If you restore the user's account,
the OneDrive content will remain accessible to you even after
30 days.

5a. What if the person used their personal computer to access If they used a personal computer instead of a company-
OneDrive and SharePoint? issued computer to download files from OneDrive and
SharePoint, there's no way for you to wipe those files they
stored.

They will continue to have access to any files that were synced
to their computer.

6. Remove and delete the Office 365 license from a former When you remove a license, you can assign it to someone
employee else. Or, you can delete the license so you don't pay for it until
you hire another person.

When you remove or delete a license, the user's old email,

contacts, and calendar are retained for 30 days, then
permanently deleted. If you remove or delete a license but
don't delete the account, the content in the user's OneDrive
will remain accessible to you even after 30 days.
 7. Delete a former employee's user account This removes the account from your admin center. Keeps
things clean.

Save the contents of a former employee's mailbox

There are two ways you can save the contents of the former employee's mailbox:
1. Add the former employee's email address to your version of Outlook 2013 or 2016, and then export the
data to a .pst file. You can import the data to another email account as needed. To learn how to do this, see
Get access to and back up a former user's data.
OR
2. Place a Litigation Hold or In-Place Hold on the mailbox before the deleting the user account. This is much
more complicated than the first option but worth doing if: your Enterprise plan includes archiving and legal
hold, litigation is a possibility, and you have a technically strong IT department.
Once you convert the mailbox to an "inactive mailbox," administrators, compliance officers, or records
managers can use In-Place eDiscovery tools in Exchange Online to access and search the contents.
Inactive mailboxes can't receive email and aren't displayed in your organization's shared address book or
other lists.
To learn how to place a hold on a mailbox, see Manage inactive mailboxes in Exchange Online.

Forward a former employee's email to another employee or convert to

a shared mailbox
In this step, you assign the former employee's email address to another employee, or convert the user's mailbox to
a shared mailbox that you've created.
Creating a shared mailbox is the less expensive way to go because you won't have to pay for a license as
long as the mailbox is smaller than 50GB. Over 50GB and you'll need to assign a license to it.
If you convert the mailbox to a shared mailbox, all the old email will be available, too. This can take up a lot
of space.
If you set up email forwarding, only new emails sent to the former employee will now be sent to the
current employee.
Email forwarding requires that the former employee's account has a license.

IMPORTANT
If you're setting up email forwarding or a shared mailbox, at the end, don't delete the former employee's account. The
account needs to be there to anchor the email forwarding or shared mailbox.

Use the new admin center to forward a former employee's email

The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the name of the employee that you want to block, and then select the Mail tab.
3. Under Email Forwarding, select Manage email forwarding.
4. Turn on Forward all email sent to this mailbox. In the Forwarding address box, type the email address
of the current employee (or shared mailbox) who's going to get the email.
5. Select Save.
6. Remember, don't delete the former employee's account.
Use the old admin center to forward a former employee's email
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the employee that you want to block and expand Mail Settings.
3. Next to Email forwarding, select Edit.
4. Turn on Forward all email sent to this mailbox. In the Forwarding address box, type the email address
of the current employee (or shared mailbox) who's going to get the email.
5. Select Save.
6. Remember, don't delete the former employee's account.

Wipe and block a former employee's mobile device

If your former employee had a organization phone, you can use the Exchange admin center to wipe and block that
device so that all organization data is removed from the device and it can no longer connect to Office 365.
1. Go to the Exchange admin center.
2. In the Exchange admin center, navigate to Recipients > Mailboxes.
3. Select the user, and under Mobile Devices, select View details.
4. On the Mobile Device Details page, under Mobile devices, select the mobile device, select Wipe Data
, and then select Block.
5. Select Save.
Tip: Be sure you remove or disable the user from your on-premises Blackberry Enterprise Service. You
should also disable any Blackberry devices for the user. Refer to the Blackberry Business Cloud Services
Administration Guide if you need specific steps on how to disable the user.

Block a former employee's access to Office 365 data

IMPORTANT
Blocking an account can take up to 24 hours to take effect. If you need to immediately prevent a user's sign-in access, you
should reset their password and then initiate a one-time event that will sign them out of Office 365 sessions across all
devices. See Sign out now!

Use the new admin center to block a user from signing in and accessing Office 365 data
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the name of the employee that you want to block, and under the user's name, select the symbol for
Block this user.
3. Select Block the user from signing in, and then select Save.
Use the old admin center to block a user from signing in and accessing Office 365 data
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the employee that you want to block, and then select Block sign-in.
3. Select Block the user from signing in, and then select Save.

Block a former employee's access to email (Exchange Online)

If you have Office 365 email as part of your Office 365 subscription, you need to log in to the Exchange admin
center to follow these steps to block your former employee from accessing their email.
1. Go to the Exchange admin center.
2. In the Exchange admin center, navigate to Recipients > Mailboxes.
3. Double-click the user and go to the Mailbox features page. Under Mobile Devices, select Disable
Exchange ActiveSync and Disable OWA for Devices, and answer Yes to both when prompted.
4. Under Email Connectivity, select Disable and answer Yes when prompted.

Remove and delete the Office 365 license from a former employee
So you don't continue paying for a license after someone leaves your organization, you need to remove their
Office 365 license and then delete it from your subscription. If you choose not to delete the license from your
subscription, you can assign it to another user.
When you remove the license, all that user's data is held for 30 days. You can access the data, or restore the
account if the user comes back. After 30 days, all the user's data (except for documents stored on SharePoint
Online) is deleted permanently from Office 365 and can't be recovered.
Use the new admin center to remove license from a former employee
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the name of the employee that you want to block, and then select the Licenses and Apps tab.
3. Clear the check boxes for the license(s) you want to remove, and then select Save changes.
Use the old admin center to remove a license from a former employee
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
3. Select the employee that you want to block, and then next to Product licenses, select Edit.
4. On the Product licenses page, toggle off the license(s) you want to remove, and then select Save.
To reduce the number of licenses you're paying for until you hire another person, do the following:
1. Go to the admin center:
In the new admin center, go to the Billing > Products & services page.
In the old admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
2. Select Add/Remove licenses to delete the license so you don't pay for it until you hire another person.
When you add another person to your business, you'll be prompted to buy a license at the same time, with just
one step!
For more information about managing user licenses for Office 365 for business, see Assign licenses to users in
Office 365 for business, and Remove licenses from users in Office 365 for business.

How the deleted employee account affects Skype for Business

When you remove a user's license from Office 365, the PSTN calling number associated with the user will be
released. You can assign it to another user.
If the user belongs to a queue group, they will no longer be a viable target of the call queue agents. So, we
recommend also removing the user from the groups associated with the call queue.

Delete a former employee's user account

After you've saved and accessed all the former employee's user data, you can delete the former employee's
account.
Don't delete the account if you've set up email forwarding or converted it to a shared mailbox. Both need the
account to anchor the forwarding or shared mailbox.
Use the new admin center to delete a former employee's user account
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the name of the employee that you want to delete.
3. Under the user's name, select the symbol for Delete user. Choose the options you want for this user, and
then select Delete user.
Use the old admin center to delete a former employee's user account
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the name of the employee that you want to delete.
3. At the top of the page, select Delete user. Choose the options you want for this user, and then select
Delete user.
When you delete a user, the account becomes inactive for approximately 30 days. You have until then to restore
the account before it is permanently deleted.
Does your organization use Active Directory?
If your organization synchronizes user accounts to Office 365 from a local Active Directory environment, you
must delete and restore those user accounts in your local Active Directory service. You can't delete or restore them
in Office 365.
For instructions, see this article: Delete a User Account.
If you are using Azure Active Directory, see the Remove-MsolUser PowerShell cmdlet.

What you need to know about terminating an employee's email

session
Here's information about how to get an employee out of email (Exchange).

What you can do How you do it

Terminate a session (such as Outlook on the web, Outlook, Reset password

Exchange active sync, etc.) and force to open a new session

Terminate a session and block access to future sessions (for all Disable the account. For example (in the Exchange admin
protocols) center or using PowerShell):
Set-Mailbox user@contoso.com -AccountDisabled:$true

Terminate the session for a particular protocol (such as Disable the protocol. For example (in the Exchange admin
ActiveSync) center or using PowerShell):
Set-CASMailbox user@contoso.com -
ActiveSyncEnabled:$false

The above operations can be done in 3 places:

If you terminate the session here How long it takes

In the Exchange admin center or using PowerShell Expected delay is within 30 min

In the Azure Active Directory admin center Expected delay is 60 min

In an on-premises environment Expected delay is 3 hours or more

How to get fastest response for account termination

Fastest: Use the Exchange admin center (use PowerShell) or Azure Active Directory admin center. In an on-
premises environment, it can take several hours to sync the change through DirSync.
Fastest for a user with presence on-premises and in the Exchange Datacenter: Terminate the session using
Azure Active Directory admin center/Exchange admin center AND make the change in the on-premises
environment as well. Otherwise, the change in Azure Active Directory admin center/Exchange admin center will
be overwritten by DirSync.
Related Topics
Restore a user
 Get access to and back up a former user's data
8/8/2019 • 6 minutes to read • Edit Online

TIP
Need help with the steps in this topic? We’ve got you covered. Make an appointment at your local Microsoft Store with an
Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and choose your location to schedule an
appointment.

When an employee leaves your organization, you probably want to access their data (documents and emails) and
either review it, back it up, or transfer ownership to a new employee.

Access a former user's OneDrive documents

If you remove a user's license but don't delete the account, you retain access to the content in the user's OneDrive
site. If you delete their account you have 30 days to access a former user’s OneDrive data. If you don't restore a
user account within 30 days their OneDrive content is deleted. Before you delete the account, you should move
the content from their OneDrive to another location.
To preserve a former user's OneDrive for Business documents you first access their OneDrive site and then move
the files.
Use the new admin center to access a former user's OneDrive documents
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select a user.
3. In the right pane, select OneDrive. Under Get access to files, select Create link to files.
4. Select the link to open the file location and download and copy the files to your own OneDrive for
Business, or a common location. You can also share the link with another user to download the files.
Use the old admin center to access a former user's OneDrive documents
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select a user.
3. In the right pane, expand OneDrive Settings, and then next to Access, select Access files.
4. Select the link to open the file location and download and copy the files to your own OneDrive for
Business, or a common location. You can also share the link with another user to download the files.
 NOTE
You can move up to 500 MB of files and folders at a time.
When you use Move to with documents that have version history, only the latest version is moved. To move earlier
versions, you need to restore and move each one.

Revoke admin access to a user’s OneDrive site

As global admin you have access to the content in a user’s OneDrive site, but you may want to remove your
access to a user’s documents. By default, the OneDrive Site Collection Administrator is the owner of the
OneDrive account. The following steps describe how to remove a Site Collection Admin from a user’s OneDrive
site.
1. Sign in to the admin center as a global admin or SharePoint admin.
1. Sign in to the admin center as a global admin or SharePoint admin.
1. Sign in to the admin center as a global admin or SharePoint admin.
If you get a message that you don't have permission to access the admin center, then you don't have administrator
permissions in your organization.
2. In the left pane, select Admin centers > SharePoint.
3. In the left pane, select User Profiles.
4. Under People, select Manage User Profiles.
5. Enter the user's name and select Find.
6. Right-click the user, and then choose Manage site collection owners.
7. Remove the person who no longer needs access to the user's data, then select OK.
Learn more about how to add or remove site collection admins in the new SharePoint admin center, or in the
classic SharePoint admin center.

Access the Outlook data of a former user

To save the email messages, calendar, tasks, and contacts of the former employee, export the information to an
Outlook Data File (.pst).
1. Add the former employee's email to your Outlook (If you reset the user's password, you can set it to
something only you know.)
2. In Outlook, select File.

3. Select Open & Export > Import/Export.

4. Select Export to a file, and then select Next.

5. Select Outlook Data File (.pst), and then select Next.

6. Select the account you want to export by selecting the name or email address, such as Mailbox - Anne
Weiler or anne@contoso.com. If you want to export everything in your account, including mail, calendar,
contacts, tasks, and notes, make sure the Include subfolders check box is selected.

NOTE
You can export one account at a time. If you want to export multiple accounts, after one account is exported, repeat
these steps.

7. Select Next.
8. Select Browse to select where to save the Outlook Data File (.pst). Type a file name, and then select OK to
continue.

NOTE
If you've used export before, the previous folder location and file name appear. Type a different file name before
selecting OK.

9. If you are exporting to an existing Outlook Data File (.pst), under Options, specify what to do when
 exporting items that already exist in the file.
10. Select Finish.
Outlook begins the export immediately unless a new Outlook Data File (.pst) is created or a password-protected
file is used.
If you're creating an Outlook Data File (.pst), an optional password can help protect the file. When the
Create Outlook Data File dialog box appears, type the password in the Password and Verify Password
boxes, and then select OK. In the Outlook Data File Password dialog box, type the password, and then
select OK.
If you're exporting to an existing Outlook Data File (.pst) that is password protected, in the Outlook Data
File Password dialog box, type the password, and then select OK.
See how to Export or backup email, contacts, and calendar to an Outlook .pst file in Outlook 2010.

Give another user access to a former user's email

To give access to the email messages, calendar, tasks, and contacts of the former employee to another employee,
import the information to another employee's Outlook inbox.

NOTE
You can also convert the former user's mailbox to a shared mailbox or forward a former employee's email to another
employee.

1. In Outlook, go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export.

This starts the Import and Export Wizard.
2. Select Import from another program or file, and then select Next.

3. Select Outlook Data File (.pst), and select Next.

4. Browse to the .pst file you want to import.
5. Under Options, choose how you want to deal with duplicates
6. Select Next.
7. If a password was assigned to the Outlook Data File (.pst), enter the password, and then select OK.
8. Set the options for importing items. The default settings usually don't need to be changed.
9. Select Finish.
 TIP
If you want to import or restore only a few items from an Outlook Data File (.pst), you can open the Outlook Data File.
Then, in the navigation pane, drag the items from Outlook Data File folders to your existing Outlook folders.

Related Topics
Remove a former employee from Office 365
Add and remove admins on a OneDrive account
Manage site collection administrators
OneDrive retention and deletion
 About admin roles
10/8/2019 • 9 minutes to read • Edit Online

Your subscription comes with a set of admin roles that you can assign to users in your organization. Each admin
role maps to common business functions and gives people in your organization permissions to do specific tasks
in the admin centers. For more information, see Assign admin roles

TIP
Looking for the detailed role descriptions? Check out Administrator role permissions in Azure Active Directory.

Things to consider...
Because admins have access to sensitive data and files, we recommend that you follow these guidelines to keep
your organization's data more secure.

RECOMMENDATION WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Have 2 to 4 global admins Because only another global admin can reset a global
admin's password, we recommend that you have at least 2
global admins in your organization in case of account
lockout. But the global admin has almost unlimited access to
your org's settings and most of the data, so we also
recommend that you don't have more than 4 global admins
because that's a security threat.

Assign the least permissive role Assigning the least permissive role means giving admins
only the access they need to get the job done. For example,
if you want someone to reset employee passwords you
shouldn't assign the unlimited global admin role, you should
assign a limited admin role, like Password admin or Helpdesk
admin. This will help keep your data secure.

Require multi-factor authentication for admins It's actually a good idea to require MFA for all of your users,
but admins should definitely be required to use MFA to sign
in. MFA makes users enter a second method of identification
to verify they are who they say they are. Admins can have
access to a lot of customer and employee data and if you
require MFA, even if the admin's password gets
compromised, the password is useless without the second
form of identification.

When you turn on MFA, the next time the user signs in,
they'll need to provide an alternate email address and phone
number for account recovery.
Set up multi-factor authentication

Need more details about what these roles can and cannot do?
You can view the brief descriptions later in this article: Roles available in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
If you’re looking for detailed information, including the cmdlets associated with a role, see Administrator role
permissions in Azure Active Directory.
But if you have access to the new admin center and the new roles experience is available to you, go to Roles >
Roles, and then select any role to open its detail pane. Select the Permissions tab to view the detailed list of
what admins assigned that role have permission to do.

Some roles are missing from Active users > Manage admin roles.
Where did they go?
By default, we first show roles that most organizations use. If you can't find a role, go to the bottom of the list
and select See more roles.

How can I tell which permissions are assigned to me?

If you get a message in the admin center telling you that you don't have permissions to edit a setting or page,
it's because you are assigned a role that doesn't have that permission.

What about the Azure Active Directory roles?

The Azure portal has more roles than available in the Microsoft 365 admin center. If you have a large business,
there might be roles in the Azure portal that meet your organizational needs.
For a list and description of all the Azure Active Directory roles, see Administrator role permissions in Azure
Active Directory.
A user who is assigned an admin role will have the same level of access to cloud services that your organization
has subscribed to, regardless of whether you assign the role in the Microsoft 365 admin center or the Azure
portal, or by using the Azure AD module for Windows PowerShell.

Roles available in the Microsoft 365 admin center

The Microsoft 365 admin center lets you manage over 30 Azure AD roles. However, these roles are a subset of
the roles available in the Azure portal.
You'll probably only need to assign the following roles in your organization.

ADMIN ROLE WHO SHOULD BE ASSIGNED THIS ROLE?

Exchange admin Assign the Exchange admin role to users who need to view
and manage your user’s email mailboxes, Office 365 groups
and Exchange Online.

Exchange admins can also:

- Recover deleted items in a user's mailbox
- Set up "Send As" and "Send on behalf" delegates

Global admin Assign the Global admin role to users who need global
access to most management features and data across
Microsoft online services.

Giving too many users global access is a security risk and we

recommend that you have between 2 and 4 Global admins.

Only global admins can:

- Reset passwords for all users
- Add and manage domains

Note: The person who signed up for Microsoft online

services automatically becomes a Global admin.
ADMIN ROLE WHO SHOULD BE ASSIGNED THIS ROLE?

Global reader Assign the global reader role to user's who need to view
admin features and settings in all admin centers that the
global admin can view. The global reader admin can't edit
any settings.

Helpdesk admin Assign the Helpdesk admin role to users who need to do the
following:
- Rest passwords
- Force users to sign out
- Manage service requests
- Monitor service health

Note: The Helpdesk admin can only help non-admin users

and users assigned these roles: Directory reader, Guest
inviter, Helpdesk admin, Message center reader, and Reports
reader.

Service admin Assign the Service admin role as an additional role to admins
or users whose role doesn't include the following, but still
need to do the following:
- Open and manage service requests
- View and share message center posts

SharePoint admin Assign the SharePoint admin role to user's who need to
access and manage the SharePoint Online admin center.

SharePoint admins can also:

- Create and delete sites
- Manage site collections and global SharePoint settings

Teams admin Assign the Teams admin role to user's who need to access
and manage the Teams admin center.

Teams admins can also:

- Manage meetings
- Manage conference bridges
- Manage all org-wide settings, including federation, teams
upgrade, and teams client settings

User admin Assign the User admin role to users who need to do the
following for all users:
- Add users and groups
- Assign licenses
- Manage most users properties
- Create and manage user views
- Update password expiration policies
- Manage service requests
- Monitor service health

The user admin can also do the following actions for users
who aren't admins and for users assigned the following
roles: Directory reader, Guest inviter, Helpdesk admin,
Message center reader, Reports reader:
- Manage usernames
- Delete and restore users
- Reset passwords
- Force users to sign out
- Update (FIDO) device keys
All roles
Here's a list of all the roles available in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

ROLE DESCRIPTION

Application admin Full access to enterprise applications, application

registrations, and application proxy settings.

Application developer Create application registrations and consent to app access

on their own behalf.

Authentication admin Can require users to re-register authentication for non-

password credentials, like MFA.

Azure Information Protection admin Manages labels for the Azure Information Protection policy,
manages protection templates, and activates protection.

Billing admin Makes purchases, manages subscriptions, manages service

requests, and monitors service health.

Cloud application admin Full access to enterprise applications and application

registrations. No application proxy.

Cloud device admin Enables, disables, and deletes devices and can read Windows
10 BitLocker keys.

Compliance admin Manages regulatory requirements and eDiscovery cases,

maintains data governance for locations, identities, and
apps.

Conditional Access admin Manages Azure Active Directory conditional access settings,
but not Exchange ActiveSync conditional access policy.

Customer Lockbox access approver Manages Customer Lockbox requests, can turn Customer
Lockbox on or off.

Desktop Analytics admin Can access and manage Desktop management tools and
services.

Dynamics 365 admin Full access to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Online, manages
service requests, monitors service health.

Exchange admin Full access to Exchange Online, creates and manages groups,
manages service requests, and monitors service health.

External identity provider admin Configure identity providers for use in direct federation.

Global admin Has unlimited access to all management features and most
data in all admin centers.

Global reader Has read-only access to all management features and most
data in all admin centers.

Guest inviter Manages Azure Active Directory B2B guest user invitations.
ROLE DESCRIPTION

Helpdesk admin Resets passwords and re-authenticates for all non-admins

and some admin roles, manages service requests, and
monitors service health.

Kaizala admin Full access to all Kaizala management features and data,
manages service requests.

License admin Assigns and removes licenses from users and edits their
usage location.

Message center privacy reader Access to data privacy messages in Message Center, gets
email notifications.

Message center reader Reads and shares regular messages in Message Center, gets
weekly email digests, has read-only access to users, groups,
domains, and subscriptions.

Privileged role admin Manages role assignments and all access control features of
Privileged Identity Management.

Reports reader Reads usage reporting data from the reports dashboard,
PowerBI adoption content pack, sign-in reports, and
Microsoft Graph reporting API.

Search admin Full access to Microsoft Search, assigns the Search admin
and Search editor roles, manages editorial content, monitors
service health, and creates service requests.

Search editor Can only create, edit, and delete content for Microsoft
Search, like bookmarks, Q&A, and locations.

Service admin Creates service requests for Azure, Microsoft 365, and Office
365 services, and monitors service health.

Skype for Business admin Full access to all Teams and Skype features, Skype user
attributes, manages service requests, and monitors service
health.

SharePoint admin Full access to SharePoint Online, manages Office 365

groups, manages service requests, and monitors service
health.

Teams admin Full access to Teams & Skype admin center, manages Office
365 groups and service requests, and monitors service
health.

Teams communication manager Assigns telephone numbers, creates and manages voice and
meeting policies, and reads call analytics.

Teams communication support engineer Reads call record details for all call participants to
troubleshoot communication issues.

Teams communication support specialist Reads user call details only for a specific user to troubleshoot
communication issues.
 ROLE DESCRIPTION

User admin Resets user passwords, creates and manages users and
groups, including filters, manages service requests, and
monitors service health.

Delegated administration for Microsoft Partners

If you're working with a Microsoft partner, you can assign them admin roles. They, in turn, can assign users in
your company - or their company - admin roles. You might want them to do this, for example, if they are setting
up and managing your online organization for you.
A partner can assign these roles:
Full administration, which has privileges equivalent to a global admin, with the exception of managing
multi-factor authentication through the Partner Center.
Limited administration, which has privileges equivalent to a helpdesk admin.
Before the partner can assign these roles to users, you must add the partner as a delegated admin to your
account. This process is initiated by an authorized partner. The partner sends you an email to ask you if you
want to give them permission to act as a delegated admin. For instructions, see Authorize or remove partner
relationships.

Related articles
Assign admin roles
Activity reports in the Microsoft 365 admin center
 Assign admin roles
9/27/2019 • 4 minutes to read • Edit Online

If you're the person who purchased your Microsoft business subscription, you are the global admin. This means
you have unlimited control over the products in your subscriptions and you can access most data.
For more information, see About admin roles.
When you add new users, if you don't assign them an admin role then they are in the user role and don't have
admin privileges to any of the Microsoft admin centers. But if you need help getting things done, you can assign
an admin role to a user. For example, if you need someone to help reset passwords, you shouldn't assign them the
global admin role, you should assign them the password admin role. Having too many global admins, with
unlimited access to your data and online business, is a security risk.

Assign admin roles to a user from the old admin center

We've got a new roles experience that started rolling out in June. Want to try it out? See Assign admin roles to a
user from the new admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. On the Active users page, select the user whose admin role you want to change. In the flyout pane, next to
Roles, select Edit.
If you don't see the Edit option, then you don't have a permission to edit and can't assign admin roles to
other people. Ask a global admin in your business to assign roles for you. In a small business, the business
owner (the person who purchased your subscription) is a global admin. In a large business, key people in
the IT department are global admins.
3. Select Customized administrator to see a list of roles we've customized for you. For a description of
each role, see About admin roles.

Assign admin roles to a user from the new admin center

This new roles experience is rolling out to organizations starting at the end of June. If you aren't seeing the new
Roles page, see Assign admin roles from the old admin center earlier in this article.
In the new admin center, you can assign users to a role in 2 different ways:
You can go to the user's details and Manage roles to assign a role to the user.
And you can now go to Roles and select the role, and then add multiple users to it.
Assign admin roles to users (New Roles experience )
1. In the admin center, go to Roles > Roles to view all of the admin roles available for your organization.
2. Select the admin role that you want to assign the user to.
3. Select Assigned admins > Add.
4. Type the user's display name or username, and then select the user from the list of suggestions.
5. Add multiple users until you're done.
6. Select Save, and then the user will be added to the list of assigned admins.
Assign a user to an admin role from Active users
1. In the admin center, go to Users > Active users page.
2. On the Active users page, select the user whose admin role you want to change. In the flyout pane, next to
Roles, select Manage roles.
3. Select the admin role that you want to assign to the user. If you don't see the role you're looking for, select
Show all at the bottom of the list.

More info about admin role settings

1. In the Alternative email address box, type an email address that is not connected to an Office 365 or
Microsoft 365 subscription. This email address is used for important notifications, including resetting the
password for your admin account, so the person must be able to access this email account if they get
locked out of their Microsoft account.

NOTE
If you don't want to receive product-related communications at this alternate email address, change your contact
preferences on the About me page. For more information, see Change your contact preferences.

2. Select Save > Close.

3. Select More options (...), and then choose Edit contact information.
4. In the Mobile phone box, type the number of a mobile phone—including the country code if the user has
one—that can receive a text (SMS ) message. This phone number is also used when you reset your
password for your admin account. You need a mobile phone that's capable of receiving text messages for
password reset only if one or both of the following applies to you:
Your organization has a custom domain that you've set up to use with your account.
Your user accounts are synchronized through directory synchronization.
5. When you have finished, select Save.
Assign admin roles to multiple users
If you know PowerShell, see Assign roles to user accounts with PowerShell. It's ideal for assigning roles to
hundreds of users.
Use the following instructions to assign roles to tens of users.

Didn't work for you?

You might not have the correct permissions and so you don't have access to assign admin roles to other users.
Ask another admin to assign roles for you.

TIP
Need help with the steps in this topic? We’ve got you covered. Make an appointment at your local Microsoft Store with an
Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and choose your location to schedule an
appointment.
Related Topics
Assign roles to user accounts with PowerShell
Authorize or remove partner relationships
 About the Exchange Online admin role
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

To help you administer Office 365, you can assign users permissions to manage your organization's email and
mailboxes from the Exchange admin center. You do this by assigning them to the Exchange admin role.
Tip: When you assign someone to the Exchange admin role, also assign them to the Service admin role. This way
they can see important information in the Microsoft 365 admin center, such as the health of the Exchange Online
service, and change and release notifications.
Here are some of the key tasks users can do when they are assigned to the Exchange admin role:
Recover deleted items in a user mailbox - Admin Help
Set up an archive and deletion policy for mailboxes in your Office 365 organization.
Set up mailbox features such as the mailbox sharing policy: how users can share calendar and contacts
information with others outside of your organization.
Set up "Send As" and "Send on Behalf" delegates for someone's mailbox. For example, an executive may
want their assistant to have the ability to send mail on their behalf.
Create a shared mailbox so a group of people can monitor and send email from a common email address.
Office 365 email anti-spam protection and malware filters for the organization.
Manage Office 365 Groups

Exchange Online role groups

If you have a large organization, the Exchange admin might want to assign users to Exchange role groups. When
an admin adds a user to a role group, the user gets permissions to perform certain business functions only
members of that group can do.
For example, the Exchange admin might assign someone to the Discovery Management role group so they can
perform searches of mailboxes for data that meets certain criteria. To learn more, see Permissions in Exchange
Online and Manage Role Groups.

Learn about other admin roles

About the SharePoint Online admin role
About the Skype for Business admin role
Learn how to manage email for your Office 365 mailboxes.

Set up Outlook

Import your email

Find Outlook training

Add another account to Outlook

Featured Articles
Set up email
Video: Import email
Migrate email and contacts
Create shared mailboxes
Add additional email addresses to a user
Let users sync email contacts with their iPhone or iPad
Set up a multifunction device to send email

Protect your email

Create, edit, or delete a security group
Email anti-spam protection
How to set up the spam filter settings to help block spam
Anti-spam and anti-malware protection
Prevent email from being marked as spam

Solve email connection and delivery problems

Fix Outlook connection problems in Office 365 and Exchange Online
Recover deleted items in a user's mailbox
Find and fix email delivery issues
Find and fix issues (including issues with email) after adding your domain or DNS records
Look up NDR error codes in Email non-delivery reports
Troubleshoot Outlook issues

Resources for Enterprises

Mail flow best practices for Exchange Online and Office 365
Ways to migrate multiple email accounts to Office 365
Exchange hybrid deployment content
Exchange Online
Exchange Online Protection
 Office 365 user email settings
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

As the admin of an Office 365 organization, there are email settings you can manage on your users. This article
gives you information on managing these settings.

Summary of email settings

This table explains the various email settings you can change for a user in Office 365.

MAIL SETTING DESCRIPTION

Mailbox permissions Read and manage allows you to set whether people can read
and manage other people's mailboxes. You can also set Send
as and Send on behalf permissions for a person. Check out
Give mailbox permissions to another user in Office 365 -
Admin Help for more details.

Email apps Email apps allows you to choose the apps a user can use to
access their Office 365 email.

Show in global address list Show in global address list allows you to enable or disable the
visibility of the user's mailbox in the organization's address list.

Email forwarding Email forwarding allows you to add a forwarding email

address to a user. You might want to do this if the person has
multiple email addresses and they want to receive emails at all
their email addresses. Check out Configure email forwarding in
Office 365 for more details.

Automatic replies Automatic replies allows you to set an automatic reply when
someone sends an email to the person's email address. You
might want to do this if an employee leaves your company
and you want to let the email sender know.

More actions Convert to shared mailbox allows you to convert the user's
mailbox to a shared mailbox. You might do this if the person
leaves your organization and you want to keep their mailbox
data around for a while. Check out Convert a user mailbox to
a shared mailbox and Open and use a shared mailbox.
Edit Exchange properties allows you to manage additional
Exchange Online tasks using the Exchange admin center. Read
about managing user mailboxes in Exchange Online.
 Add another email alias for a user
9/27/2019 • 5 minutes to read • Edit Online

TIP
Need help with the steps in this topic? We’ve got you covered. Make an appointment at your local Microsoft Store with an
Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and your location to schedule an
appointment.

This article is for Office 365 global admins who have business subscriptions. It's not for home users.
A primary email address in Office 365 is usually the email address a user was assigned when their account was
created. When the user sends email to someone else, their primary email address is what typically appears in the
From field in email apps. They can also have more than one email address associated with their Office 365 for
business account. These additional addresses are called aliases.
For example, let's say Jenna has the email address jenna@contosoco.com, but she also wants to receive email at
jen@contosoco.com because some people refer to her by that name. You can create aliases for her so that both
email addresses go to Jenna's inbox.

You can create up to 400 aliases for a user. No additional fees or licenses are required.

TIP
If you want multiple people to manage email sent to a single email address like info@NodPublishers.com or
sales@NodPublishers.com, create a shared mailbox. To learn more, see Create a shared mailbox.

Add email aliases to a user

You must have admin permissions to do this.
Use the new admin center to add an email alias to a user
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. On the Active Users page, select the user > Manage email aliases. You won't see this option if the person
doesn't have a license assigned to them.
3. Select + Add an alias and enter a new alias for the user.

IMPORTANT
If you get the error message "A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name 'EmailAddresses,"
it means that it's taking a bit longer to finish setting up your tenant, or your custom domain if you recently added
one. The setup process can take up to 4 hours to complete. Wait a while so the set up process has time to finish, and
then try again. If the problem persists, call Support and they will do a full sync for you.
 IMPORTANT
If you purchased your subscription from GoDaddy or another Partner, to set the new alias as the primary, you must
go to the GoDaddy/partner management console.

TIP
The email alias must end with a domain from the drop-down list. To add another domain name to the list, see Add a
domain to Office 365.

4. When you're done, choose Save changes.

5. Wait 24 hours for the new aliases to populate throughout Office 365.
The user will now have a primary address and an alias. For example, all mail sent to Eliza Hoffman's
primary address, Eliza@NodPublishers.com, and her alias, Sales@NodPublishers.com, will go to Eliza's
Inbox.
6. When the user replies, the From address will be her primary email alias. For example, let's say a
message is sent to Sales@NodPublishers.com, and it arrives in Eliza's inbox. When Eliza replies to the
message, her primary email address will appear as the sender, not Sales@NodPublishers.com.
Use the old admin center to add an email alias to a user
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. On the Active Users page, select the name of the person you want to edit.
3. Next to Username / Email Aliases, select Edit.

IMPORTANT
If you get the error message "A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name 'EmailAddresses,"
it means that it's taking a bit longer to finish setting up your tenant, or your custom domain if you recently added
one. The setup process can take up to 4 hours to complete. Wait a while so the set up process has time to finish, and
then try again. If the problem persists, call Support and they will do a full sync for you.

4. In the text box under Alias, type the first part of the new email alias. If you added your own domain to
Office 365, you can choose the domain for the new email alias by using the drop-down list. Then select
Add.

IMPORTANT
If you purchased your subscription from GoDaddy or another Partner, to set the new alias as the primary, you must
go to the GoDaddy/partner management console.

TIP
The email alias must end with a domain from the drop-down list. To add another domain name to the list, see Add a
domain to Office 365.
5. When you're done, select Save.
6. Wait 24 hours for the new aliases to populate throughout Office 365.
The user will now have a primary address and an alias. For example, all mail sent to Eliza Hoffman's
primary address, Eliza@NodPublishers.com, and her alias, Sales@NodPublishers.com, will go to Eliza's
Inbox.
7. When the user replies, the From address will be her primary email alias. For example, let's say a
message is sent to Sales@NodPublishers.com, and it arrives in Eliza's inbox. When Eliza replies to the
message, her primary email address will appear as the sender, not Sales@NodPublishers.com.

Did you get "A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter
name EmailAddresses"?
If you get the error message "A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name
EmailAddresses" it means that it's taking a bit longer to finish setting up your tenant, or your custom domain if
you recently added one. The setup process can take up to 4 hours to complete. Wait a while so the set up process
has time to finish, and then try again. If the problem persists, call Support and they will do a full sync for you.

Did you purchase your subscription from GoDaddy or another Partner?

If you purchased your subscription from GoDaddy or another Partner, to set the new alias as the primary, you
must go to the GoDaddy/partner management console.

See Also
Send email from a different address
 Create a shared mailbox
8/8/2019 • 14 minutes to read • Edit Online

It's easy to create shared mailboxes so a group of people can monitor and send email from a common email
addresses, like info@contoso.com. When a person in the group replies to a message sent to the shared mailbox,
the email appears to be from the shared mailbox, not from the individual user.
Shared mailboxes include a shared calendar! A lot of small businesses like to use the shared calendar as a place
for everyone to enter their appointments. For example, if you have 3 people who do customer visits, all can use
the shared calendar to enter the appointments. This is an easy way to keep everyone informed where people are.

Create a shared mailbox and add members

Try it!

TIP
Need help with the steps in this topic? We’ve got you covered. Make an appointment at your local Microsoft Store with an
Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and choose your location to schedule an
appointment.

1. Sign in with an Office 365 global admin account or Exchange admin account. If you get the message "You
don't have permission to access this page or perform this action" then you aren't an admin.
2. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Shared mailboxes page.
2. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Shared mailboxes page.
2. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Shared mailboxes page.
3. On the Shared mailboxes page, select + Add a mailbox. Enter a name for the shared mailbox. Then the
wizard chooses the email address, but you can edit it.

4. Select Add. It may take a few minutes before you can add members.
5. Under Next steps, select Add members to this mailbox. Members are the people who will be able to
view the incoming mail to this shared mailbox, and the outgoing replies.
6. Select the +Add members button. Put a check mark next to the people who you want to use this shared
mailbox, and select Save.

7. Select Close.
You have a shared mailbox and it includes a shared calendar. Now go on to the next step: block sign-in for the
shared mailbox account.

Block sign-in for the shared mailbox account

Every shared mailbox has a corresponding user account. Notice how you weren't asked to provide a password
when you created the shared mailbox? The account has a password, but it's system-generated (unknown). You
aren't supposed to use the account to log in to the shared mailbox.
But what if an admin simply resets the password of the shared mailbox user account? Or what if an attacker
gains access to the shared mailbox account credentials? This would allow the user account to log in to the shared
mailbox and send email. To prevent this, you need to block sign-in for the account that's associated with the
shared mailbox.
Use the new admin center to block sign-in for the shared mailbox account
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. In the list of user accounts, find the account for the shared mailbox (for example, change the filter to
Unlicensed users).
3. Select the user to open their properties pane, and then select the Block this user icon .
Note: If the account is already blocked, Sign in blocked will appear at the top and the icon will read
 Unblock this user.
4. In the Block this user? pane, select Block the user from signing in, and then select Save changes.
Use the old admin center to block sign-in for the shared mailbox account
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. In the list of user accounts, find the account for the shared mailbox (for example, change the view to
Unlicensed users) and then select the account.
3. In the properties flyout, select Block sign-in.
Note: If the account was already blocked, the button would say Unblock sign-in.
4. In the Edit sign-in status flyout, verify that Block the user from signing in is selected, select Save and
then Close.
For instructions on how to block sign-in for accounts using Azure AD PowerShell (including many accounts at
the same time), see Block user accounts with Office 365 PowerShell.

Allow everyone to see the Sent email (the replies)

By default, messages sent from the shared mailbox aren't saved to the Sent Items folder of the shared mailbox.
Instead, they are saved to the Sent Items folder of the person who sent the message.
If you want to allow everyone to see the Sent email, in the admin center, edit the shared mailbox settings, and
select Sent items > Edit.

Add the shared mailbox to Outlook

If you have automapping enabled in your business (by default, most people do), the shared mailbox will appear
in your user's Outlook app automatically after they close and restart Outlook.
To learn more, see:
Open and use a shared mailbox in Outlook
Add a shared mailbox to Outlook on the web
Add a shared mailbox to Outlook mobile
Open a shared folder or mailbox in Outlook for Mac
Add rules to a shared mailbox
Getting an error message about not having send permissions?
Let's say you create a shared mailbox and then try to send a message from it. But you get this:
"This message could not be sent. You do not have the permission to send the message on behalf of the specified
user."
This message appears when Office 365 is experiencing a replication latency issue. It should go away in an hour
or so, when the information about your new shared mailbox (or added user) is replicated across all of our data
centers. Wait an hour and then try again to send a message.

Use a shared mailbox on a mobile device (phone or tablet)

You can access a shared mailbox on a mobile device in two ways:
Add the shared mailbox in the Outlook for iOS app or the Outlook for Android mobile app.
For instructions, see Add a shared mailbox to Outlook mobile.
Open your browser, sign in to Office 365, and then go to Outlook on the web. From Outlook on the web
you'll be able to access the shared mailbox.
For instructions, see Add a shared mailbox to Outlook on the web.

Use the shared calendar

When you created the shared mailbox, you automatically created a shared calendar. We like the shared mailbox
calendar rather than a SharePoint calendar for keeping track of appointments and where people are. A shared
calendar is integrated with Outlook and it's much easier to use than a SharePoint calendar.
1. In the Outlook app, go to calendar view, and select the shared mailbox.

2. When you enter appointments, everyone who is a member of the shared mailbox will be able to see them.
3. Any member of the shared mailbox can create, view, and manage appointments on the calendar, just like
they would their personal appointments. Everyone who is a member of shared mailbox can see their
changes to the shared calendar.

Forward emails that are sent to a shared mailbox

You do not need to assign a license to the shared mailbox in order to forward email that's sent to it. You can
forward the messages to any valid email address or distribution list.
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Shared mailboxes page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Shared mailboxes page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Shared mailboxes page.
2. Select the shared mailbox you want to edit, then select Email forwarding > Edit.
3. Set the toggle to On, and enter 1 email address to forward the messages to. It can be any valid email
address. To forward to multiple addresses, you need to create a distribution group for the addresses, and
then enter the name of the group in this box.
4. Select Save.

Send automatic replies from a shared mailbox

1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Shared mailboxes page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Shared mailboxes page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Shared mailboxes page.
2. Select the shared mailbox you want to edit, then select Automatic replies > Edit.
3. Set the toggle to On, and choose whether to send the reply to people inside your organization or outside
your organization.
4. Enter the reply you want to send to people inside your organization. You can't add images, only text.
5. If you want to also send a reply to people outside your organization, select the check box, who you want to
get the reply, and type the text. There's no way to only send to people outside your organization but not to
people inside your organization.
6. Select Save.

Shared mailbox limit: 50GB

Your shared mailbox can store up to 50GB of data without you assigning a license to it. After that, you need to
assign a license to the mailbox to store more data. For more details on shared mailbox licensing, please see
Exchange Online Limits.
When a shared mailbox reaches the storage limit, you'll be able to receive email for a while, but you won't be able
to send new email. Then, after that, it will stop receiving email. Senders to the mailbox will get a non-delivery
receipt.

Prevent members from deleting messages in a shared mailbox

Unfortunately you can't prevent people from deleting messages in a shared mailbox. For example, let's say you
have 5 people using a shared mailbox. One of them deletes an email after reading it. Now the email has been
deleted for everyone, even if they hadn't read the message. The only way around this is to create an Office 365
Group instead of a shared mailbox.
A Group in Outlook is like a shared mailbox. For a comparison of the two, see Compare Groups. To learn more
about Groups, see Learn more about Groups

What else you need to know about shared mailboxes

You don't need to assign licenses to shared mailboxes that are under 50GB.
You need to give users permissions (membership) to use the shared mailbox. Only people inside your
 organization can use a shared mailbox.
You can't give people outside your business (such as people with a Gmail account) access to your shared
mailbox. If you want to do this, consider creating a group for Outlook instead. To learn more, see Create
an Office 365 group in the admin center.
In addition to using Outlook on the web from your browser to access shared mailboxes, you can also use
the Outlook for iOS app or the Outlook for Android app. To learn more, see Add a shared mailbox to
Outlook mobile. Another option is to create a group for your shared mailbox. To learn more, see Compare
Groups.
You can't encrypt email sent from a shared mailbox. This is because a shared mailbox does not have its
own security context (username/password) so it cannot be assigned a key. If more than one person is a
member, and they send/receive emails they encrypted with their own keys, other members might be able
to read the email and others might not, depending which public key the email was encrypted with.
You can convert user mailboxes to shared mailboxes. See Convert a user mailbox to a shared mailbox.
Users with global admin or Exchange admin roles can create shared mailboxes.
To create a shared mailbox, you need to subscribe to an Office 365 for business plan that includes email
(the Exchange Online service). The Office 365 Business subscription doesn't include email; Office 365
Business Premium does.
A shared mailbox is not intended for direct sign-in by its associated user account. You should always block
sign-in for the shared mailbox account and keep it blocked.

Fix issues with creating shared mailboxes

Error message: The proxy address "smtp:<shared mailbox name>" is already being used by the
proxy addresses or LegacyExchangeDN of "<name>". Please choose another proxy address.
This issue occurs when you're trying to give the shared mailbox a name that's already in use. For example,
let's say you want shared mailboxes named info@domain1 and info@domain2. There are two ways you
can do this:
Use Windows PowerShell. See this blog post for instructions: Create Shared Mailboxes with Same
Alias at Different Domains in Office 365
Or, name the second shared mailbox something different from the start to get around the error.
Then in the admin center, rename the shared mailbox to what you want it to be.

How automapping works with shared mailboxes

Automapping is set on the user's mailbox, not the shared mailbox.
This means if you try to use a security group to manage who has access to the shared mailbox, automapping
won't work. So, if you want automapping, you have to assign permissions explicitly.

How to create a shared mailbox in the Exchange admin center

Some customers do all their mailbox management in the Exchange admin center. Here are instructions for how
to create shared mailboxes using that interface.
To see what permissions you need to perform these steps, see the "User mailboxes" entry in Recipients
permissions.
1. Go to the Exchange admin center > Recipients > Shared > Add.
2. Fill-in the required fields:
Display name
Email address
3. To grant Full Access or Send As permissions, select Add, and then select the users you want to grant
permissions to. You can use the CTRL key to select multiple users.

NOTE
The Full Access permission allows a user to open the mailbox as well as create and modify items in it. The Send As
permission allows anyone other than the mailbox owner to send email from this shared mailbox. Both permissions
are required for successful shared mailbox operation.

4. Select Save to save your changes and create the shared mailbox.
Use the EAC to edit shared mailbox delegation
1. Go to the Exchange admin center > Recipients > Shared > Edit.
2. Select Mailbox delegation.
3. To grant or remove Full Access and Send As permissions, select Add or Remove and then select the
users you want to grant permissions to.

NOTE
The Full Access permission allows a user to open the mailbox as well as create and modify items in it. The Send As
permission allows anyone other than the mailbox owner to send email from this shared mailbox. Both permissions
are required for successful shared mailbox operation.

4. Select Save to save your changes.

Which permissions should you use?
Full Access The Full Access permission lets a user sign in to the shared mailbox and act as the owner of
that mailbox. While signed in, the user can create calendar items; read, view, delete, and change email
messages; create tasks and calendar contacts. However, a user with Full Access permission can't send
email from the shared mailbox unless they also have Send As or Send on Behalf permission.
Send As The Send As permission lets a user impersonate the shared mailbox when sending mail. For
example, if Molly signs into the Marketing Department shared mailbox and sends an email, it will look like
the Marketing Department sent the email.
However, she won't be able to see any of the email that is sent to or from the shared address.
Send on Behalf The Send on Behalf permission lets a user send email on behalf of the shared mailbox.
For example, if John logs into the shared mailbox Reception Building 32 and sends an email, it look like
the mail was sent by "John on behalf of Reception Building 32". You can't use the EAC to grant Send on
Behalf permissions, you must use the Set-Mailbox cmdlet with the GrantSendonBehalf parameter.

Use the Exchange Management Shell to create a shared mailbox

Use the New -Mailbox PowerShell cmdlet to create shared mailboxes. To use this cmdlet, you need to connect to
Exchange Online PowerShell.
The following example shows how to create the shared mailbox Sales Department and grants Full Access and
Send on Behalf permissions for the security group MarketingSG. Users who are members of the security group
will be granted the permissions to the mailbox.
1. Create a mail-enabled security group called MarketingSG. For PowerShell instructions, see Manage Mail-
Enabled Security Groups.
2. Connect to Exchange Online PowerShell.
3. Run the following commands:

New-Mailbox -Shared -Name "Sales Department" -DisplayName "Sales Department" -Alias Sales | Set-
Mailbox -GrantSendOnBehalfTo MarketingSG
Add-MailboxPermission -Identity "Sales Department" -User MarketingSG -AccessRights FullAccess -
InheritanceType All

Should I create a shared mailbox or an Office 365 Group for Outlook?

See Compare groups for some guidance.

IMPORTANT
Currently, it's not possible to migrate a shared mailbox to an Office 365 Group. Is this something you want? Let us know.
Vote here!

We use your feedback to prioritize which features we work on.

 Convert a user mailbox to a shared mailbox
8/8/2019 • 5 minutes to read • Edit Online

When you convert a user's mailbox to a shared mailbox, all of the existing email and calendar is retained. Only
now it's in a shared mailbox where several people will be able to access it instead of one person. At a later date,
you can convert a shared mailbox back to a user (private) mailbox.
Here are some really important things that you need to know:
The user mailbox you're converting needs a license assigned to it before you convert it to a shared mailbox.
Otherwise, you won't see the option to convert the mailbox. If you've removed the license, add it back so
you can convert the mailbox. After converting the mailbox to a shared one, you can remove the license
from the user's account.
Shared mailboxes can have up to 50GB of data without a license assigned to them. To hold more data than
that, you need a license assigned to it. You may need to delete a bunch of large emails (say, ones with
attachments) from the shared mailbox to shrink it down so you can remove the license.
Don't delete the old user's account. That's required to anchor the shared mailbox. If you've already deleted
the user account, see Convert the mailbox of a deleted user.
The rules are intact after the mailbox is converted to a shared mailbox.

Use the Exchange admin center to convert a mailbox

1. Go to the Exchange admin center.
2. Select Recipients > Mailboxes.
3. Select the user mailbox. Under Convert to Shared Mailbox, select Convert.
4. If the mailbox is smaller than 50GB, you can remove the license from the user, and stop paying for it. Don't
delete the user's old mailbox. The shared mailbox needs it there as an anchor. If you are converting the
mailbox of an employee that is leaving your organization, you should take additional steps to make sure
that they cannot log in anymore. Please see Remove a former employee from Office 365.
5. For everything else you need to know about shared mailboxes, please see Create a shared mailbox.

Use the Microsoft 365 admin center to convert a mailbox

Use the new admin center to convert a mailbox to a shared mailbox
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the name of the user whose mailbox you want to convert.
3. On the Mail tab, under More actions, select Convert to shared mailbox.
Use the old admin center to convert a mailbox to a shared mailbox
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the user whose mailbox you want to convert.
3. In the right pane, expand Mail Settings. Next to More settings, select Convert to shared mailbox.
If the mailbox is smaller than 50GB, you can remove the license from the user, and stop paying for it. Don't delete
the user's old mailbox. The shared mailbox needs it there as an anchor. If you are converting the mailbox of an
employee that is leaving your organization, you should take additional steps to make sure that they cannot log in
anymore. See Remove a former employee from Office 365.
For everything else you need to know about shared mailboxes, see Create a shared mailbox.

Convert the mailbox of a deleted user

Let's say you've deleted a user account and now you want to convert their old mailbox to a share mailbox. Here's
what you need to do:
1. Restore the user's account.
2. Make sure an Office 365 license is assigned to it.
3. Reset the user's password.
4. Wait 20-30 minutes for their mailbox to be recreated.
5. Now follow the instructions on this page to convert their mailbox to a shared mailbox.
6. After that's done, you can remove the license from the user's mailbox. Don't delete the user's old mailbox.
The shared mailbox needs it there as an anchor.
7. Add members to the shared mailbox.

Convert a shared mailbox back to a user's (private) mailbox

1. Go to the Exchange admin center.
2. Select Recipients > Shared.
3. Select the shared mailbox. Under Convert to Regular Mailbox, select Convert.
4. Go back to the admin center. Under Users, choose the user account associated with the old shared mailbox.
Assign a license to the account, and reset the password.
It will take a few minutes for the mailbox to get set up, but after that, the person who is going to use that
account is ready to go. When they sign in, they'll see the email and calendar items that used to be in the
shared mailbox.

Convert a user's mailbox in a hybrid environment

If this shared mailbox is in a hybrid environment, we strongly recommend (almost require!) that you move the
user mailbox back to on-premises, convert the user mailbox to a shared mailbox, and then move the shared
mailbox back to the cloud.
Here's why: if you convert the mailbox in the cloud, it can get converted, but on-premises still thinks the mailbox is
the user mailbox, because the new reality does not sync back to on-premises.
Usually this is not a problem, but there are some scenarios where the on-premises attributes (which think that the
mailbox is the user mailbox) can overwrite the new cloud versions of those attributes, and as a result, the mailbox
might convert back. This is a problem because user mailboxes require licenses or they are soft deleted after 30
days!
We've addressed most of the reasons why this happens but it still CAN happen, although infrequently. It's best to
be safe and move the mailbox back to on-premises.

NOTE
If you are a part of Organization Management or Recipient Management, you can use the Exchange Management shell to
change a user mailbox to a shared mailbox on-premises. For example,
Set-Mailbox -Identity mailbox1@contoso.onmicrosoft.com -Type Shared .

TIP
See the workaround in this support solution for instances when shared mailboxes are unexpectedly converted to user
mailboxes

Related Topics
Create a shared mailbox
 Change your email address to use your custom
domain
9/25/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

Check the Domains FAQ if you don't find what you're looking for.
Your initial email address in Office 365 includes .onmicrosoft.com, like tom@fourthcoffee.onmicrosoft.com. You
can change it to a friendlier address like tom@fourthcoffee.com. You'll need your own domain name, like
fourthcoffee.com first. If you already have one, great! If not, you can learn how to buy one from a domain registrar.
Your initial email address in Office 365 Germany includes .onmicrosoft.de, like tom@fourthcoffee.onmicrosoft.de.
You can change it to a friendlier address like tom@fourthcoffee.de. You'll need your own domain name, like
fourthcoffee.de first. If you already have one, great! If not, you can learn how to buy one from a domain registrar.
Your initial email address in Office 365 operated by 21Vianet includes partner.onmschina.cn, like
tom@fourthcoffee.partner.onmschina.cn. You can change it to a friendlier address like tom@fourthcoffee.cn. You'll
need your own domain name, like fourthcoffee.cn first. If you already have one, great! If not, you can learn how to
buy one from a domain registrar.
When you change your domain's email to come to Office 365, by updating your domain's MX record during setup,
ALL email sent to that domain will start coming to Office 365. Make sure you've added users and created
mailboxes in Office 365 for everyone who has email on your domain BEFORE you change the MX record. Don't
want to move email for everyone on your domain to Office 365? You can take steps to pilot Office 365 with just a
few email addresses instead.

Change your email address to use your custom domain using the
Microsoft 365 admin center
TIP
Need help with the steps in this topic? We’ve got you covered. Make an appointment at your local Microsoft Store with an
Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and choose your location to schedule an
appointment.

You must have a global admin account to perform these steps.

1. Go to the admin center at https://admin.microsoft.com.
1. Go to the admin center at https://portal.office.de/adminportal.
1. Go to the admin center at https://portal.partner.microsoftonline.cn.
2. Go to the Settings > Domains page.
3. On the Domains page, select Add domain.
4. Follow the steps to confirm that you own your domain and to change your email address.
You'll be guided to get everything set up correctly with your domain in Office 365.

See Also
Buy a custom domain using Office 365
 Configure Focused Inbox for everyone in your
organization
8/8/2019 • 7 minutes to read • Edit Online

If you're responsible for configuring how email works for EVERYONE in a business this article is for you! It
explains how to customize it or turn it off for your business, and answers frequently asked questions.
If you would like to turn off Focused Inbox for just yourself, please see Turn off Focused Inbox.
If you want to be sure that your users receive business-specific email messages, for example, from HR or payroll,
you can configure Focused Inbox so these messages reach the Focused view. You can also control whether users in
your organization see the Focused Inbox in their mailbox.

Turn Focused Inbox On or Off in your organization

You use PowerShell to turn Focused Inbox on or off for everyone in your organization. Do you want to do this in
the Microsoft 365 admin center? Let our Engineering team know. Vote here!
To turn off Focused Inbox:
The following PowerShell example turns Focused Inbox Off in your organization. However, it doesn't block the
availability of the feature for your users. If they want, they can still re-enable Focused Inbox again on each of their
clients.
1. Connect to Exchange Online using remote PowerShell.
2. You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure or procedures. To see what
permissions you need, see the "Transport rules" entry in Messaging policy and compliance permissions.
3. Run the Get-OrganizationConfig cmdlet.

Get-OrganizationConfig

4. Look for FocusedInboxOn to view its current setting:

5. Run the following cmdlet to turn Focused Inbox off.

Set-OrganizationConfig -FocusedInboxOn $false

6. Run the Get-OrganizationConfig cmdlet again and you'll see that FocusedInboxOn is set to $false, which
means it's been turned off.
To turn on Focused Inbox:
In Step 5 above, run the following cmdlet to turn Focused Inbox on.

Set-OrganizationConfig -FocusedInboxOn $true

What do users see after I turn on Focused Inbox?
Your users will see the Focused view only after they close and restart Outlook. When they restart Outlook, they'll
see a Tip in the Outlook user interface giving them to the option to use the new Focused Inbox.

If you're switching from Clutter to Focused Inbox, they can decide to enable it ("Try it") or dismiss the feature. If the
user has multiple (supported) clients, they can enable/disable Focused Inbox individually on each one. The tip looks
like this:

When a user decides to start using Focused Inbox, Clutter gets disabled automatically. The Clutter folder gets
converted into a standard folder, that allows the user to rename or delete it.

Turn Focused Inbox On or Off for specific users

This example turns Focused Inbox Off for Tim Matthews in the Contoso organization. However, it doesn't block
the availability of the feature to him. If his wants, he can still re-enable Focused Inbox again on each of his clients.
1. Connect to Exchange Online using remote PowerShell.
2. You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure or procedures. To see what
permissions you need, see the "Transport rules" entry in the Messaging policy and compliance permissions
topic.
3. Run the Get-FocusedInbox cmdlet, for example:

Get-FocusedInbox -Identity <tim@contoso.com>

4. Look for FocusedInboxOn to view its current setting:

5. Run the following cmdlet to turn Focused Inbox off:

Set-FocusedInbox -Identity <tim@contoso.com> -FocusedInboxOn $false

6. OR, run the following cmdlet to turn it on:

Set-FocusedInbox -Identity <tim@contoso.com> -FocusedInboxOn $true

Use the UI to create a transport rule to direct email messages to the

Focused view for all your users
1. Go to the Exchange admin center.
2. Navigate to mail flow > Rules. Select and then select Create a new rule....
3. After you're done creating the new rule, select Save to start the rule.
The following image shows an example where all messages From "Payroll Department" are to be delivered
to the Focused Inbox.

Use PowerShell to create a transport rule to direct email messages to

the Focused view for all your users
1. Connect to Exchange Online using remote PowerShell.
2. You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure or procedures. To see what
permissions you need, see the "Transport rules" entry in Messaging policy and compliance permissions.
3. Run the following command to allow all messages from "Payroll Department," for example, to be delivered
to the Focused Inbox.

New-TransportRule -Name <name_of_the_rule> -From "Payroll Department" -SetHeaderName "X-MS-Exchange-

Organization-BypassFocusedInbox" -SetHeaderValue "true"

IMPORTANT
In this example, both "X-MS-Exchange-Organization-BypassFocusedInbox" and "true" are case sensitive. Also, Focused Inbox
will honor the X-header that bypasses Clutter, so if you use this setting in Clutter, it will be used in Focused Inbox. For
detailed syntax and parameter information, see New-TransportRule.

How do you know this worked?

You can check email message headers to see if the email messages are landing in the Inbox due to the Focused
Inbox transport rule bypass. Pick an email message from a mailbox in your organization that has the Focused
Inbox transport rule applied. Look at the headers stamped on the message, and you should see the X-MS -
Exchange-Organization-BypassFocusedInbox: true header. This means the bypass is working. Check out the
View the Internet header information for an email message article for info on how to find the header information.

Turn on/off Clutter

We've received reports that Clutter suddenly stopped working for some users. If this happens, you can enable it
again for specific users. See Configure Clutter for your organization.

FAQ for Focused Inbox

Here are answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Focused Inbox.
Can I control how I roll out Focused Inbox in my organization?
Yes. You can turn Focused Inbox on or off for your entire organization, or you can turn it on or off for specified
users. See above.
Is the Focused Inbox feature ONLY available for Office 2016 clients?
Yes, only users with Office 2016 are affected. The feature is not going to be backported to Outlook 2013 or earlier.
How long does it take for Focused Inbox changes to take place in Outlook?
Once you turn on or turn off Focused Inbox, the settings will take effect once your users close and restart Outlook.
What happens to Clutter once I turn on Focused Inbox?
After switching, you'll no longer receive less actionable email in the Clutter folder. Instead, email will be split
between the Focused and Other tabs in your inbox. The same algorithm that moved items to the Clutter folder now
powers Focused Inbox, meaning that any emails that were set to move to Clutter will now be moved to Other. Any
messages already in your Clutter folder will remain there until you decide to delete or move them.
Check out this post by Tony Redmond, Microsoft MVP: How the Focused Inbox Replaces Clutter Inside Office 365.
Can I keep users on Clutter? What is Microsoft's recommendation when it comes to using Clutter vs Focused
Inbox?
Yes, you can keep users on Clutter and disable Focused Inbox, however, eventually Clutter will be fully replaced
with Focused Inbox so Microsoft's recommends moving to Focused Inbox now. To learn more about when you use
Clutter with Exchange Online, see this blog post: Update on Focused Inbox and our plans for Clutter.
Should I disable Clutter for my end users if we are going to move everyone to Focused Inbox?
No. It's possible to disable Clutter for a mailbox explicitly by running the Set-Clutter cmdlet. However, if you do
this, the mailbox owner will see messages that were previously redirected to the Clutter folder remain in the Inbox
and they'll have to process those messages until their client is upgraded to a version that supports the Focused
Inbox. It's therefore best not to disable Clutter until the upgraded clients are available.
Why are there two different cmdlets for managing Focused Inbox?
There are two states associated with Focused Inbox.
Organization Level: Focused Inbox state, and an associated last update time-stamp.
Mailbox Level: Focused Inbox state, and an associated last update time-stamp
How does Outlook decide to show the Focused Inbox experience with these two states?
Outlook decides to show the experience by choosing which cmdlet has the latest time stamp. By default, both time
stamps are "null" and in this case, the feature is enabled.
Why does the Get-FocusedInbox cmdlet return "true", when I've turned Focused Inbox off in my organization?
There are two cmdlets for controlling Focused Inbox. When you run Get-FocusedInbox for a mailbox, it returns the
mailbox level state of the feature. The experience in Outlook is chosen based on which cmdlet state was last
modified.
Can I run a script to see who has turned on Focused Inbox?
No, and this is by design. Focused Inbox enablement is a client side setting, so all the cmdlet can do is tell you if the
user's mailbox is eligible for the client experience. It is possible for it to be simultaneously enabled in some clients
and disabled in others, for example, enabled in Outlook app and Outlook Mobile but disabled in Outlook on the
web.
 Create organization-wide signatures and disclaimers
9/27/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

You can add an email signature, legal disclaimer, or disclosure statement to the email messages that enter or leave
your organization. You can set it up to apply to all incoming and outgoing messages as shown below. Or you can
apply it to certain messages like those containing specific words or text patterns.

Create a signature that applies to all messages

TIP
Organization-wide signatures are called "disclaimers," regardless of what they include. For example, they can just be a
signature, or also include your address, legal disclaimer, or other information you want.

Go to the admin center at https://admin.microsoft.com.

Go to the admin center at https://portal.office.de/adminportal.
Go to the admin center at https://portal.partner.microsoftonline.cn/adminportal.

1. Select the app launcher , and then select Admin.

Can't find the app you're looking for? From the app launcher, selectAll apps to see an alphabetical list of the
Office 365 apps available to you. From there, you can search for a specific app.
2. Select Admin centers, and then choose Exchange.
3. Under Mail flow, select Rules.
4. Select the + (Add) icon and choose Apply disclaimers.
5. Give the rule a name.
6. Under Apply this rule, select [Apply to all messages].

TIP
Learn more about applying conditions if you don't want the disclaimer applied to all messages. (This scoping article is
for Exchange Server, but it also applies to Office 365.)

7. Under Do the following, leave Append the disclaimer selected.

8. Select Enter text and type your disclaimer.

TIP
Learn more about formatting disclaimers. (This formatting article is for Exchange Server, but it also applies to Office
365.)

9. Select Select one and choose Wrap as a fallback option. Then OK. This means that if the disclaimer can't be
added because of encryption or another mail setting, it will be wrapped in a message envelope.
10. Leave Audit this rule with severity level selected. Then choose Low, Medium, or High to be used in the
message log.
11. Choose Enforce to turn on the disclaimer immediately, unless you want to test it first.
12. Choose More options to include additional conditions or exceptions.
13. Choose Save when finished.

Limitations of Office 365 organization wide signatures

You can't do the following with Office 365 signatures:
Insert the signature directly under the latest email reply or forward
Display server-side email signatures in users' Sent Items folders
Embed images in email signatures
Skip lines which contain variables that couldn't be updated (e.g. because the value wasn't provided for a
user)
To gain these and other capabilities, use a third-party tool. Please do an internet search for email signature
software. A number of these providers are Microsoft Gold Partners and their software provides these capabilities.

More resources
See Organization-wide message disclaimers, signatures, footers, or headers in Office 365 for information about
using PowerShell.
 Create, edit, or delete a security group in the
Microsoft 365 admin center
9/25/2019 • 4 minutes to read • Edit Online

On the Office 365 Groups page, you can create groups of user accounts that you can use to assign the same
permissions to in SharePoint Online and CRM Online. For example, an administrator can create a security group
to grant a certain group of people access to a SharePoint site. Only global and user management administrators
have permissions to create, edit, or delete security groups; for more information about administrator roles, see
Assigning admin roles.
There are also Groups in Exchange Online and SharePoint Online that you can use to send email or assign
permissions to a group of users, and Groups in Exchange Online and SharePoint Online that grant users rights
and access to sites and site collections.

IMPORTANT
Planning on using site mailboxes? All the users that are added to a SharePoint site via a security group rather than being
added individually can use only the site mailbox from SharePoint. These users won't be able to access the site mailbox from
Outlook. For more information, see Use Office 365 Groups instead of Site Mailboxes.

Manage security groups in the admin center

Add a security group
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page.
2. On the Groups page, select Add a group.
3. On the Choose a group type page, choose Security.
4. Follow the steps to complete creation of the group.
Add members to a security group
Use the new admin center to add members
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
1. Select the security group name on the Groups page, and on the Members tab, select View all and
manage members.
2. In the group pane, select Add members and choose the person from the list or type the name of the
person you want to add in the Search box, and then select Save.
To remove members, select the X next to their name.
Use the old admin center to add members
1. Select the security group name on the Groups page, and then select Edit next to Members.
2. In the group pane, select Add members and choose the person from the list or type the name of the
person you want to add in the Search box, and then select Save.
To remove members, select the X next to their name.
Edit a security group
Use the new admin center to edit a security group
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page.
2. On the Groups page, select the group's name.
3. In the settings pane, select the General tab or the Members tab to edit either group details or members.
Use the old admin center to edit a security group
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page.
2. On the Groups page, select the group's name.
3. In the security group pane, select Edit next to either Name or Members tab to edit either group details or
members.
4. After you've made changes, select Save > Close.
Delete a security group
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page.
2. On the Groups page, select the group's name.
3. Select Delete group (wasetbin icon), and then confirm by selecting Delete.
Select Close once the group is deleted.

Groups in Exchange Online and SharePoint Online

If you want to create groups of users so you can send email to them all at the same time, you can do that in the
Exchange admin center by going to Admin > Exchange > Recipients > Groups. Next, select New , and select
the kind of group you want to create:
Distribution group: Used to distribute messages to a group of users. It's also called a mail-enabled
distribution group, or, in Office 365, a distribution list. For more information, see Manage distribution
groups.
Security group: Can be used to distribute messages to a group of users, or to grant access permissions to
resources. This group is also called a mail-enabled security group. For more information, see Manage mail-
enabled security groups.
Dynamic distribution group: A type of distribution group whose list of recipients is recalculated every
time you send a message based on filters and conditions that you define. For more information, see
Manage dynamic distribution groups.
After you create distribution groups and mail-enabled security groups in the Exchange admin center, their names
and user lists appear on the Office 365 Security groups page. You can delete these groups in both locations, but
you can edit them only in the Exchange admin center. Dynamic distribution groups don't show up on the Office
365 Security groups page.
SharePoint groups are created automatically when you make a site collection. The default groups use the default
permission levels in SharePoint—sometimes called SharePoint roles—to grant users rights and access. For more
information, see Default SharePoint groups in SharePoint Online.
How is a security group different from security groups I create in
SharePoint?
Security groups can be used with SharePoint, Exchange, MDM, Windows, and more. A security group you create
in SharePoint is only recognized by that SharePoint site collection.

Do I have to use security groups for my organization to be secure?

No. This is just one more way you can manage security for your organization. You can always grant user
permissions and access to sites individually. But with security groups, you can easily manage larger groups of
users.

Can I send email to a security group?

Yes. But if you want to use groups for email and collaboration, we recommend that you create an Office 365 group
instead.
 Configure email forwarding in Office 365
9/25/2019 • 3 minutes to read • Edit Online

As the admin of an Office 365 organization, you might have company requirements to set up email forwarding for
a user's mailbox. Email forwarding lets you forward email messages sent to a user's mailbox to another user's
mailbox inside or outside of your organization.

TIP
Need help with the steps in this topic? We’ve got you covered. Make an appointment at your local Microsoft Store with an
Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and choose your location to schedule an
appointment.

Configure email forwarding

Before you set up email forwarding, note the following:
Once you set up email forwarding, only new emails sent to the from mailbox will be fowarded.
Email forwarding requires that the from account has a license. If you're setting up email forwarding because
the user has left your organization, another option is to convert their mailbox to a shared mailbox. This way
several people can access it. However, a shared mailbox cannot exceed 50GB.
You must have admin permissions in Office 365 to do these steps.
Use the new admin center to configure email forwarding
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the name of the user whose email you want to forward to open the properties page.
3. On the Mail tab, select Manage email forwarding.
4. On the email forwarding page, select Forward all emails sent to this mailbox, enter the forwarding
address, and choose whether you want to keep a copy of forwarded emails. If you don't see this option,
make sure a license is assigned to the user account. Select Save changes.
To forward to multiple email addresses, you can ask the user to set up a rule in Outlook to forward to
the addresses. To learn more, see Use rules to automatically forward messages.
Or, in the admin center, create a distribution group, add the addresses to it, and then set up forwarding to
point to the DL using the instructions in this article.
5. Don't delete the account of the user who's email you're forwarding or remove their license! If you do, email
forwarding will stop.
Use the old admin center to configure email forwarding
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the name of the user whose email you want to forward to open the properties page.
3. Expand Mail settings, and then in the Email forwarding section, select Edit.
4. On the email forwarding page, set the toggle to On, enter the forwarding address, and choose whether you
want to keep a copy of forwarded emails. If you don't see this option, make sure a license is assigned to the
user account. Select Save.
To forward to multiple email addresses, you can ask the user to set up a rule in Outlook to forward to
the addresses. To learn more, see Use rules to automatically forward messages.
Or, in the admin center, create a distribution group, add the addresses to it, and then set up forwarding to
point to the DL using the instructions in this article.
5. Don't delete the account of the user who's email you're forwarding or remove their license! If you do, email
forwarding will stop.
 Email collaboration in Office 365
7/5/2019 • 3 minutes to read • Edit Online

Office 365 encourages collaboration through Groups in Outlook, distribution lists (also called distribution groups),
shared mailboxes, and public folders. Each of these options has a different purpose, user experience, and feature
set. What to use depends on what the user needs to do and which tools your organization provides.

Summary of collaboration options

This table explains the various collaboration options available to you.

COLLABORATION TOOL DESCRIPTION

Groups in Outlook A shared workspace that works across all applications in Office
365. Includes a shared inbox, calendar, and OneDrive for
Business site for storing files. Users can create, find, and join
Groups in Outlook right from their email or calendar. New and
existing users with an Exchange Online or Office 365
subscription can use Groups in Outlook.

Shared mailbox A mailbox for select users to read and send email messages
and share a common calendar. Shared mailboxes also can
serve as a generic email address (such as info@contoso.com
or sales@contoso.com) that customers can use to inquire
about your company. When the Send As permission is enabled
on the shared mailbox, email sent from the mailbox will use
the generic address (e.g., sales@contoso.com).

Distribution list (also called distribution group) Used to distribute email messages to two or more people at
the same time. Distribution groups are also known as mail-
enabled distribution groups. A variant of the distribution
group, called the dynamic distribution group, is a mail-enabled
Active Directory group object used to send email to a large
and evolving group of recipients. The exact recipients are
determined by filters and conditions that you specify, such as
all members of a particular locale or all full-time employees.

Office 365 Groups in Outlook offer a more powerful solution

for collaboration than distribution groups. To learn more, see
Why you should upgrade your distribution lists to groups in
Outlook and Migrate distribution lists to Office 365 Groups.

Public folder Designed for shared access, public folders provide an easy and
effective way to collect, organize, and share information with
other people in your organization. Public folders organize
content in a deep hierarchy that's easy to browse and always
visible in the Outlook folder view. A public folder can be mail-
enabled and added as a member of the distribution group.
Email sent to the distribution group is automatically added to
the public folder for archiving or later reference. Public folders
also provide simple document sharing when you don't have a
SharePoint Online subscription.

Which collaboration tool to use?

The following table gives you a quick glance at the various types of groups and explains when and how to use them
with the various collaboration features.

GROUPS IN OUTLOOK DISTRIBUTION LISTS SHARED MAILBOXES PUBLIC FOLDERS

Who uses? Users who want a Users who need to Shared mailboxes are With the proper
collaboration send email to a group a great way to handle permissions, everyone
workspace for their of recipients with a customer email in your organization
group messages, files, common interest or questions because can access and search
and calendar that is characteristic. several people in your public folders. They
integrated with the organization can are ideal for email
services they already share the archiving or for
use (Outlook Web responsibility of sharing documents.
App, OneDrive for monitoring the
Business) mailbox and
responding to queries.
Your customer
questions get quicker
answers, and related
emails are all stored in
one mailbox.

Delegates working on
behalf of a virtual
identity, such as
support@contoso.co
m. Delgates can
respond to email as
that shared mailbox
identity.

Ideal group size Any Large Small Large

Access Exchange Online and For distribution Users can be granted Accessible by anyone
Office 365 users groups, members Full Access and/or in your organization
must be manually Send As permissions.
added. For dynamic If granted Full Access
distribution groups, permissions, users
members are added must also add the
based on filtering shared mailbox to
criteria. their Outlook profile
to access the shared
mailbox.

Shared calendar? Yes No Yes Yes

Email arrives in No. Users can Yes. Email arrives in No. Email arrives in No. Email arrives in
user's personal subscribe to a group the inbox of all the Inbox of the the public folder.
Inbox? and then forward all distribution group shared mailbox.
Group messages to members.
their inbox
 GROUPS IN OUTLOOK DISTRIBUTION LISTS SHARED MAILBOXES PUBLIC FOLDERS

Supported clients Outlook 2016 Outlook 2016 Outlook 2016 Outlook 2016
Outlook 2013 Outlook 2013 Outlook 2013 Outlook 2013
(forward after Outlook Web App Outlook Web App Outlook Web App
subscribing) Outlook 2010 Outlook 2010 Outlook 2010
Outlook Web App Outlook 2007 Outlook 2007 Outlook 2007
Outlook 2010
(forward after
subscribing)
Outlook 2007
(forward after
subscribing)

Related topics
Manage distribution groups
Use Office 365 Groups instead of Site Mailboxes
Create shared mailboxes in Office 365
Public folders in Office 365 and Exchange Online
 Add a user or contact to an Office 365 distribution
group
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

As the admin of an Office 365 organization, you may need to add one of your users or contacts to a distribution
group (see Create distribution groups in Office 365.) For example, you can add employees or external partners or
vendors to an email distribution group.

Add a user or contact to a distribution group

Use the new admin center to add a user or contact
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page.
2. On the Groups page, select the name of the group you want to add a contact to.
3. On the Members tab, select View all and manage members.
4. On the View Members page, select Add members, and select the user or contact you want to add to the
distribution group.

5. Select Save and then Close.

Use the old admin center to add a user or contact
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page.
2. On the Groups page, select the group you want to add a contact to.
3. In the Members section, select Edit.
4. On the View Members page, select Add members, and select the user or contact you want to add to the
distribution group.
5. Select Save and then Close.
If you haven't created the contact yet, do that first as shown in this video.

Learn how to send email as a distribution group in Office 365.

 Configure Clutter for your organization
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

TIP
Focused Inbox is going to replace Clutter. Learn more: Update on Focused Inbox and our plans for Clutter

As an admin, you may have to manage the Clutter feature in Office 365. To turn the Clutter feature on/off for users
in your organization, you must use Exchange PowerShell. (Individuals can turn it on/off using these instructions:
Turn off/on Clutter in Outlook.)
Check out Using PowerShell with Exchange Online and Connect to Exchange Online PowerShell for details on
using Exchange PowerShell. You need to have an account that has at least the Exchange Service administrator role
and the ability to connect to Exchange Online with PowerShell.

Turn Clutter on using Exchange PowerShell

You can enable Clutter manually for a mailbox by running the Set-Clutter cmdlet. You can also view Clutter
settings for mailboxes in your organization by running the Get-Clutter cmdlet.
Turn on Clutter for a single user named Allie Bellew
Set-Clutter -Identity "Allie Bellew" -Enable $true

Turn Clutter off using Exchange PowerShell

You can disable Clutter manually for a mailbox by running the Set-Clutter cmdlet. You can also view Clutter
settings for mailboxes in your organization by running the Get-Clutter cmdlet.
Turn off Clutter for a single user named Allie Bellew:
Set-Clutter -Identity "Allie Bellew" -Enable $false

If you use PowerShell to bulk create your users, then you'll need to run Set-Clutter against each user's mailbox to
manage Clutter.

When does the Clutter on/off switch appear to users in Outlook on the
web?
As an admin, you can re-enable Clutter using Exchange PowerShell. Once this is done, Focused Inbox will be
turned off and Clutter will be active again.
If you're using Outlook on the web with an Office 365 business subscription:
If user currently has Clutter enabled:
Clutter settings appear
If user currently has Focused Inbox enabled:
Clutter settings will not appear
If neither Clutter or Focused Inbox is enabled:
 Both Clutter and Focused Inbox appear as options in the user's Mail Settings
If you're using Outlook.com:
If user currently has Clutter enabled:
Clutter settings appear
If user currently has Focused Inbox enabled:
Clutter settings will not appear
If neither Clutter or Focused Inbox is enabled:
Both Clutter and Focused Inbox appear as options in the user's Mail Settings
If user enabled Focused Inbox at some point in the past:
Clutter settings will never appear
Otherwise,
Clutter settings will appear

Related topics
Use Clutter to sort low priority messages in Outlook
Use Clutter to sort low priority messages in OWA
Turn off Clutter in Outlook
 Remove a license from a shared mailbox
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

Shared mailboxes don't need a license unless the mailbox has over 50GB of data. Follow these instructions to
remove a license from a shared mailbox so that you can either assign it to a user or return the license so that you
aren't paying for a license you don't need.

Remove the license

TIP
Need help with the steps in this topic? We’ve got you covered. Make an appointment at your local Microsoft Store with an
Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and choose your location to schedule an
appointment.

Use the new admin center to remove the license

The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.

NOTE
You need to remove the license from the Active users page. You can't remove the license from the Shared mailbox
page because licenses are user settings.

2. Select the shared mailbox.

3. One the Licenses and Apps tab, expand Licenses and uncheck the box for the license you want to remove.
4. Select Save changes.
5. When you return to the Active users page, the status of the shared mailbox will be Unlicensed.
6. You're still paying for the license. To stop paying for it, remove the license from your subscription.
Use the old admin center to remove the license
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the shared mailbox, and then select Edit next to Product licenses.
3. One the Product licenses page, set the toggle to Off for the license you want to remove.
4. Select Save.
5. When you return to the Active users page, the status of the shared mailbox will be Unlicensed.
6. You're still paying for the license. To stop paying for it, remove the license from your subscription.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
 NOTE
You need to remove the license from the Active users page. You can't remove the license from the Shared mailbox page
because licenses are user settings.

2. Select the shared mailbox, and then select Edit next to Product licenses.
3. One the Product licenses page, set the toggle to Off for the license you want to remove.
4. Select Save.
5. When you return to the Active users page, the status of the shared mailbox will be Unlicensed.
6. You're still paying for the license. To stop paying for it, remove the license from your subscription.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.

NOTE
You need to remove the license from the Active users page. You can't remove the license from the Shared mailbox page
because licenses are user settings.

2. Select the shared mailbox, and then select Edit next to Product licenses.
3. One the Product licenses page, set the toggle to Off for the license you want to remove.
4. Select Save.
5. When you return to the Active users page, the status of the shared mailbox will be Unlicensed.
6. You're still paying for the license. To stop paying for it, remove the license from your subscription.
 Top 10 ways to secure Office 365 and Microsoft 365
Business plans
9/25/2019 • 14 minutes to read • Edit Online

TIP
Need help with the steps in this topic? We’ve got you covered. Make an appointment at your local Microsoft Store with an
Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and choose your location to schedule an
appointment.

If you are a small or medium-size organization using one of Microsoft's business plans and your type of
organization is targeted by cyber criminals and hackers, use the guidance in this article to increase the security of
your organization. This guidance helps your organization achieve the goals described in the Harvard Kennedy
School Cybersecurity Campaign Handbook.
Microsoft recommends that you complete the tasks listed in the following table that apply to your service plan.

OFFICE 365 BUSINESS

TASK PREMIUM MICROSOFT 365 BUSINESS

1 Set up multi-factor
authentication

2 Train your users

3 Use dedicated admin

accounts

4 Raise the level of protection

against malware in mail

5 Protect against ransomware

6 Stop auto-forwarding for

email

7 Use Office Message

Encryption

8 Protect your email from

phishing attacks

9 Protect against malicious

attachments and files with
ATP Safe Attachments

10 Protect against phishing

attacks with ATP Safe Links
Before you begin, check your Microsoft 365 Secure Score in the Microsoft 365 security center. From a centralized
dashboard, you can monitor and improve the security for your Microsoft 365 identities, data, apps, devices, and
infrastructure. You are given points for configuring recommended security features, performing security-related
tasks (such as viewing reports), or addressing recommendations with a third-party application or software. With
additional insights and more visibility into a broader set of Microsoft products and services, you can feel confident
reporting about your organization’s security health.

1: Set up multi-factor authentication

Using multi-factor authentication is one of the easiest and most effective ways to increase the security of your
organization. It's easier than it sounds - when you log in, multi-factor authentication means you'll type a code from
your phone to get access to Microsoft 365. This can prevent hackers from taking over if they know your password.
Multi-factor authentication is also called 2-step verification. Individuals can add 2-step verification to most
accounts easily, for example, to their Google or Microsoft accounts. Here's how to add two-step verification to your
personal Microsoft account.
For businesses using Office 365 and Microsoft 365, add a setting that requires your users to log in using multi-
factor authentication. When you make this change, users will be prompted to set up their phone for two-factor
authentication next time they log in. To see a training video for how to set up MFA and how users complete the set
up, see set up MFA and user set up.
To set up multi-factor authentication:
1. In the admin center, turn on the new admin center by selecting the Try the new admin center toggle
located at the top of the Home page.
2. In the left navigation pane, select Setup.
3. Under Setup > Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA ), select View.
4. On the Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA ) page, select Get started.
5. Select the Require multi-factor authentication and Require users to register for multi-factor
authentication and block access if risk is detected check boxes.
6. Under Do you want to exclude anyone from these policies, select any users that you want to exclude
from the drop-down list box.
7. Select Create policy. You will return to the Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA ) page, which will
now say Completed.
After you set up multi-factor authentication for your organization, your users will be required to set up two-step
verification on their devices. For more information, see Set up 2-step verification for Office 365.
For full details and complete recommendations, see Set up multi-factor authentication for Office 365 users.

2: Train your users

The Harvard Kennedy School Cybersecurity Campaign Handbook provides excellent guidance on establishing a
strong culture of security awareness within your organization, including training users to identify phishing attacks.
In addition to this guidance, Microsoft recommends that your users take the actions described in this article:
Protect your account and devices from hackers and malware. These actions include:
Using strong passwords
Protecting devices
Enabling security features on Windows 10 and Mac PCs
Microsoft also recommends that users protect their personal email accounts by taking the actions recommended in
the following articles:
Help protect your Outlook.com email account
Protect your Gmail account with 2-step verification

3: Use dedicated admin accounts

The administrative accounts you use to administer your Office 365 or Microsoft 365 environment include elevated
privileges. These are valuable targets for hackers and cyber criminals. Use admin accounts only for administration.
Admins should have a separate user account for regular, non-administrative use and only use their administrative
account when necessary to complete a task associated with their job function. Additional recommendations:
Be sure admin accounts are also set up for multi-factor authentication.
Before using admin accounts, close out all unrelated browser sessions and apps, including personal email
accounts.
After completing admin tasks, be sure to log out of the browser session.

4: Raise the level of protection against malware in mail

Your Office 365 or Microsoft 365 environment includes protection against malware, but you can increase this
protection by blocking attachments with file types that are commonly used for malware. To bump up malware
protection in email, view a short training video, or complete the following steps:
1. Go to https://protection.office.com and sign in with your admin account credentials.
2. In the Office 365 Security & Compliance Center, in the left navigation pane, under Threat management,
choose Policy > Anti-Malware.
3. Double-click the default policy to edit this company-wide policy.
4. Select Settings.
5. Under Common Attachment Types Filter, select On. The file types that are blocked are listed in the
window directly below this control. You can add or delete file types later, if needed.
6. Select Save.
For more information, see Anti-malware protection.
5: Protect against ransomware
Ransomware restricts access to data by encrypting files or locking computer screens. It then attempts to extort
money from victims by asking for "ransom," usually in form of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, in exchange for access
to data.
You can protect against ransomware by creating one or more mail flow rules to block file extensions that are
commonly used for ransomware, or to warn users who receive these attachments in email. A good starting point is
to create two rules:
Warn users before opening Office file attachments that include macros. Ransomware can be hidden inside
macros, so we'll warn users to not open these files from people they do not know.
Block file types that could contain ransomware or other malicious code. We'll start with a common list of
executables (listed in the table below ). If your organization uses any of these executable types and you
expect these to be sent in email, add these to the previous rule (warn users).
To create a mail transport rule, view a short training video, or complete the following steps:
1. Go to the Exchange admin center.
2. In the mail flow category, select rules.
3. Select +, and then Create a new rule.
4. Select **** at the bottom of the dialog box to see the full set of options.
5. Apply the settings in the following table for each rule. Leave the rest of the settings at the default, unless you
want to change these.
6. Select Save.

BLOCK FILE TYPES THAT COULD CONTAIN

WARN USERS BEFORE OPENING RANSOMWARE OR OTHER MALICIOUS
SETTING ATTACHMENTS OF OFFICE FILES CODE

Name Anti-ransomware rule: warn users Anti-ransomware rule: block file types

Apply this rule if . . . Any attachment . . . file extension Any attachment . . . file extension
matches . . . matches . . .

Specify words or phrases Add these file types: Add these file types:
dotm, docm, xlsm, sltm, xla, xlam, xll, ade, adp, ani, bas, bat, chm, cmd, com,
pptm, potm, ppam, ppsm, sldm cpl, crt, hlp, ht, hta, inf, ins, isp, job, js,
jse, lnk, mda, mdb, mde, mdz, msc, msi,
msp, mst, pcd, reg, scr, sct, shs, url, vb,
vbe, vbs, wsc, wsf, wsh, exe, pif

Do the following . . . Notify the recipient with a message Block the message . . . reject the
message and include an explanation

Provide message text Do not open these type of files from

people you do not know because they
might contain macros with malicious
code.
 TIP
You can also add the files you want to block to the Anti-malware list in step 4.

For more information, see:

How to deal with ransomware
Restore your OneDrive

6: Stop auto-forwarding for email

Hackers who gain access to a user's mailbox can exfiltrate mail by configuring the mailbox to automatically forward
email. This can happen even without the user's awareness. You can prevent this from happening by configuring a
mail flow rule.
To create a mail transport rule:
1. Go to the Exchange admin center.
2. In the mail flow category, select rules.
3. Select +, and then Create a new rule.
4. Select More options at the bottom of the dialog box to see the full set of options.
5. Apply the settings in the following table. Leave the rest of the settings at the default, unless you want to
change these.
6. Select Save.

SETTING WARN USERS BEFORE OPENING ATTACHMENTS OF OFFICE FILES

Name Prevent auto forwarding of email to external domains

Apply this rule if ... The sender . . . is external/internal . . . Inside the organization

Add condition The message properties . . . include the message type . . .

Auto-forward

Do the following ... Block the message . . . reject the message and include an
explanation.

Provide message text Auto-forwarding email outside this organization is prevented

for security reasons.

7: Use Office Message Encryption

Office Message Encryption is included with Microsoft 365. It's already set up. With Office Message Encryption,
your organization can send and receive encrypted email messages between people inside and outside your
organization. Office 365 Message Encryption works with Outlook.com, Yahoo!, Gmail, and other email services.
Email message encryption helps ensure that only intended recipients can view message content.
Office Message Encryption provides two protection options when sending mail:
Do not forward
 Encrypt
Your organization might have configured additional options that apply a label to email, such as Confidential.
To send protected email
In Outlook for PC, select Options in the email, and then choose Permissions.

In Outlook.com, select Protect in the email. The default protection is Do not forward. To change this to encrypt,
select Change Permissions > Encrypt.

To receive encrypted email

If the recipient has Outlook 2013 or Outlook 2016 and an Office 365 email account, they'll see an alert about the
item's restricted permissions in the Reading pane. After opening the message, the recipient can view the message
just like any other.
If the recipient is using another email client or email account, such as Gmail or Yahoo, they'll see a link that lets
them either sign in to read the email message or request a one-time passcode to view the message in a web
browser. If users aren't receiving the email, have them check their Spam or Junk folder.
For more information, see Send, view, and reply to encrypted messages in Outlook for PC.

8. Protect your email from phishing attacks

If you've configured one or more custom domains for your Office 365 or Microsoft 365 environment, you can
configure targeted anti-phishing protection. ATP anti-phishing protection, part of Office 365 Advanced Threat
Protection, can help protect your organization from malicious impersonation-based phishing attacks and other
phishing attacks. If you haven't configured a custom domain, you do not need to do this.
We recommend that you get started with this protection by creating a policy to protect your most important users
and your custom domain.

To create an ATP anti-phishing policy, view a short training video, or complete the following steps:
1. Go to https://protection.office.com.
2. In the Office 365 Security & Compliance Center, in the left navigation pane, under Threat management,
select Policy.
3. On the Policy page, select ATP anti-phishing.
4. On the Anti-phishing page, select + Create. A wizard launches that steps you through defining your anti-
phishing policy.
5. Specify the name, description, and settings for your policy as recommended in the chart below. See Learn
about ATP anti-phishing policy options for more details.
6. After you have reviewed your settings, select Create this policy or Save, as appropriate.

Setting or option Recommended setting

Name Domain and most valuable campaign staff

Description Ensure most important staff and our domain are not being
impersonated.

Add users to protect Select + Add a condition, The recipient is. Type user names
or enter the email address of the candidate, campaign
manager, and other important staff members. You can add up
to 20 internal and external addresses that you want to protect
from impersonation.
 Add domains to protect Select + Add a condition, The recipient domain is. Enter
the custom domain associated with your Microsoft 365
subscription, if you defined one. You can enter more than one
domain.

Choose actions If email is sent by an impersonated user: select Redirect

message to another email address, and then type the email
address of the security administrator; for example,
securityadmin@contoso.com. If email is sent by an
impersonated domain: select Quarantine message.

Mailbox intelligence By default, mailbox intelligence is selected when you create a

new anti-phishing policy. Leave this setting On for best results.

Add trusted senders and domains For this example, don't define any overrides.

Applied to Select The recipient domain is. Under Any of these, select
Choose. Select + Add. Select the check box next to the name
of the domain, for example, contoso.com, in the list, and then
select Add. Select Done.

For more information, see Set up Office 365 ATP anti-phishing policies.

9: Protect against malicious attachments and files with ATP Safe

Attachments
People regularly send, receive, and share attachments, such as documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and more.
It's not always easy to tell whether an attachment is safe or malicious just by looking at an email message. Office
365 Advanced Threat Protection includes ATP Safe Attachment protection, but this protection is not turned on by
default. We recommend that you create a new rule to begin using this protection. This protection extends to files in
SharePoint, OneDrive, and Microsoft Teams.
To create an ATP safe attachment policy, view a short training video, or complete the following steps:
1. Go to https://protection.office.com and sign in with your admin account.
2. In the Office 365 Security & Compliance Center, in the left navigation pane, under Threat management,
select Policy.
3. On the Policy page, select ATP safe attachments.
4. On the Safe attachments page, apply this protection broadly by selecting the Turn on ATP for SharePoint,
OneDrive, and Microsoft Teams check box.
5. Select + to create a new policy.
6. Apply the settings in the following table.
7. After you have reviewed your settings, select Create this policy or Save, as appropriate.

Setting or option Recommended setting

Name Block current and future emails with detected malware.

 Description Block current and future emails and attachments with
detected malware.

Save attachments unknown malware response Select Block - Block the current and future emails and
attachments with detected malware.

Redirect attachment on detection Enable redirection (select this box) Enter the admin account or
a mailbox setup for quarantine. Apply the above selection if
malware scanning for attachments times out or error occurs
(select this box).

Applied to The recipient domain is . . . select your domain.

For more information, see Set up Office 365 ATP anti-phishing policies.

10: Protect against phishing attacks with ATP Safe Links

Hackers sometimes hide malicious websites in links in email or other files. Office 365 ATP Safe Links (ATP Safe
Links), part of Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection, can help protect your organization by providing time-of-
click verification of web addresses (URLs) in email messages and Office documents. Protection is defined through
ATP Safe Links policies.
We recommend that you do the following:
Modify the default policy to increase protection.
Add a new policy targeted to all recipients in your domain.
To get to ATP Safe Links, view a short training video, or complete the following steps:
1. Go to https://protection.office.com and sign in with your admin account.
2. In the Office 365 Security & Compliance Center, in the left navigation pane, under Threat management,
select Policy.
3. On the Policy page, select ATP Safe Links.
To modify the default policy:
1. On the Safe links page, under Policies that apply to the entire organization, select the Default policy.
2. Under Settings that apply to content except email, select Office 365 ProPlus, Office for iOS and
Android.
3. Select Save.
To create a new policy targeted to all recipients in your domain:
1. On the Safe links page, under Policies that apply to the entire organization, select + to create a new
policy.
2. Apply the settings listed in the following table.
3. Select Save.

Setting or option Recommended setting

 Name Safe links policy for all recipients in the domain

Select the action for unknown potentially malicious URLs in Select On - URLs will be rewritten and checked against a
messages list of known malicious links when user clicks on the link.

Use Safe Attachments to scan downloadable content Select this box.

Applied to The recipient domain is . . . select your domain.

For more information, see Office 365 ATP safe links.

 Set up multi-factor authentication
9/25/2019 • 5 minutes to read • Edit Online

This article describes how to set up multi-factor authentication (MFA) for Office 365 users. For more information
about MFA, see How Azure multi-factor authentication works.
You get a free version of Azure multi-factor authentication as part of your Office 365 for business subscription.
For a list of features included in your version of Office 365, see How to get Azure Multi-Factor Authentication.

NOTE
You must be an Office 365 global admin to set up or modify multi-factor authentication.

Enable multi-factor authentication for your organization

All Office 2016 client applications support MFA through the use of the Active Directory Authentication Library
(ADAL ). This means that app passwords aren't required for Office 2016 clients. However, you need to make sure
your Office 365 subscription is enabled for ADAL, or modern authentication.
1. To enable modern authentication, from the admin center, turn on the new admin center by selecting Try
the new admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page.
2. Select Settings > Services & add-ins and then choose Modern authentication from the list.
3. Check the Enable modern authentication box in the Modern authentication panel.

Set up multi-factor authentication in the new Microsoft 365 admin

center
1. In the admin center, turn on the new admin center by selecting the Try the new admin center toggle
located at the top of the Home page.
2. In the left navigation pane, select Setup.
3. Under Setup > Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA ), select View.
4. On the Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA ) page, select Get started.
5. Select the Require multi-factor authentication and Require users to register for multi-factor
 authentication and block access if risk is detected check boxes.
6. Under Do you want to exclude anyone from these policies, select any users that you want to exclude
from the drop-down list box.
7. Select Create policy. You will return to the Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA ) page, which will
now say Completed.
After you set up multi-factor authentication for your organization, your users will be required to set up two-step
verification on their devices. For more information, see Set up 2-step verification for Office 365.
Manage MFA settings in the new Microsoft 365 admin center
1. In the admin center, turn on the new admin center by selecting Try the new admin center toggle located
at the top of the Home page.
2. In the left navigation pane, select Setup.
3. Under Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA ), it will say Completed. Select View.
4. On the Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA ) page, select Manage.
5. The Azure portal Conditional Access - Policies page will appear. To turn multi-factor authentication on
or off:
a. Select Baseline policy: End user protection (Preview), and turn the Enable toggle on or off.
b. Select Baseline policy: Require MFA for admins (Preview), and turn the Enable toggle on or off.

NOTE
To exclude users from a policy, select specific users excluded > Select excluded users, select the users from the
list, and then choose Select.

Set up multi-factor authentication in the old Microsoft 365 admin

center
1. In the admin center, go to Users > Active users.
2. IMPORTANT: BEFORE you select a user, select Multi-factor authentication from the drop-down list
above the list of users.

NOTE
If you don't see the Multi-factor authentication option, then you aren't a global admin for your subscription. Only
global admins can enable or disable MFA.

3. On the multi-factor authentication page, find the people for whom you want to enable MFA. In order to
see everyone, you might need to change the Multi-Factor Auth status view at the top.
The views have the following values, based on the MFA state of the users:
Any Displays all users. This is the default state.
Enabled The person has been enrolled in MFA, but has not completed the registration process. They will
be prompted to complete the process the next time they sign in.
Enforced The person may or may not have completed registration. If they have completed the registration
process, then they are using MFA. Otherwise, they will be prompted to complete the process the next time
 they sign in.
4. Select the check box next to the people for whom you want to enable MFA.
5. On the right, under quick steps, you'll see Enable and Manage user settings. Select Enable.
6. In the dialog box that opens, select enable multi-factor auth.
Allow MFA users to create app passwords for Office client apps
Older email applications like Office 2013 need app passwords. Here's how to allow your users to create them:
1. In the admin center, go to Users > Active users.
2. IMPORTANT: BEFORE you select a user, select Multi-factor authentication above the list of users.

TIP
If you don't see the Multi-factor authentication option, then you aren't a global admin for your subscription. Only global
admins can enable or disable MFA.

3. On the multi-factor authentication page, select service settings.

4. Under app passwords, select Allow users to create app passwords to sign into non-browser apps.
People can then use client Office apps after they create a new password.
5. Select Save, then Close.

NOTE
Modern authentication can be enabled for Office 2013 by setting a few registry keys. For more information, see Enable
Modern Authentication for Office 2013 on Windows devices.

Manage MFA user settings in the old Microsoft 365 admin center
1. On the multi-factor authentication page, select the check box next to the people you want to manage.
2. On the right, under quick steps, select Manage user settings.
3. In the Manage user settings dialog box, select one or more of the following options:
Require selected users to provide contact methods again
Delete all existing app passwords generated by the selected users
Restore multi-factor authentication on all remembered devices
4. Select Save, then Close.
Bulk update users in MFA in the old Microsoft 365 admin center
You can bulk update the status for existing people by using a CSV file. The CSV file is used only for enabling or
disabling MFA, based on the user names present in the file. It is not used to create new users.
1. On the multi-factor authentication page, select bulk update.
2. In the Select a CSV file dialog box, select Browse for file.
3. Browse for the file that contains the updates, then select Open. The column headings in your file must
match the column headings in the following example:

4. Select the Next arrow.

5. After the file is verified, select the Next arrow to update the accounts.
6. When the process is finished, select the Done checkmark.

Instructions for your users after MFA is set up

After you enable MFA on your tenant, give the following instructions to people to set up their second sign-in
method for Office 365:
Set up 2-step verification for Office 365
Create an app password for Office 365
 Enable Modern Authentication for Office 2013 on
Windows devices
8/22/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

To enable modern authentication for any Windows devices that have Office 2013 installed, you need to set specific
registry keys.

Enable modern authentication for Office 2013 clients

NOTE
Modern authentication is already enabled for Office 2016 clients, you do not need to set registry keys for Office 2016.

To enable modern authentication for any devices running Windows (for example on laptops and tablets), that have
Microsoft Office 2013 installed, you need to set the following registry keys. The keys have to be set on each device
that you want to enable for modern authentication:

Registry key Type Value

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\15. REG_DWORD 1
0\Common\Identity\EnableADAL

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\15. REG_DWORD 1
0\Common\Identity\Version

Once you have set the registry keys, you can set Office 2013 devices apps to use multifactor authentication (MFA)
with Office 365
If you're currently signed-in with any of the client apps, you need to sign out and sign back in for the change to
take effect. Otherwise, the MRU and roaming settings will be unavailable until the ADAL identity is established.

Disable modern authentication on devices

To disable modern authentication on a device, set the following registry keys on the device:

Registry key Type Value

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\15. REG_DWORD 0
0\Common\Identity\EnableADAL

Related Topics
Sign in to Office 2013 with a second verification method
 GDPR simplified: A guide for your small business
8/17/2019 • 10 minutes to read • Edit Online

Using Microsoft 365 Business to mitigate and manage GDPR compliance

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR ) is a European Union (EU ) regulation that mandates how an
organization should handle personal data. The GDPR is due to come into force on May 25, 2018. If your business
sells to, provides services to, or employs citizens of the European Union, then the GDPR will affect you.
This article helps you understand what the GDPR is, why it came about, and how Microsoft 365 Business can help
your organization comply with the GDPR.

A quick overview of the GDPR

The GDPR is an EU regulation that updates and expands the earlier Data Protection Directive (DPD ) first enacted
in 1995. The GDPR is concerned with the privacy of an individual's data, be that individual a client, customer,
employee, or business partner. The GDPR's goal is to strengthen personal data protection for EU citizens, whether
they reside in the EU or elsewhere. The regulation sets out expectations and advises on how to achieve them. When
the GDPR becomes enforceable in late May 2018, organizations must have measures in place that satisfy the
requirements of the GDPR.
The GDPR is all about data and how it's used. Think of data as having a life cycle. The cycle starts when you collect
data, continues as you store it and use it (processing), and ends when you completely delete it from your systems.
The GDPR is concerned with the following types of data:
Personal data: If you can link data to an individual and identify them, then that data is considered personal
with respect to the GDPR. Examples of personal data include name, address, date of birth, and IP address.
The GDPR considers even encoded information (also known as “pseudonymous” information) to be
personal data, regardless of how obscure or technical the data is, if the data can be linked to an individual.
Sensitive personal data This is data that adds more details to personal data. Examples include religion,
trade union membership, ethnic origin, and so on. Sensitive personal data also includes biometric data and
DNA. Under GDPR, sensitive data has more stringent protection rules than personal data.

GDPR terms
You'll see some terms referred to frequently in the GDPR. It's important to understand these terms.
Consent
The GDPR states: "The processing of personal data should be designed to serve mankind." The GDPR hopes to
achieve this goal by using consent when processing personal data. That could be the simple act of asking your
customers if they want to receive email messages from your company. It also means no more opt-out check boxes
on your website when you want to use data for marketing. You must take explicit consent using a "clear affirmative
act". And, you will need to also keep records of when a consent is taken or revoked.
Data subject rights
The GDPR establishes data subject rights, which means that, with respect to their personal data, customers,
employees, business partners, clients, contractors, students, suppliers, and so forth have the right to:
Be informed about their data: You must inform individuals about your use of their data.
 Have access to their data: You must give individuals access to any of their data that you hold (for example,
by using account access or in some manual manner).
Ask for data rectification: Individuals can ask you to correct inaccurate data.
Ask for data to be deleted: Also known as the 'right to erasure', this right allows an individual to request
that any of their personal data a company has collected is deleted across all systems that use it or share it.
Request restricted processing: An individual can ask that you suppress or restrict their data. However, it is
only applicable under certain circumstances.
Have data portability: An individual can ask for their data to be transferred to another company.
Object: An individual can object to their data being used for various uses including direct marketing.
Ask not to be subject to automated decision-making, including profiling: The GDPR has strict rules
about using data to profile people and automate decisions based on that profiling.

Common small business questions about the GDPR

I'm a sole proprietor - do I really have to worry about the GDPR?
The GDPR is about the data you process, not the number of employees you have. It affects companies of all sizes,
even sole proprietors. However, companies with fewer than 250 employees do have some exemptions, such as
reduced record keeping, but only if you are sure the data processing doesn't affect the individual's rights and is
occasional processing.
As an example, processing of non-personal data would be exempt or need reduced measures. However, if you
process any data that is seen as "special category sensitive data", even if it only occasionally, you will have to record
this data processing. The definition of "occasional processing" is vague, but it's meant to apply to data that is used
once or rarely.
You should also make sure that personal data that you collect is protected. This means that you need to encrypt it
and make sure that access to it is controlled using at least a password. Keeping your customer data on a
spreadsheet on your desktop with no protection won't meet GDPR expectations.
How can I tell if our company website is GDPR compliant?
The first question to ask yourself is: Do you collect personal data anywhere on your site? For example, you might
have a contact form that asks for a name and email address. If you want to send marketing emails, make sure you
add an 'opt-in' checkbox that explains exactly what you will use the data for. Only if the recipient checks that box
can you use their personal data for marketing purposes.
Also, check that the database that stores the data is protected. Your web hosting company or cloud storage vendor
will be able to advise on this. If you use Microsoft 365 Business, storage of data is GDPR -compliant.
My company is outside Europe. Does the GDPR really affect us?
The GDPR is a regulation that protects EU citizens. If your company deals with EU citizens now, or you hope to in
the future, you will be affected. This applies to both citizens living in an EU State and those living elsewhere.
Consider the following examples:
A U.S. company that hires cars to EU citizens will need to satisfy GDPR requirements when they collect and
process the customer's data. The company will be required to take consent when they take the customer's
data and ensure that the data is stored securely. They will also need to make sure the customer can apply all
of their data subject rights.
An Australian company sells products online, and its users set up online accounts. GDPR data subject rights
and consent will be applied to EU citizens who open an account. The company will need to make sure the
customer can apply all of their data subject rights.
 An international charity collects data about donors and uses it to send out updates and requests for
donations. The GDPR states: '...the processing of personal data for direct marketing purposes may be
regarded as carried out for a legitimate interest." However, the responsibility is on the organization to prove
their interests override those of the data subject. The company (or in this case, the charitable organization)
should always get informed, explicit, opt-in consent.
The GDPR also applies if customer data moves across borders. If you use cloud computing for data storage, you
will need to make sure the service is fully GDPR -compliant. It can get complicated if data storage is in locations
that have a poor record of data protection. If you use Microsoft 365 Business, we have the correct legal
documentation in place to cover GDPR requirements.
Sure, I collect data, but some other company stores it. Does that get me off the hook?
Under the GDPR, if you collect data you are affected to some extent. The GDPR has the concept of a data
processor and a data controller:
Data Controller: An individual or organization (you can have joint controllers) that decides how, what, and
why data is collected. They may store it using another company's cloud servers. For example, a website that
collects customer data is a controller.
Data Processor: An individual or organization that stores data on behalf of the controller(s) and processes
these data upon request. For example, Office 365 Business data storage acts as a processor and is fully
GDPR compliant.
An organization or system can act as both a controller and a processor. Microsoft 365 Business can act as
both and complies with the GDPR.
Can I still send out marketing emails to my old customers?
You need to make sure your customers, even ones that you've had for years, have consented to use their data for
marketing. You may have previously captured consent, as well as a record to show it. If so, you're all set to continue
marketing. If not, you need to get permission from the customer to continue marketing to them. This usually
involves sending an email asking customers to go to your site and select an option to consent to receive future
emails.
Do I have to worry about the GDPR when I recruit new employees? What about current employees?
The GDPR doesn't just affect customer data; it extends to employee data, too. New recruits are often located using
social media platforms such as LinkedIn. Make sure that you don't store any potential recruit data without their
express permission.
As for existing employees and new employee contracts, a signature at the end of a contract does not necessarily
assume consent, especially when a non-affirmative clause is used in a contract. In this case, you must capture
consent in an explicit manner associated with the clause. What this means depends on your employee contract, but
you can use "legitimate interest" in some cases and add an employee data processing notice to make sure your
employees are aware of what you will do with their data.

Satisfy privacy concerns using Microsoft 365 Business

Becoming compliant with the GDPR is about making sure that personal data is protected. The GDPR has a concept
known as Privacy by Design and Default. This means that data protection should be "baked in" to a system and a
product so that satisfying privacy concerns is second nature.
Like their larger counterparts, a small business needs convenience without sacrificing security. Microsoft 365
Business is designed for companies of fewer than 300 employees. Small companies can use Microsoft cloud-based
tools to improve business productivity. With Microsoft 365 Business, a small business can manage emails,
documentation, and even meetings and events. It also has built-in security measures and device management,
which are vital for GDPR compliance.
Microsoft 365 Business can help you with the GDPR process in the following ways:
Discover: An important step to GDPR compliance is knowing what data you have.
Manage: Controlling access to data and managing its use is an integral part of GDPR. Microsoft 365
Business protects business data based on policies you want to apply to devices. Device management is vital
in an age where employees work remotely. Microsoft 365 Business includes device management features
that makes sure data is protected across all devices. For example, you can specify that all Windows 10
devices in your business are protected via Windows Defender.
Protect: Microsoft 365 Business is designed for security. Its device management and data protection
controls work across your business network, including remote devices, to help keep data secure. Microsoft
365 Business offers controls such as privacy settings in Office applications and encryption of documents.
With Microsoft 365 Business, you can perform GDPR compliance monitoring to make sure you have the
right level of protection set.
Report: The GDPR places a lot of emphasis on reporting. Even a business with a single employee, if that
business processes large amounts of data, is required to document and report on their procedures.
Microsoft 365 Business takes the headache out of reporting requirements for smaller organizations.
Tools such as audit logs allow you to track and report on data movement. Reports include classifying the
data you collect and store, what you do with the data, and transfers of the data.
Customers, employees, and clients are becoming more aware of the importance of data privacy and now expect a
company or organization to respect that privacy. Microsoft 365 Business provides you with the tools to achieve and
maintain GDPR compliance without a massive upheaval to your business.

Next steps
To get ready for the GDPR, here are some suggestions for next steps to take:
Evaluate your GDPR program with Accountability Readiness Checklists.
Investigate Microsoft 365 Business as a solution for achieving and maintaining compliance with GDPR.

IMPORTANT
Get legal advice appropriate for your company or organization.

Additional resources
Microsoft Trust Center overview of the GDPR
The Official Microsoft Blog: Microsoft commitment to GDPR
European Commission sites:
Data protection
2018 reform of EU data protection rules
 Activity Reports in the Microsoft 365 admin center
8/8/2019 • 3 minutes to read • Edit Online

You can easily see how people in your business are using Office 365 services. For example, you can identify who
is using a service a lot and reaching quotas, or who may not need an Office 365 license at all.
Reports are available for the last 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, and 180 days. Data won't exist for all reporting periods
right away. The reports become available within 48 hours.
Watch this video for on overview: on how you can use the reports:

How to get to the Reports dashboard

1. In the admin center, go to the Reports > Usage page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Reports > Usage page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Reports > Usage page.
2. Select Select a report at the top of the dashboard to select from a list of all available reports. Or, select an at-
a-glance activity widget for a service (email, OneDrive, etc) to see more information.

Who can see reports

People who have the following permissions:
Global admins: We recommend that only a few people in your company have this role. It reduces the risk to
your business.
Exchange admins
SharePoint admins
Skype for Business admins
Reports reader
To learn more, see About admin roles and Assign admin roles.

Which activity reports are available in the admin center

Depending on your subscription, here are the available reports.
 Email activity
Mailbox usage
Office activations
Active Users
Email apps usage
Office 365 groups
OneDrive for Business user activity
OneDrive for Business usage
SharePoint site usage
SharePoint activity
Skype for Business Online activity
Skype for Business Online conference organized activity
Skype for Business Online conference participant activity
Skype for Business Online peer-to-peer activity
Yammer activity
Yammer device usage
Yammer groups activity report
Microsoft Teams user activity
Microsoft Teams device usage

How to view licensing information

To see how many licenses you have assigned and unassigned, in the admin center, go to the Billing >
Licenses page.
To see who is licensed, unlicensed, or guest, in the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.

How to view usage information for a specific user

Use the service reports to research how much a specific user is using the service. For example, to find out how
much mailbox storage a specific user has consumed, open the Mailbox usage report, and sort the users by name.
If you have thousands of users, export the report to Excel so you filter through the list quickly.
You can't generate a report where you enter a user's account and then get a list which services they are using and
how much.

Hide user details in the reports

If you want to hide user level information when you're generating your reports, you can quickly make that change
in the admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Services & add-ins page.
2. Select Reports.
3. In the Reports pane, select the options you want, and then save your changes.
Your user list will look like this:

It'll take a few minutes for these changes to take effect on the reports in the reports dashboard. This setting also
applies to the reports API.

What happens to usage data when a user account is closed?

Whenever you close a user's account, Microsoft will delete that user's usage data within 30 days. That user will
still be included in the Activity chart totals (see number 1) for the periods she was active in, but will not appear in
the User Details table (see number 2).
However, when you select a particular day (see number 3), up to 28 days from the current date, the report show
the user's usage for that day in the User Details table (see number 2).

Related Topics
Reports in the Security & Compliance Center
 Microsoft 365 usage analytics
10/1/2019 • 10 minutes to read • Edit Online

Microsoft 365 usage analytics is also available for Office 365 US Government Community.

Overview of Microsoft 365 usage analytics

Use Microsoft 365 usage analytics within Power BI to gain insights on how your organization is adopting the
various services within Office 365 to communicate and collaborate. You can visualize and analyze Office 365 usage
data, create custom reports and share the insights within your organization and gain insights into how specific
regions or departments are utilizing Office 365.
Microsoft 365 usage analytics is a content pack that gives you access to a pre-built dashboard that provides a
cross-product view of the last 12 months and contains a number of pre-built reports. Each report provides you
with specific usage insights. User specific information is available for the last full calendar month.
The data model that powers the content pack includes user attributes from Active Directory, enabling the ability to
pivot in certain reports. The following Active Directory attributes are included: location, department and
organization.
See Enable Microsoft 365 usage analytics to start collecting data.
Microsoft 365 usage analytics contains a number of reports, including:
Adoption overview report — offers an all-up summary of adoption trends. Use the reports in this section
to learn how your users have adopted Office 365 as well as how overall usage of the individual services has
changed month-over-month. You can see how many licenses are assigned, how many of those are in active
use by people in your organization, how many users are returning users and how many are using the
product for the first time.
Product usage report — offers a drill-down view into volume of key activities for each service. Use the
reports in this section to learn how your users are utilizing Office 365.
Storage used report — Use this report to track cloud storage for mailboxes, OneDrive and SharePoint
sites. You can use this to make sure people in your organization stay within limits, or to decide if you need to
purchase more storage resources.
Communication report — You can see at a glance whether people in your organization prefer to stay in
touch by using Teams, Yammer, email, or Skype calls. You can observe if there are shifts in patterns of use of
communication tools amongst your employees.
Collaboration report — See how people in your organization use OneDrive and SharePoint to store
documents and collaborate with each other, and how these trends evolve month over month. You can also
see how many people share documents internally or externally and how many SharePoint sites or OneDrive
accounts are actively being used.
Office activation report — Track Office 365 ProPlus, Project and Visio activations in your organization.
Each person with an Office license can install products on up to five devices. Use reports in this section to
 see the device types on which people have installed Office apps.
Access from anywhere report — Track which clients and devices people use to connect to email, Skype
for Business, or Yammer.
Individual service usage reports — Usage reports are available for certain individual services. These
reports provide specific usage details for the respective service. Exchange usage, Teams usage, and Yammer
usage are examples of these reports.
Individual service user activity reports — User activity reports are available for certain individual
services. These reports provide user level detail usage data joined with Active Directory attributes.
You can access detailed reports for each area by selecting the data tables. You can view all pre-built reports by
selecting the tabs at the bottom of the site, once you are viewing the reports. For more detailed instructions, read
Navigating and utilizing the reports in Microsoft 365 usage analytics and Customizing the reports in Microsoft
365 usage analytics.

FAQ
Is this content pack going to be available through purchase or will it be free?
The content pack is available to all customers free of charge. You need to sign up for the free Power BI service to
connect to the content pack. You can also customize the dashboards and reports with the free Power BI service.
To share the dashboards with others both the user who is sharing and the user the dashboard is shared with must
have Power BI Pro or Power BI Premium.
Who can connect to Microsoft 365 usage analytics?
You have to be either a global administrator, report reader, Exchange administrator, Skype for Business
administrator, or SharePoint administrator in order to establish the connection to the content pack. See About
admin roles for more information.
Who can customize the usage analytics dashboards and reports?
Only the user who made the initial connection to the content pack can customize the dashboard or create new
reports in the Power BI web interface. See Customizing the reports in Microsoft 365 usage analytics for
instructions.
Can I only customize the dashboards and reports from the Power BI web interface?
In addition to customizing the dashboard and reports from the Power BI web interface, users can also use Power
BI Desktop to connect directly to the Office 365 reporting service to build their own reports.
How can I get the pbit file that this dashboard is associated with?
You can access to the pbit file from the Microsoft Download center.
Who can view the dashboards and reports?
If you connected to the content pack, you can share it with anybody by using the sharing functionality. Power BI
licensing requires that both the user sharing and the user with whom a dashboard is shared have Power BI Pro or
Power BI Premium.
Can anyone share the dashboard, or does it have to be the person who connected to the dashboard?
When sharing the dashboard, you can either allow users to re-share the dashboard with others or not. You can set
this option at the time of sharing.
Is it possible to work on and customize the same content pack with a group of people?
Yes. To enable a group of admins to work together on the same content pack, you can leverage the app workspace
functionality of Power BI, for more information, see How should I collaborate and share dashboards and reports?
For which timeframe is data available?
The majority of the reports display data for the previous 12 months. However, some of the charts may show less
history since the data collection for different products and reports were started at different times and thus data for
the full 12 months might not be available. All the reports will eventually build up to 12 months of history. Reports
that show user level details show data for the previous complete month.
What data is included in the content pack?
The data in the content pack currently covers the same set of activity metrics available in the Activity Reports. As
reports are added to the activity reports, they will be added to the content pack in a future release.
How does the data in the content pack differ from the data in the usage reports?
The underlying data you see in the content pack matches the data you see in the activity reports in the Microsoft
365 admin center. The key differences are that in the admin center data is available for the last 7/30/90/180 days
while the content pack presents data on a monthly basis for up to 12 months.
In addition, user level details in the content pack are only available for the last complete month for users who were
assigned a product license and performed an activity.
When should I use the content pack and when the usage reports?
The Activity Reports are a good starting point to understand usage and adoption of Office 365. The content pack
combines the Office 365 usage data and your organization’s Active Directory information and enables admins to
analyze the data set using the visual analytics capabilities of Power BI. This enables admins to not just visualize and
analyze Office 365 usage data, but also slice it by Active Directory properties such as departments, location etc.
They can also create custom reports and share the insights within their organization.
How often is the data refreshed?
When you connect to the content pack for the first time, it will automatically populate with your data for the
previous 12 months. After that, the content pack data will refresh weekly. Customers can choose to modify the
refresh schedule if their use of this data demands a different update rhythm.
The back-end Office 365 service will refresh data on a daily basis and provides data that is between 5-8 days latent
from the current date.
The Content date column in each dataset represents the freshness date of the data in the content pack.
How is an active user defined?
The definition of active user is the same as the definition of active user in the activity reports.
What SharePoint site collections are included in the SharePoint reports?
The current version of the content pack includes file activity from SharePoint team sites and SharePoint group
sites.
Which groups are included in the Office 365 Groups usage report?
The current version of the content pack includes usage from Outlook groups, Yammer groups, and SharePoint
groups. It does not include groups related to Microsoft Teams or Planner.
When will an updated version of the content pack become available?
Major changes to the content pack will be released twice a year which may include new reports or new data. Minor
changes to the reports may be released on a more frequent basis.
Is it possible to integrate the data from the content pack into existing solutions?
The data in the content pack can be retrieved through the Office 365 APIs (in preview ). When they ship to
production they will be merged within the Microsoft Graph reporting APIs.
Are there plans to expand the content pack to show usage data from other Microsoft products?
This is considered for future improvements. Check the Microsoft 365 Roadmap for updates.
How can I pivot by company information in Active Directory?
Company information is included one of the Active Directory fields in the content pack and you can see it as a pre-
built filter in the Product User activity reports. It is available as column in the UserState table.
Is it possible to bring in additional fields from Active Directory?
Additional customization on this data is possible by connecting to the Microsoft Graph reporting APIs to pull
additional fields from Azure Active Directory and join to the dataset.
Is it possible to aggregate the information in the content pack across multiple subscriptions?
At this time, the content pack is for a single subscription, as it is associated with the credentials that was used to
initially connect to it.
Is it possible to see usage by plan (i.e. E1, E3)?
In the content pack, usage is represented at the per product level. Data about the various subscriptions that are
assigned to users are provided, however it is not possible to correlate user activity to the subscription assigned to
user.
Is it possible to integrate other data sets into the content pack?
You can use Power BI Desktop to connect to the Office 365 APIs (in preview ) to bring additional data sources to
combine with the content pack data.
For more information see the Customize document.
Is it possible to see the "Top Users" reports for a specific timeframe?
All user level reports present aggregated data for the previous month.
Will the content pack be localized?
This is currently not on the roadmap.
I have a specific question about the data I'm seeing for my organization. Who can I reach out to?
You can use the feedback button in the admin center activity overview page, or you can open a support case to get
help with the content pack.
How can partners access the data?
If a partner has delegated admin rights, he or she can connect to the content pack on behalf of their customer.
Can I hide identifiable information such as user, group, and site names in reports?
Yes, see Make the collected data anonymous.
 Enable Microsoft 365 usage analytics
8/20/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

Microsoft 365 usage analytics is also available for Office 365 US Government Community.

Steps to enable Microsoft 365 usage analytics

To get started with Microsoft 365 usage analytics you must first make the data available in the Microsoft 365
admin center, then initiate the content pack in Power BI.
Get Power BI
If you don't already have Power BI, you can sign up for the free Power BI service. Select Get started free to get
the free version.

You can also expand Products to buy a version of Power BI.

Enable the content pack
To enable the content pack, you have to be either a global administrator, report reader, Exchange
administrator, Skype for Business administrator, or SharePoint administrator.
See About admin roles for more information.
1. In the admin center, go to the Reports > Usage page.
2. On the Usage page, locate the Microsoft 365 usage analytics card, and select Get started.
3. On the Reports panel that opens, set Make data available to Microsoft 365 usage analytics for Power
BI to On > Save.
This initiates the data collection process and will complete in 2 to 48 hours depending on the size of your tenant.
The Go to Power BI button will be enabled (no longer gray) when data collection is complete.
Initiate the content pack
To initiate the content pack, you have to be either a global administrator, report reader, Exchange
administrator, Skype for Business administrator, or SharePoint administrator.
1. Copy the tenant Id and select Go to Power BI.
2. When you get to Power BI, sign in. Select Get Data, then under More ways to create your own content,
select Service Content Packs.
3. In the Apps tab, type Microsoft 365 in the search box and then select Microsoft 365 usage analytics >
Get it now.
4. On the Connect to Microsoft 365 usage analytics screen, type in the tenant Id you copied in step (1) >
Next.
5. On the next screen, select oAuth2 as the Authentication method > Sign in. If you choose any other
authentication method, the connection to the content pack will fail.

6. Once the content pack is instantiated the Microsoft 365 usage analytics dashboard will be available in
Power BI on the web. The initial loading of the dashboard will take between 2 to 30 minutes.
Tenant level aggregates will be available in all reports. User-level details will only become available after the
1st or 15th day of the calendar month after opting in. This will impact the following reports - which will show
tiles without data - until that point:

See [Navigate and utilize the reports in Microsoft 365 usage analytics](navigate-and-utilize-reports.md) for
tips on how to view and use these reports.

Exchange - User activity

Skype for Business - User activity
Teams - User activity
Yammer - User activity
OneDrive - User activity
SharePoint - User activity
Adoption by department
Adoption by product
 Adoption by region
Yammer usage

Make the collected data anonymous

To make the data that is collected for all reports anonymous, you have to be a global administrator. This will hide
identifiable information such as user, group and site names in reports and in the content pack .
1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Services & add-ins page.
2. Select Reports, and then choose to Display anonymous identifiers. This setting gets applied both to the
usage reports as well as to the content pack.
3. Select Save changes.
 Get the latest version of Microsoft 365 usage analytics
10/4/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

The content pack may be refreshed with new data or new visualizations several times per year. Your existing
instance will continue to work, but if you would like to get the latest version, a new instance must be created and
any customizations must be applied to the new instance. See Enable Microsoft 365 usage analytics.
 Navigate and utilize the reports in Microsoft 365
usage analytics
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

Navigate and utilize the reports in Microsoft 365 usage analytics

The dashboard provides you with a quick overview of the main usage and adoption metrics. By selecting the top
level metrics you can access reports which provide more details and insights. Each report tab contains data
visualizations specific to an aspect of usage and adoption for your organization. The data collected is explained in
the title of each report and also a tile that contains further information about the visualizations on the report tab
that you are viewing.
To get started with your reports, here are some tips:
Use the navigation tabs on the bottom of the dashboard to navigate to different reports.

Many reports contain a slicer where you can filter to the product, or activity you want to view. These can be
either single-select, or multi-select.

Hover over data points to view a callout that contains details.

The user who has instantiated the content pack will have the ability to edit the report to customize it to their
needs. To customize the content pack:
 Select the Edit report button at the top of the report,

Create your own visuals by using the underlying datasets.

Use PowerBI Desktop to bring in your own data sources.

To share your reports, just select the share button on top of the page.
To learn how to customize the reports, see Customizing the reports in Microsoft 365 usage analytics.
You can find lots of additional information in the Power BI help documentation:
Power BI - basic concepts
Learn about dashboard, datasets, reports and other Power BI concepts.
Get started with Power BI
Learn the basic functionality in Power BI. Find links to how to use Power BI Desktop.
Share dashboards and reports
Learn how to share reports with your colleagues, or people outside your organization. You can also share
just a report, or a filtered version of the report.
 Active user in Office 365 usage reports
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

Active user in usage reports

An active user of Office products for Microsoft 365 usage analytics and the Activity Reports in the admin center is
defined as follows.

PRODUCT DEFINITION OF AN ACTIVE USER NOTES

Exchange Online Any user who has read or sent an email. No calendar information is represented,
this will be added in an upcoming
update.

SharePoint Online Any user who has interacted with a file The active user metric for SharePoint
by creating, modifying, viewing, Online in the Office 365 Adoption
deleting, sharing internally or externally, content pack only reflect users who did
or synchronizing to clients on any site file activity against a SharePoint Team
or viewed a page on any site. site or a Group site. The content pack
will be updated to synchronize the
definition to the same as that on the
usage reports in the admin center.

OneDrive for Business Any user who has interacted with a file
by creating, modifying, viewing,
deleting, sharing internally or externally,
or synchronizing to clients.

Yammer Any user who has read, posted, or liked

a message on Yammer.

Skype for Business Any user who has participated in a

peer-to-peer session (including instant
messaging, audio and video calls,
application sharing, and file transfers) or
who has organized or participated in a
conference.

Office Any user who has activated their Office

365 Pro Plus, Visio Pro or Project Pro
subscription on at least one device.

Office 365 Groups Any group member that has mailbox This definition will be enhanced with
activity (if a message has been sent to group site file activity and Yammer
the group) group activity (file activity on group site
and message posted to Yammer group
associated with the group.) This data is
currently not available in the Office 365
Adoption content pack
 PRODUCT DEFINITION OF AN ACTIVE USER NOTES

Microsoft Teams Any user who has participated in chat

messages, private chat messages,
calls,meetings or other activity. Other
activity is defined as the number of
other team activities by the user some
of which include, and not limited to:
liking messages, apps, working on files,
searching, following teams and channel
and favoriting them.

Adoption Metrics
Microsoft 365 usage analytics contains additional adoption metrics related to active users to show adoption of the
products over time. These metrics are valid for the month, year, and product selected and are defined as follows.

METRIC DESCRIPTION

EnabledUsers Number of users enabled to use the product in the month.

ActiveUsers Number of users active in the month.

MoMReturningUsers Number of users active in the month that were also active in
the preceding month.

FirstTimeUsers Number of users active in the month that had never used the
service before.

CumulativeActiveUsers Number of users active in the month plus any preceding

month.

ActiveUsers(%) Percent of users, rounded to the nearest tenth, active in the

month compared to the number of users enabled in that
month.

MoMReturningUsers(%) Percent of users, rounded to the nearest tenth, active in the

month that were also active in the preceding month
compared to the number of active users.

MoMReturningUsers, FirstTimeUsers, & CumulativeActiveUsers were reset starting January 1st 2018 with the
inclusion of Microsoft Teams.
 Customize the reports in Microsoft 365 usage
analytics
7/5/2019 • 4 minutes to read • Edit Online

Microsoft 365 usage analytics provides a dashboard in Power BI that offers insights into how users adopt and use
Office 365. The dashboard is just a starting point to interact with the usage data. The reports can be customized
for more personalized insights.
You can also use the Power BI desktop to further customize your reports by connecting them to other data
sources to gain richer insights about your business.

Customizing reports in the browser

The following two examples show how to modify an existing visual and how to create a new visual.
Modify an existing visual
This example shows how to modify the Adoption overview report.
1. At the top of the dashboard, in the Understanding adoption area, point to the Adoption overview card,
and then click it.
2. In the top navigation, click Edit report.

3. At the top right, click Duplicate this page.

4. At the top right of the report, click the title bar of the Adoption overview graph.
5. In the Visualizations area to the right, for the FirstTimeUsers column, click the X to the right to remove
it.
6. At the top right of the Adoption overview visual, click the Pin visual icon and in the dialog, click Pin >
 Existing dashboard.
7. At the top of the browser, in the breadcrumb, click the Office 365 Adoption link to return to the
dashboard.
8. If prompted to save changes to the report, click Don't save.
9. Scroll to the bottom of the dashboard to locate the visual you just saved.
10. Drag it to the top of the dashboard.
11. You can optionally delete the original Adoption overview card, by clicking the ellipsis on the top right of
the card, and then choosing Delete.
Create a new visual
The following example shows how to create a new visual to track new Yammer users on monthly basis.
1. In the Communication area of the dashboard, click the Yammer - Any Active Users card and in the top
navigation click Edit report.

2. At the bottom, click the new page icon to create a new page.
3. In the Visualizations area to the right, click the Stacked column chart (top row, second from left).

4. Click the bottom right of that visualization and drag to make it larger.
5. In the Fields area to the right, expand the Calendar table.
6. Drag MonthName to the fields area, directly below the Axis heading in the Visualizations area.
7. In the Fields area to the right, expand the TenantProductUsage table.
8. Drag FirstTimeUsers to the fields area, directly below the Value heading.

9. Drag Product to the Filters area, directly below the Visual level filters heading.
10. In the Filter Type area that appears, select the Yammer check box.

11. Just below the list of visualizations, click the Format icon.
12. Expand Title and change the Title Text value to First-Time Yammer Users by Month.
13. Change the Text Size value to 12.
14. At the top right of the visual, click the Pin visual icon and in the dialog, click Pin > Existing dashboard.
15. At the top of the browser, in the breadcrumb, click the Office 365 Adoption link to return to the
dashboard.
16. Scroll to the bottom of the dashboard to locate the visual you just saved.

Customizing the reports in Power BI Desktop

For most customers modifying the reports and chart visuals in Power BI web will be sufficient. For some however,
there may be a need to join this data with other data sources to gain richer insights contextual to their own
business, in which case they can customize and build additional reports using Power BI Desktop. You can
download Power BI Desktop for free.
Use the reporting APIs
You can start by connecting directly to the ODATA reporting APIs from Office 365 that power these reports.
1. Go to get data > Other > ODATA Feed > Connect.
2. In the URL window enter "https://reports.office.com/pbi/v1.0/<tenantid>"

NOTE
The reporting APIs are in preview and are subject to change until they go into production.

3. Enter your Office 365 (organization or school) admin credentials to authenticate to Office 365 when
prompted.
See the FAQ for more information about who is allowed to access the Office 365 Adoption content pack
reports.
4. Once the connection is authorized, you will see the Navigator window that shows the datasets available to
connect to.
Select all and click on Load.
This will download the data into your Power BI Desktop. Save this file and then you can start creating the
reports you need.
Use the Microsoft 365 usage analytics template
You can also use the Power BI template file that corresponds to the Microsoft 365 usage analytics reports as a
starting point to connect to the data. The advantage of using the pbit file is that it has the connection string
already established. You can also take advantage of all the custom measures that are created, on top of the data
that the base schema returns and build on it further.
You can download the Power BI template file from the Microsoft download center from the Download center.
After you have downloaded the Power BI template file follow these steps to get started:
1. Open the pbit file.
2. Enter your tenant id value in the dialog.

3. Enter your admin credentials to authenticate to Office 365 when prompted.

for more information about who is allowed to access the Microsoft 365 usage analytics reports.
Once authorized, the data will be refreshed in the Power BI file.
Data load may take some time, once complete, you can save the file as a .pbix file and continue to
customize the reports or bring an additional data source into this report.
4. Follow Getting started with Power BI documentation to understand how to build reports, publish them to
the Power BI service, and share with your organization. Following this path for customization and sharing
may require additional Power BI licenses. See Power BI licensing guidance for details.
 Microsoft 365 usage analytics data model
7/5/2019 • 18 minutes to read • Edit Online

Data for the Microsoft 365 usage analytics tables

Microsoft 365 usage analytics connects to an API which exposes a multidimensional data model. The APIs are in
preview and can be accessed at https://reports.office.com/pbi/v1.0/\<tenantid\> (replace the <tenant id> with
your tenant GUID ).

NOTE
For more information, see Working with Office 365 usage reports in Microsoft Graph.

This API provides information about the monthly trend of usage of the various Office 365 services. For the exact
data returned by the API refer to the table in the following section.

Data tables returned by the Office 365 Reporting API

TABLE NAME INFORMATION IN THE TABLE DATE RANGE

Tenant Product Usage Contains monthly totals of enabled, Contains monthly aggregated data for
active users, month-over-month a rolling 12-month period including the
retained users, first time users, and the current partial month.
cumulative active users.

Tenant Product Activity Contains monthly totals of activity and Contains monthly aggregated data for
active user count for various activity a rolling 12-month period including the
within the products. current partial month.
See active user definition for
information about the activities within a
product that are returned in this data
table.

Tenant Office Licenses Contains data about number of Contains end of month state data for a
Microsoft Office subscriptions assigned rolling 12 month period including the
to users current partial month.

Tenant Mailbox Usage Contains data about the user's mailbox, Contains end of month state data for a
in terms of total mailbox count and how rolling 12-month period including the
storage is used. current partial month.

Tenant Client Usage Contains data about the number of Contains monthly aggregated data for
users actively using specific a rolling 12-month period including the
client/devices to connect to Exchange current partial month.
Online, Skype for Business and Yammer.

Tenant SharePoint Online Usage Contains data about the SharePoint Contains end of month state data for a
sites, covering Team or Groups sites rolling 12-month period including the
such as total number of sites, number current partial month.
of documents on site, file count by
activity type and storage used.
 TABLE NAME INFORMATION IN THE TABLE DATE RANGE

Tenant OneDrive for Business Usage Contains data about the OneDrive Contains end of month state data for a
accounts such as number of accounts, rolling 12-month period including the
number of documents across current partial month.
OneDrives, storage used, file count by
activity type.

Tenant Office 365 Groups Usage Contains data about Office 365 Groups Contains end of month state data for a
usage including Mailbox, SharePoint, rolling 12-month period including the
and Yammer. current partial month.

Tenant Office Activation Contains data about number of Office Contains end of month state data for a
subscription activations, count of rolling 12-month period including the
activation per device current partial month.
(Android/iOS/Mac/PC), activations by
service plan, for example, Office Proplus,
Visio, Project.

User State Contains metadata about users, This data is about users that had a
including user display name, products license assigned during the last
assigned, location, department, title, complete month.
company. This data is about users who
were assigned a licenses during the last
complete month . Every user is uniquely
represented by a user id.

User Activity Contains per-user level information This data is about users that performed
about activity performed by licensed an activity in any of the services during
users. the last complete month.
See active user definition for
information about the activities within a
product that are returned in this data
table.

Expand the following sections to see the detailed information for each data table.
Data table - User State
This table provides user level details for all users that have an license assigned to them during the last complete
month. It brings in data from the Azure Active Directory.

COLUMN NAME COLUMN DESCRIPTION

UserId Unique user id that represents a user and enables joining with
other data tables within the data set.

Timeframe Month value for which this table has data for.

UPN User principal name, uniquely identifies the user to be able to

join with other external data sources.

DisplayName User's display name.

IDType Id type is set to 1 if the user is a Yammer user who connects

by using their Yammer ID or 0 if they connect to Yammer by
using their Office 365 ID.
Value is 1 to represent that this users connects to Yammer
with their Yammer id and not their Office 365 id
 COLUMN NAME COLUMN DESCRIPTION

HasLicenseEXO Set to true if user is assigned a license and enabled to use

Exchange.

HasLicenseODB Set to true if user is assigned a license and enabled to use

OneDrive for Business.

HasLicenseSPO Set to true if user is assigned a license and enabled to use

SharePoint Online.

HasLicenseYAM Set to true if user is assigned a license and enabled to use

Yammer.

HasLicenseSFB Set to true if user is assigned a license and enabled to use

Skype For Business.

HasLicenseTeams Set to true if user is assigned a license and enable to use

Microsoft Teams.

Company Company data represented in Azure Active Directory for this

user.

Department Department data represented in Azure Active Directory for

this user.

LocationCity City data represented in Azure Active Directory for this user.

LocationCountry Country data represented in Azure Active Directory for this

user.

LocationState State data represented in Azure Active Directory for this user.

LocationOffice User's office.

Title Title data represented in Azure Active Directory for this user.

Deleted True if the user has been deleted from Office 365 in that last
complete month.

DeletedDate Date when the user was deleted from Office 365.

YAM_State States of the user in the Yammer system, can be active,

deleted or suspended.

YAM_ActivationDate Date the user entered the state of being active in Yammer.

YAM_DeletionDate Date the user entered the state of being deleted in Yammer.

YAM_SuspensionDate Date the user entered the state of being suspended in

Yammer.

Data table - User Activity

This table contains data about each user who had an activity in any of the services in the previous month.
COLUMN NAME COLUMN DESCRIPTION

UserID Unique user id that represents a user and enables joining with
other data tables within the data set.

IDType Id type is set to 1 if the user is a Yammer user who connects

by using their Yammer ID or 0 if they connect to Yammer by
using their Office 365 ID.
Value is 1 to represent that this users connects to Yammer
with their Yammer id and not their Office 365 id

Timeframe Month value for which this table represents data for.

EXO_EmailSent Number of emails sent.

EXO_EmailReceived Number of emails received.

EXO_EmailRead Number of email read activity the user performed, it could be

multiple times reading the an already read email, or an email
received previously.

EXO_AppointmentCreated Number of appointments created.

EXO_MeetingAccepted Number of meetings accepted.

EXO_MeetingCancelled Number of meetings cancelled.

EXO_MeetingDeclined Number of meetings declined.

EXO_MeetingSent Number of meetings sent.

ODB_FileViewedModified Number of files this user interacted with on any OneDrive for
Business (for example, created, updated, deleted, viewed, or
downloaded).

ODB_FileSynched Number of files this user synchronized on any OneDrive for

Business.

ODB_FileSharedInternally Number of files this user shared internally from any OneDrive
for Business, or with users within groups (that might include
external users).

ODB_FileSharedExternally Number of files this user shared externally from any OneDrive
for Business.

ODB_AccessByOwner Number of files the user interacted with that reside on their
own OneDrive for Business.

ODB_AccessOthers Number of files this user interacted with which reside on

another user's OneDrive for Business.

SPO_GroupFileViewedModified Number of files with this user interacted on any group site.

SPO_GroupFileSynched Number of files this user synchronized on any group site.

COLUMN NAME COLUMN DESCRIPTION

SPO_GroupFileSharedInternally The count of files that have been shared with users within the
organization, or with users within groups (that might include
external users).

SPO_GroupFileSharedExternally Number of files this user shared externally from any group
site.

SPO_GroupAccessByOwner Number of files the user interacted with that reside on a

group site that they own.

SPO_GroupAccessByOthers Number of files the user interacted with that reside on a

group site that another user owns.

SPO_OtherFileViewedModified Number of files with which this user interacted on any other
site.

SPO_OtherFileSynched Number of files this user synchronized from any other site.

SPO_OtherFileSharedInternally Number of files this user shared internally from any other site,
or with users within groups (that might include external
users).

SPO_OtherFileSharedExternally Number of files this user shared externally from any other site.

SPO_OtherAccessedByOwner Number of sites the user interacted with that reside on other
site that they own.

SPO_OtherAccessedByOthers Number of sites the user interacted with that reside on other
site that another user owns.

SPO_TeamFileViewedModified Number of files with which this user interacted on any team
site.

SPO_TeamFileSynched Number of files this user synchronized from any team site.

SPO_TeamFileSharedInternally Number of files this user shared internally from any team site,
or with users within groups (that might include external
users).

SPO_TeamFileSharedExternally Number of files this user shared externally from any team site.

SPO_TeamAccessByOwner Number of files the user interacted with that reside on a team
site that they own.

SPO_TeamAccessByOthers Number of files the user interacted with that reside on a team
site that another user owns.

Teams_ChatMessages Number of chat messages sent.

Teams_ChannelMessage Number of messages posted to channels.

Teams_CallParticipate Number of calls the user participated in.

 COLUMN NAME COLUMN DESCRIPTION

Teams_MeetingParticipate Number of meetings the user joined.

Teams_HasOtherAction Boolean value if the user performed other actions in Microsoft

Teams.

YAM_MessagePost Number of Yammer message this user posted.

YAM_MessageLiked Number of Yammer message this user liked.

YAM_MessageRead Number of Yammer message this user read.

SFB_P2PSummary Number of peer-to-peer sessions this user took part in.

SFB_ConfOrgSummary Number of conference sessions this user organized.

SFB_ConfPartSummary Number of conference sessions this user participated in.

Data table - Tenant Product Usage

This table provides month over month adoption data in terms of enable, active, returning and first time users for
each product within Office 365. The Office 365 value represent active usage in either of the products.

COLUMN NAME COLUMN DESCRIPTION

Product Name of products for which the usage information is

summarized. Office 365 value in the product column
represents activity across any of the products

Timeframe Month value. There will be one row per product per month for
the last 12 months including the current partial month.

EnabledUsers Number of users enabled to use the product for the

timeframe value, If a user was enabled for portion of the
month, they are still counted.

ActiveUsers Number of users who performed an intentional activity in the

product for the timeframe value.
A user is counted as active for a product in a particular
month, if they have performed one of the key activities in the
product. The key activities are available in the Tenant Product
Activity table.

CumulativeActiveUsers Number of users who are enabled to use a product and have
used the product up to the timeframe month at least once
since data collection started in the new usage system.

MoMReturningUsers Number of users who are active in the timeframe month and
also were active in the previous month.
 COLUMN NAME COLUMN DESCRIPTION

FirstTimeUsers Number of users who became active in the timeframe for the
first time since data collection in the new usage system.
A user is counted as a first-time user in a particular month, if
we detect their activity for the first time since the beginning of
data collection in this new reporting system. Once counted as
a first time user, even if this user has a big gap in their activity
they will neve be counted again as a first time user

Content Date If timeframe shows current month, this value will represent
the latest date of the current month for which data is
available.
If Timeframe shows previous month, this value will represent
the last date of the timeframe month.

Data table - Tenant Product Activity

This table provides monthly totals of activity and active user count for various activity within the products.

COLUMN NAME COLUMN DESCRIPTION

Timeframe Month value. There will be one row per product per month for
the last 12 months including the current partial month.

Product Name of the product within Office 365 for which usage data is
available.

Activity Name of the activity in a product that is used to showcase

active use of product.

ActivityCount This is the total number of actions counted for each activity
performed within the product across all active users.
Note: For SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business
activities, this value represents the number of distinct
documents with which users interacted with.

ActiveUserCount Number of users who performed the activity within the

product.

TotalDurationInMinute Amount of duration in minutes across all active users who

used audio or video session in an applicable Skype for
Business activity.

Content Date If timeframe shows current month, this value will represent
the latest date of the current month for which data is
available.
If Timeframe shows previous month, this value will represent
the last date of the timeframe month.

Data table - Tenant Mailbox Usage

This table consists of summary data across all licensed Exchange Online users who have a user mailboxes. It
contains end of month state across all user mailboxes. The data in this table is not additive across multiple months.
Latest month's data in this table represents the most recent state.
 COLUMN NAME COLUMN DESCRIPTION

TotalMailboxes Number of user mailboxes for Office 365 subscription.

IssueWarningQuota Total quota for issuing warning across all users mailboxes.

ProhibitSendQuota Total quota for prohibit send across all user mailboxes.

ProhibitSendReceiveQuota Total quota for prohibit send receive quota across all user
mailboxes.

TotalItemBytes Amount of storage used across all user mailboxes in bytes.

MailboxesNoWarning Number of user mailboxes that were under the storage

warning limit.

MailboxesIssueWarning Number of user mailboxes that were issued a warning for

storage quota.

MailboxesExceedSendQuota Number of user mailboxes that have exceeded the send

quota.

MailboxesExceedSendReceiveQuota Number of user mailboxes that have exceeded the

send/receive quota .

DeletedMailboxes Number of users mailboxes deleted in the timeframe.

Timeframe Month value.

Content Date If timeframe shows current month, this value will represent
the latest date of the current month for which data is
available.
If Timeframe shows previous month, this value will represent
the last date of the timeframe month.

Data table - Tenant Client Usage

This table provides month over month summary data about the clients that the users are using to connect to
Exchange Online, Skype for Business and Yammer. This table does not yet have client use data for SharePoint
Online and OneDrive for Business.

COLUMN NAME COLUMN DESCRIPTION

Product Name of the product within Office 365 for which client usage
data is available.

ClientId Name of each device used to connect to product.

UserCount Number of users that used each of the clients for each
product.

Timeframe Month value

 COLUMN NAME COLUMN DESCRIPTION

Content Date If timeframe shows current month, this value will represent
the latest date of the current month for which data is
available.
If Timeframe shows previous month, this value will represent
the last date of the timeframe month.

Data table - Tenant SharePoint Online Usage

This table consists of month over month summary data about the usage or activity of SharePoint Online sites. This
only covers Team Sites and Group sites. The end of month state of SharePoint Online sites is represented in this
column, for example, if a user created a 5 documents and used 10 MB for total storage , and then deleted some
files, and added more files so that at the end of month state for files is 7 total that use 5MB of storage, the value of
represented in this table is end of month state. This table is hidden to avoid duplicate count of aggregations and is
used as a source to create two reference tables.

COLUMN NAME COLUMN DESCRIPTION

SiteType Site type value (any/team/group) (any represents either of

these 2 sites types).

TotalSites Number of sites that existed at the end of the timeframe.

DocumentCount Total number of documents that existed on the site at the end
of the timeframe.

DiskQuota Total allocated storage quota summed across all sites at the
end of the timeframe.

Diplansed Total storage used summed across all sites at the end of the
timeframe.

ActivityType Number of sites that recorded the various types of file activity
(any/active files/ files shared EXT/INT/files synched).
Any represents any of the file activity was performed.

SitesWithOwnerActivities Number of active sites, where the site owner performed a

particular file activity on their own sites.

SitesWithNonOwnerActivities Number of active sites summed up for the month, where the
users other than the site owner performed a particular file
activity on sites.

ActivityTotalSites Number of sites that recorded any activity during the

timeframe. If a site that had activity earlier in the timeframe,
and was deleted by the end of the timeframe, it would still be
counted in the active site total for that timeframe.

Timeframe This column has the date value. Used as Many to one
relationship for Calendar table.

Content Date If timeframe shows current month, this value will represent
the latest date of the current month for which data is
available.
If Timeframe shows previous month, this value will represent
the last date of the timeframe month.
Data table - Tenant OneDrive Usage
This table provides data about the OneDrive accounts such as number of accounts, number of documents across
OneDrive accounts, storage used, file count by activity type. The end of month state of OneDrive for Business
accounts is represented in this table. For example, if a user created a 5 documents that used 10 MB of storage, and
then deleted a few and added more files so that at the end of month he has 7 files that use 5 MB of storage, then
the end of the month value is represented in this table at the end of the month.

COLUMN NAME COLUMN DESCRIPTION

SiteType Value is "OneDrive".

TotalSites Number of OneDrive for Business accounts that existed at the

end of the timeframe.

DocumentCount Total number of documents that existed across all OneDrive

for Business accounts at the end of the timeframe

DiskQuota Total allocated storage quota summed across all OneDrive for
Business accounts at the end of the timeframe.

Diplansed Total storage used summed across all OneDrive account at

the end of the timeframe .

ActivityType Number of accounts that recorded the various types of file

activity (any/active files/ files shared EXT/INT/files synched).
Any represents any of the file activity was performed

SitesWithOwnerActivities Number of active OneDrive for Business accounts, where the

account owner performed a particular file activity on their own
account.

SitesWithNonOwnerActivities Count of OneDrive for Business accounts where file activity

was performed by users other than the owner of the account.

ActivityTotalSites Number of OneDrive for Business accounts that recorded any

activity during the timeframe. If a OneDrive for Business
account had activity earlier in the timeframe, and was deleted
by the end of the timeframe, it would still be counted in the
active OneDrive for Business account for that timeframe.

Timeframe This column has the date value. Used as Many to one
relationship for Calendar table.

Content Date If timeframe shows current month, this value will represent
the latest date of the current month for which data is
available.
If Timeframe shows previous month, this value will represent
the last date of the timeframe month.

Data table - Tenant Office 365 Groups Usage

This table provides data about how Office 365 Groups is used across the organization.

COLUMN NAME COLUMN DESCRIPTION

COLUMN NAME COLUMN DESCRIPTION

TimeFrame Month value. There will be one row per product per month for
the last 12 months including the current partial month.

GroupType Type of group (private/public/any).

TotalGroups Number of groups in each group type.

ActiveGroups Number of active groups.

MBX_TotalGroups Number of mailbox groups.

MBX_ActiveGroups Number of active mailbox groups.

MBX_TotalActivities Number of mailbox activities.

MBX_TotalItems Number of mailbox items.

MBX_StorageUsed Quantity of mailbox storage used.

SPO_TotalGroups Number of SharePoint groups.

SPO_ActiveGroups Number of active SharePoint groups.

SPO_FileAccessedActiveGroups Number of SharePoint groups which have file accessed

activities.

SPO_FileSyncedActiveGroups Number of SharePoint groups which have file synchronized

activities.

SPO_FileSharedInternallyActiveGroups Number of SharePoint groups which have shared activities

internally, or with groups (that might include external users).

SPO_FileSharedExternallyActiveGroups Number of SharePoint groups which have shared externally

activities.

SPO_TotalActivities Number of SharePoint activities.

SPO_FileAccessedActivities Number of SharePoint file accessed activities.

SPO_FileSyncedActivities Number of SharePoint file synchronized activities.

SPO_FileSharedInternallyActivities Number of SharePoint file shared activities internally, or with

groups (that might include external members).

SPO_FileSharedExternallyActivities Number of SharePoint file shared externally activities.

SPO_TotalFiles Number of SharePoint files.

SPO_ActiveFiles Number of active SharePoint files.

SPO_StorageUsed Quantity of SharePoint storage used.

 COLUMN NAME COLUMN DESCRIPTION

YAM_TotalGroups Number of Yammer groups.

YAM_ActiveGroups Number of active Yammer groups.

YAM_LikedActiveGroups Number of Yammer groups which have like activities.

YAM_PostedActiveGroups Number of Yammer groups which have post activities.

YAM_ReadActiveGroups Number of Yammer groups which have read activities.

YAM_TotalActivities Number of Yammer activities.

YAM_LikedActivities Number of Yammer like activities.

YAM_PostedActivties Number of Yammer post activities.

YAM_ReadActivites Number of Yammer read activities.

Data table - Tenant Office Activation

The table provides data about the number of Office subscription activations across the service plans, for example,
Office Proplus, Visio, Project. It also provides data about number of activations per device (Android/iOS/Mac/PC ).

COLUMN NAME COLUMN DESCRIPTION

ServicePlanName List of the service plan name values and counts of activations
by devices, as depicted by below columns.

TotalEnabled Number of users enabled per service plan name by the end of
the timeframe.

TotalActivatedUsers Number of users that have activated each service plan t by

the end of the timeframe.

AndroidCount Number of activations per service plan for Android device by

the end of the timeframe.

iOSCount Number of activations per service plan for iOS device by the
end of the timeframe.

MacCount Number of activations per service plan for MAC device by the
end of the timeframe.

PcCount Number of activations per service plan for PC device by the

end of the timeframe.

WinRtCount Number of activations per service plan for Windows Mobile

device by the end of the timeframe.

Timeframe This column has the date value. Used as Many to one
relationship for Calendar table.
COLUMN NAME COLUMN DESCRIPTION

Content Date If timeframe shows current month, this value will represent
the latest date of the current month for which data is
available.
If Timeframe shows previous month, this value will represent
the last date of the timeframe month.
 Troubleshooting Microsoft 365 usage analytics
9/27/2019 • 4 minutes to read • Edit Online

Explore the following list of error messages to get help with the most common issues with Microsoft 365 usage
analytics.

We are unable to process your request. You have to first subscribe to

this data from the Microsoft 365 admin center
Error Code : 422
Where you will see this message: In Power BI when you are connecting to the Office 365 Adoption public
preview content pack or when directly calling the Office 365 Reporting APIs.
Cause: Before you can connect to the content pack you have to subscribe to the data from the Microsoft 365
admin center. If this step isn't done first, you won't be able to connect to the content pack, even if you provide your
Office 365 tenant id.
To fix this error: To subscribe to the data, go to the admin center > Reports > Usage and locate the Office 365
Adoption tile on the main dashboard page. Select the Get started button and then in the Reports pane that opens,
turn the Make data available to the Office 365 Adoption content pack for Power BI setting on and Save.

We are processing your data

Where you will see this message: In the Office 365 Adoption tile on the Usage dashboard in the Microsoft
365 admin center.
Cause: When you opt in to seeing data in the content pack from the Microsoft 365 admin center, the Office 365
system starts generating historical usage data for your organization. Depending on the size of your tenant, this step
could take anywhere between 2 hours to 48 hours.
To fix this: Just be patient, but if the message does not change to Your data is ready after 3 days, contact Office
365 for business support.

We are unable to process your request at this time. We are still

preparing the data for your organization
Error Code: 423
Where you will see this message: In Power BI when you are connecting to the Office 365 Adoption public
preview content pack or when directly calling the Office 365 Reporting APIs.
Cause: When you opt in to seeing data in the content pack from the admin center, the Office 365 system starts
generating historical usage data for your organization. Depending on the size of your tenant, this step could take
anywhere between 2 hours to 48 hours.
To fix this: Just be patient, but if the message does not change to Your data is ready even 3 days since initiation,
contact Office 365 for business support.

The tenant ID you provided is not in the correct format

Error Code: 400
Where you will see this message: In Power BI when you are connecting to the Office 365 Adoption public
preview content pack or when directly calling the Office 365 Reporting APIs.
Cause: The tenant id is a guid and has to be in the format of xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx. If you enter any
other string in the tenant input box you will get this error.
To fix this error: Go to the admin center > Reports > Usage and locate the Office 365 Adoption tile on the main
dashboard page. The tenant id is listed on the tile. You can copy it from here and paste it in the dialog box for
connecting to the content pack.

The tenant ID you provided is not recognized by our system

Error Code: 404
Where you will see this message: In Power BI when you are connecting to the Office 365 Adoption public
preview content pack or when directly calling the Office 365 Reporting APIs.
Cause: The tenant id you provided is not valid or does not exist.
To fix this error: Go to the admin center > Reports > Usage and locate the Office 365 Adoption tile on the main
dashboard page. The tenant id is listed on the tile. You can copy it from here and paste it in the dialog box for
connecting to the content pack.

Please re-enter your credentials to sign in to Power BI again

Error Code: 302
Where you will see this message: In Power BI when you are connecting to the Office 365 Adoption public
preview content pack or when directly calling the Office 365 Reporting APIs.
Cause: The authorization code failed and may require you to enter your credentials again.
To fix this error: Sign out of Power BI, and then sign in again.

You do not have the right authorization to access to this data. To be

able to gain access to the data from this service you need to be either a
global admin or any one of the product admins
Error Code: 403
Where you will see this message: In Power BI when you are connecting to the Office 365 Adoption public
preview content pack or when directly calling the Office 365 Reporting APIs.
Cause: The authorization code failed because the user who tried connecting to the content pack does not have the
right level of authorization to access this data.
To fix this error: Provide the credentials of a user who is either a global administrator, Exchange
administrator, Skype for Business administrator, or a SharePoint administrator to connect to the content
pack. See About admin roles for more information.

Refresh failed
Where you will see this message: Email from Power BI or failed status in the refresh history.
Cause: Sometimes the credentials of the user who connected to the content pack are reset, and not updated in the
connection settings of the content pack causing the user to see refresh failure errors.
To fix this error: In Power BI, find the dataset corresponding to the Office 365 Adoption dashboard (Office 365
Adoption_preview.pbix), select schedule refresh and provide your admin credentials.
If that doesn't work, clear the cache, and re-create the content pack.
Quick links for the most common admin tasks in Office 365.

Add a user

I forgot my username or password

Remove a former employee

Find and fix domain or DNS issues

Cancel your subscription

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Add a new employee
Fix email messages when they won't send
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Get the OneDrive sync client and mobile apps
Sync files with the OneDrive sync client in Windows
Manage sharing in OneDrive and SharePoint
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 Change your contact preferences for communications
from Microsoft
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

Use the Contact preferences page to update your organizations's contact information, and choose the type of
Office 365 product-related communications that you want to receive.
Read Update your admin phone number and email address in Office 365 for info on how to change your admin
cellular phone number and email address.
If you're looking for how to change company profile information, such as organization's name and address,
primary company phone number, and technical contact information, see Change your organization's address,
technical contact email, and other information.

To update your information

1. In the admin center, select the Settings icon in the top right of the header.
2. Select Office 365 under Your app settings.
3. Select Security & privacy and then Contact preferences.
4. Choose the types of product-related communications you want to receive.
5. Type the business phone, business mobile phone, or business email where you want to receive these
communications.
You can use any email address, including your Office 365 email address, to receive these communications. If
you don't add an email address for contact preferences, your alternate email address (on the Personal info
page) will be used.
For Office 365 Enterprise, Office 365 Business Premium, and Office 365 Business Essentials, when you first signed
up as an admin for Office 365, depending on the country or region of the users in your organization, your users
might be automatically signed up to receive product-related communications.
For Office 365 Small Business, depending on your country or region, you may have been automatically signed up
to receive product-related communications. Admins are the only ones who can sign up for compliance
notifications.
For answers to billing questions, see:
Change your billing addresses for Office 365 for business
Add, update, or remove a credit card or bank account in Office 365 for business
 Change your organization's address, technical
contact, and more
8/8/2019 • 3 minutes to read • Edit Online

You can make changes to your organization profile, such as your organization name, address, phone, and technical
contact. You must be a global admin to update this information.
To change the address associated with your bill or subscription, see Change your billing addresses for Office 365
for business.

Edit organization information

IMPORTANT
You can't change the country or region for your subscription. That's because the country or region where your organization
is headquartered determines which services are available to you, the taxes and billing currency, and the location of the data
center. To change your organization's country or region, sign up for a new account, choose the desired country or region,
and purchase a new subscription.

To change other information on your company's profile page:

1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Organization profile page, or select your organization's name at
the top of the page.
2. Select Edit beside your organization's name.
3. Update your organization's information and select Save.
An explanation of each field is provided below.

What do these fields mean?

FIELD DESCRIPTION

Name The name entered here is what users will see on the following
pages:
Sign-in page: If your users have set up other Microsoft
accounts with their business or school email address, they
may see the organization name on the sign-in page. This
helps them distinguish between their work or school account
and their other accounts, so they can identify which one to
use when they sign in.
Organization profile link and page: The link to your
organization's profile displays the organization name.
Yammer navigation: In Yammer, the left navigation uses the
organization name as the name of the home Yammer
network.
OneDrive sync client: The organization name is shown in File
Explorer on Windows and Finder on Mac, the file paths, the
OneDrive activity center, the tooltip of the OneDrive cloud
icon, and the OneDrive settings window. Currently, updating
the organization name does not update it for configured
clients.
 FIELD DESCRIPTION

Address, City, State/Province, Postal code The address entered here is what you will see on your bill,
under Sold To: The Sold To address on your bill is the same as
your organization address on your profile page (see
Understand my bill for Office 365 for business).

Country or region This is the country or region where the company is

headquartered. The selected country or region determines
which services are available to you, the taxes and billing
currency for your country or region, and the location of the
data center closest to you (see Microsoft Office license
restrictions).
NOTE: Once selected, the country or region cannot be
changed. If you want to change the selection, you'll have to
cancel your subscription and sign up again. For help with this
process, contact support.

Phone This is the primary number for your company. It's usually the
number of your company headquarters.

Technical contact This is the email address for the primary technical person who
administers your Office 365 subscription. This is the person
who will receive communications about Office 365 service
status.

Preferred language The preferred language determines the language for all
communications that are sent from Microsoft to your
organization. When you sign up, this setting determines the
language used by SharePoint Online, which your users see on
your team site. If you change the language preference setting
after you sign up, all future communications are sent in the
most recent language selected.
NOTE: The language used by SharePoint Online can't be
changed.

Change your profile and email signature

Admin info
If you're an admin and want to change your alternate email address for resetting passwords or business email
address, go to Settings and under Your app settings, select Office 365.
User info
If you're a user and want to change your individual language preference, go to Settings > Office 365 settings.
For more information, see Change your contact preferences or Change your display language.
Email signatures
You can change your email signature in Outlook Web App. For more information, see Mail settings.
 Update your admin phone number and email address
in Office 365
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

This article explains how you, the admin, can change your business phone and email address in Office 365.
If you're looking for how to change your company's profile information, such as company name and address,
company phone number, and technical contact information, see Change your organization's address, technical
contact email, and other information.

To update your name, phone number, and email address

Use the Personal info page to change your name, mobile phone number, and alternate email address. The
alternate email address is used for important notifications, such as resetting your admin password (not your
computer admin password).
1. Browse to the Microsoft 365 admin center.
2. In the header, select your profile icon > My account > Personal info.
3. In the Contact details section, select Edit. Update your mobile, phone, and alternate email address. Make
sure you use something different from your Office 365 email address for your alternate email address.
IMPORTANT: The alternate email address and the mobile phone number are needed for resetting your
admin password (not your computer admin password).
4. When you are finished, select Save.
For answers to billing questions, see:
Change your billing addresses for Office 365 for business
Add, update, or remove a credit card or bank account in Office 365 for business
 Set the password expiration policy for your
organization
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

This article is for people who set password expiration policy for a business, school, or nonprofit.
If you're a user, you don't have the permissions to set your password to never expire. Ask your work or school
technical support to do the steps in this article for you.
As an admin, you can make user passwords expire after a certain number of days, or set passwords to never
expire.

TIP
By default, passwords are set to never expire. Current research strongly indicates that mandated password changes do more
harm than good. They drive users to choose weaker passwords, re-use passwords, or update old passwords in ways that are
easily guessed by hackers.

IMPORTANT
Only Office 365 global admins can perform these steps.

1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Security & privacy page. If you aren't an Office 365 global admin,
you won't see the Security and privacy option.
2. Next to Password policy, select Edit.
3. If you don't want users to have to change passwords, set Passwords never expire to On.

4. If you want user passwords to expire, in the first box type how often passwords should expire. Choose a
number of days from 14 to 730.

5. In the second box type when users are notified that their password will expire, and then select Save. Choose
 a number of days from 1 to 30.
6. When the user's password expires, they'll get a notification that appears in the lower right corner of their
screen.

Important things you need to know about the password expiration

feature
Here are some things to know about how this feature currently works as of January 2018:
People who only use the Outlook app won't be forced to reset their Office 365 password until it expires in
the cache. This can be several days after the actual expiration date. There's no workaround for this at the
admin level.
Users do not get an email notification that their password is going to expire in X number of days. Do you
want this feature? Vote here!

Prevent last password from being used again

If you want to prevent your users from recycling old passwords, you can do so in Azure AD. See Password policies
and restrictions in Azure Active Directory.
In addition, if an employee used a mobile device to access Office 365, you can wipe it to ensure the password is no
longer stored and recycled from there. To learn more, see Wipe and block a former employee's mobile device.

Synchronize user passwords hashes from an on-premises Active

Directory to Azure AD (Office 365)
This article is for setting the expiration policy for cloud-only users (Azure AD ). It doesn't apply to hybrid identity
users who use password hash sync, pass-through authentication or on-premises federation like ADFS.
To learn how to synchronize user password hashes from on premises AD to Azure AD, see Implement password
hash synchronization with Azure AD Connect sync.
 Add custom tiles to the app launcher
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

In Office 365, you can quickly and easily get to your email, calendars, documents, and apps using the Office 365
app launcher (learn more). These are apps you get with Office 365 as well as custom apps that you add from the
SharePoint Store or Azure AD.
You can add your own custom tiles to the app launcher that point to SharePoint sites, external sites, legacy apps,
and more. The custom tile appears under the app launcher's All apps, but you can pin it to the Home apps and
instruct your users to do the same. This makes it easy to find the relevant sites, apps, and resources to do your job.
In the below example, a custom tile called "Contoso Portal" is used to access an organization's SharePoint intranet
site.

Add a custom tile to the app launcher

1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Organization profile page.
2. On the Organization profile page, next to Add custom tiles for your organization, select Edit.

NOTE: If you don't see the custom tiles option, verify that you have an Exchange Online mailbox assigned to
you and you've successfully signed into your mailbox. Both are required for this feature.
3. Select Add a custom tile.
4. Enter a Tile name for the new tile. The name will appear in the tile.
5. Enter a URL for the tile. This is the location where you want your users to go when they select the tile on the
app launcher. Use HTTPS in the URL.
TIP: If you're creating a tile for a SharePoint site, navigate to that site, copy the URL, and paste it here. The
URL of your default team site looks like this: https://<company_name>.sharepoint.com
6. Enter a Description for the tile. You see this when you select the tile on the My apps page and select App
details.
7. Enter an Image URL for the tile. The image appears on the My apps page and app launcher.
TIP: The image should be 60x60 pixels and be available to everyone in your organization without requiring
authentication.
8. Select Save to create the custom tile.
Your custom tile now appears in the app launcher on the All tab for you and your users.

Promote the tile to App Launcher

1. Select the app launcher icon and select the All apps.
2. Locate the new tile for your app, select the ellipsis, and choose Pin to launcher.

NOTE
If you don't see the custom tile created in the previous steps, make sure you have an Exchange Online mailbox
assigned to you and you've signed into your mailbox at least once. These steps are required for custom tiles in Office
365.

IMPORTANT
Both you and your users need to perform these steps to promote custom tiles from the My apps page to the app launcher.

Edit or delete a custom tile

1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Organization profile page.
2. On the Organization profile page, next to Add custom tiles for your organization, select Edit.
3. Update the Tile name, URL, Description, or Image URL for the custom tile (see Add a custom tile to the
app launcher).
4. Select Update > Close.
To delete a custom tile, from the Custom tiles window, select the tile, select Remove tile > Delete.

What's next?
In addition to adding tiles to the app launcher, you can add app launcher tiles to the Office 365 navigation bar
(learn more). To customize the look and feel of Office 365 to match your organization's brand, see Customize the
Office 365 theme.
 Determine if Centralized Deployment of add-ins
works for your organization
8/13/2019 • 5 minutes to read • Edit Online

Centralized Deployment is the recommended and most feature-rich way for most customers to deploy Office add-
ins to users and groups within your Office 365 organization. If you're an admin, use this guidance to determine if
your tenant and users meet the requirements so that you can use Centralized Deployment. Centralized
Deployment supports Windows, Mac and Office Clients. It can take up to 24 hours for an add-in to show up for
client for all users.

Requirements
Centralized deployment of add-ins requires that the users are using Office 365 ProPlus (and are signed into Office
using their Organizational ID ), and have Exchange Online and active Exchange Online mailboxes. Your
subscription'd directory must either be in, or federated to Azure Active Directory. You can view specific
requirements for Office and Exchange below, or use the Office 365 Centralized Deployment Compatibility
Checker.
Centralized Deployment doesn't support the following:
Add-ins that target Word, Excel, or PowerPoint in Office 2013
An on-premises directory service
Add-in deployment to SharePoint
Add-in deployment to Office Online Server
Teams apps
Deployment of Component Object Model (COM ) or Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO ) add-ins
Deployments of Office 365 that do not include Exchange such as Office 365 Business
Office Requirements
For Word, Excel, and PowerPoint add-ins, your users must be using one of the following:
On a Windows device, Version 1704 or later of Office 365 ProPlus.
On a Mac, Version 15.34 or later.
For Outlook, your users must be using one of the following:
Version 1701 or later of Office 365 ProPlus.
Version 1808 or later of Office Professional Plus 2019 or Office Standard 2019.
Version 16.0.4494.1000 or later of Office Professional Plus 2016 (MSI) or Office Standard 2016
(MSI)*
Version 15.0.4937.1000 or later of Office Professional Plus 2013 (MSI) or Office Standard 2013
(MSI)*
*MSI versions of Outlook show admin-installed add-ins in the appropriate Outlook ribbon, not the
"My add-ins" section.
Find out if Office 365 ProPlus is installed
To use Office 365 ProPlus, a user must have an Office 365 account and must have been assigned a license. For
more information, see Overview of Office 365 ProPlus.
The simplest way to detect if a user has Office 365 ProPlus installed and has been using it recently is to use the
Microsoft Office Activations report, which is available in the Microsoft 365 admin center. The report provides a list
of all users who have activated Office 365 ProPlus within the last 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, or 180 days. For
centralized deployment purposes, the desktop activations for Windows or Mac are the important columns in the
report. You can export the report to Excel. For more information about the report, see Office 365 Reports in the
Admin Center - Microsoft Office activations.
If you don't want to use the Activations report, you can ask a user to open an Office application such as Word on
their machine, and then choose File > Account. Under Product Information, you should see Subscription
Product and Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus, as shown in the following image.

For help with Office 365 ProPlus, see Troubleshooting tips for Office 365 ProPlus.
Exchange requirements
Microsoft Exchange stores the add-in manifests within your organization's tenant. The admin deploying add-ins
and the users receiving those add-ins must be on a version of Exchange Server that supports OAuth
authentication. By default, Exchange Multi-Tenant and Dedicated VNext deployments support OAuth. Exchange
Dedicated Legacy and hybrid on-premises deployments can be configured to support OAuth; however, it isn't the
default configuration.
Check with your organization's Exchange admin to find out which configuration is in use. OAuth connectivity per
user can be verified by using the Test-OAuthConnectivity PowerShell cmdlet.
Office 365 Centralized Deployment Compatibility Checker
Using the Office 365 Centralized Deployment Compatibility Checker, you can verify whether the users on your
tenant are set up to use Centralized Deployment for Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The Compatibility Checker is not
required for Outlook support. Download the compatibility checker here.
Run the compatibility checker
1. Start an elevated PowerShell.exe window.
2. Run the following command:

Import-Module O365CompatibilityChecker

3. Run the Invoke-CompatabilityCheck command:

Invoke-CompatibilityCheck

which prompts you for TenantDomain (for example, TailspinToysIncorporated.onmicrosoft.com) and TenantAdmin
credentials (use your global admin credentials), and then requests consent.
 NOTE
Depending on the number of users in your tenant, the checker could complete in minutes or hours.

When the tool finishes running, it produces an output file in comma-separated (.csv) format. The file is saved to
C:\windows\system32 by default. The output file contains the following information:
User Name
User ID (User's email address)
Centralized Deployment ready - If the remaining items are true
Office plan - The plan of Office they are licensed for
Office Activated - If they have activated Office
Supported Mailbox - If they are on an OAuth-enabled mailbox

User and group assignments

The Centralized Deployment feature currently supports the majority of groups supported by Azure Active
Directory, including Office 365 Groups, distribution lists, and security groups.

NOTE
Non-mail enabled security groups are not currently supported.

Centralized Deployment supports assignments to individual users, groups, and everyone in the tenant. Centralized
Deployment supports users in top-level groups or groups without parent groups, but not users in nested groups
or groups that have parent groups.
Take a look at the following example where Sandra, Sheila, and the Sales Department group are assigned to an
add-in. Because the West Coast Sales Department is a nested group, Bert and Fred aren't assigned to an add-in.

Find out if a group contains nested groups

The easiest way to detect if a group contains nested groups is to view the group contact card within Outlook. If you
enter the group name within the To field of an email and then select the group name when it resolves, it will show
you if it contains users or nested groups. In the example below, the Members tab of the Outlook contact card for
the Test Group shows no users and only two sub groups.
You can do the opposite query by resolving the group to see if it's a member of any group. In the example below,
you can see under the Membership tab of the Outlook contact card that Sub Group 1 is a member of the Test
Group.

Alternately, you can use the Azure Active Directory Graph API to run queries to find the list of groups within a
group. For more information, see Operations on groups | Graph API reference.
Contacting Microsoft for support
If you or your users encounter problems loading the add-in while using Office apps for the web (Word, Excel, etc.),
which were centrally deployed, you may need to contact Microsoft support (learn how ). Provide the following
information about your Office 365 environment in the support ticket.

PLATFORM DEBUG INFORMATION

Office Charles/Fiddler logs

Tenant ID ( learn how)
CorrelationID. View the source of one of the office pages and
look for the Correlation ID value and send it to support:
<input name=" **wdCorrelationId**" type="hidden"
value=" **{BC17079E-505F-3000-C177-26A8E27EB623}**">
<input name="user_id" type="hidden"
value="1003bffd96933623"></form>

Rich clients (Windows, Mac) Charles/Fiddler logs

Build numbers of the client app (preferably as a screenshot
from File/Account)
 Manage deployment of Office 365 add-ins in the
Microsoft 365 admin center
8/26/2019 • 11 minutes to read • Edit Online

Office add-ins help you personalize your documents and streamline the way you access information on the web
(see Start using your Office Add-in). As an admin, you can deploy Office add-ins for the users in your organization.
You can do this using the Centralized Deployment feature in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
Centralized Deployment is the recommended and most feature-rich way for most admins to deploy add-ins to
users and groups within an organization. For more information on how to determine if your organization can
support Centralized Deployment, see Determine if Centralized Deployment of add-ins works for your Office 365
organization.
Centralized Deployment provides the following benefits:
A Global admin can assign an add-in directly to a user, to multiple users via a group, or to everyone in the
tenant.
When the relevant Office application starts, the add-in automatically downloads for the user. If the add-in
supports add-in commands, the add-in automatically appears in the Ribbon within the Office application.
Add-ins will no longer appear for users if the admin turns off or deletes the add-in, or if the user is removed
from Azure Active Directory or from a group that the add-in is assigned to.

NOTE
For Word, Excel and PowerPoint use a SharePoint App Catalog to deploy add-ins to users in an on-premises environment
with no connection to Office 365 and/or support for SharePoint add-ins required. > For Outlook use Exchange control panel
to deploy in an on-premises environment without a connection to Office 365. >

Recommended approach for deploying Office add-ins

Consider rolling out add-ins in a phased approach to help ensure your add-in deployment goes smoothly. We
recommend the following plan:
1. Roll-out the add-in to a small set of business stakeholders and members of the IT department. Evaluate if
the deployment was successful, and if so, move on to step 2.
2. Roll-out to a larger set of individuals within the business who will be using the add-in. Again, evaluate
results and, if all went well, go to the next step of a full deployment.
3. Full rollout to target audience of users.
Depending on the size of the target audience, you may want to add or remove roll-out steps.

Deploy an Office add-in using the admin center

Before you begin, see Determine if Centralized Deployment of add-ins works for your Office 365 organization.
1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Services & add-ins page.
2. Select Deploy Add-in at the top of the page. On the overview page, select Next.
3. Select an option and follow the instructions.
4. If you selected the option to add an add-in from the Office Store, you can now make your add-in selection.
Notice that you can view available add-ins via categories of Suggested for you, Rating, or Name. Only
free add-ins are available to add from the Office Store. Paid add-ins aren't supported currently. Once you've
selected your add-in, you will need to agree to some additional terms and conditions in order to proceed.

NOTE: With the Office Store option, updates and enhancements to the add-in will automatically be made
available to users without your intervention.
5. On the next page, select Everyone, Specific users/groups or Just me to specify who the add-in is
deployed to. Use the Search box to find the users or groups who you want to deploy the add-in to.
NOTE: Learn about the other states that apply to an add-in. See Add-in states later in this topic.
6. Select Deploy.
7. A green tick will appear when the add-in has been deployed. You can follow the on-page instructions to test
that the add-in has deployed successfully.

NOTE
Users may need to relaunch Office to see the add-in icon appear on the ribbon of app. Outlook add-ins can take up to 12
hours to appear on users' ribbons.

8. When finished, select Next. If you've deployed to just yourself, you can select Change who has access to add-
in in order to deploy to more users.
If you've deployed the add-in to members of your orgnization other than yourself, follow the instructions displayed
in order to effectively announce the deployment of the add-in.
You now see your add-in along with other apps in Office 365.
It's a good idea to inform the users and groups who you deployed the add-in to so that they know that it's
available. Consider sending an email to them that describes when and how to use the add-in and explains how the
add-in can help them do their job better. Include or link to relevant Help content or FAQs that might help if users
have any problems with the add-in.
Considerations when assigning an add-in to users and groups
Admins can assign an add-in to everyone or to specific users and groups. Each option has implications:
Everyone: As the name implies, this option assigns the add-in to every user in the tenant. Use this option
sparingly and only for add-ins that are truly universal to your organization.
Users: If you assign an add-in to an individual user, then to deploy the add-in to a new user, you will need to
first add that user. The same goes for removing users.
Groups: If you assign an add-in to a group, users who are added to the group will automatically be assigned
the add-in. And, when a user is removed from a group, the user loses access to the add-in. In either case, no
additional action is required from you as the admin.
Just me: If you assign an add-in to just yourself, this assigns the add-in to only your account. This is ideal if
you wish to test out the add-in first.
The option that is right for your organization depends on your configuration. However, we recommend making
assignments via groups. As an admin, you might find it easier to manage add-ins using groups and control the
membership of those groups rather than having to change the users assigned each time. On the other hand, in
some situations, you may want to restrict access to a very small set of users and therefore make assignments to
specific users. As a result, you will need to manage the assigned users manually.
Add-in states
An add-in can either be in the On or Off state.

STATE HOW THE STATE OCCURS IMPACT

Active Admin uploaded the add-in and Users and groups assigned to the add-
assigned it to users or groups. in see it in the relevant clients.

Turned off Admin turned off the add-in. Users and groups assigned to the add-
in no longer have access to it.
If the add-in state is changed to Active,
the users and groups will have access to
it again.

Deleted Admin deleted the add-in. Users and groups assigned the add-in
no longer have access to it.

Consider deleting an add-in if no one is using it any more. Turning off an add-in may make sense if an add-in is
used only during specific times of the year.
Security of Office add-ins
Office add-ins combine an XML manifest file that contains some metadata about the add-in, but most importantly
points to a web application which contains all the code and logic. Add-ins can range in their capabilities. For
example, add-ins can:
Display data.
Read a user's document to provide contextual services.
Read and write data to and from a user's document to provide value to that user.
For more information about the types and capabilities of Office add-ins, see Office Add-ins platform overview,
especially the section "Anatomy of an Office Add-in."
To interact with the user's document, the add-in needs to declare what permission it needs in the manifest. A five-
level JavaScript API access-permissions model provides the basis for privacy and security for users of task pane
add-ins. The majority of the add-ins in the Office Store are level ReadWriteDocument with almost all add-ins
supporting at least the ReadDocument level. For more information about the permission levels, see Requesting
permissions for API use in content and task pane add-ins.
When updating a manifest, the typical changes are to an add-in's icon and text. Occasionally, add-in commands
change. However, the permissions of the add-in do not change. The web application where all the code and logic
for the add-in runs can change at any time, which is the nature of web applications.
Updates for add-ins happen as follows:
Line-of-business add-in: In this case, where an admin explicitly uploaded a manifest, the add-in requires
that the admin upload a new manifest file to support metadata changes. The next time the relevant Office
applications start, the add-in will update. The web application can change at any time.
Office Store add-in: When an admin selected an add-in from the Office Store, if an add-in updates in the
Office Store, the add-in will update later in Centralized Deployment. The next time the relevant Office
applications start, the add-in will update. The web application can change at any time.
Prevent add-in downloads by turning off the Office Store across all clients (Except Outlook)
 NOTE
Outlook add-in installation is managed by a different process.

As an organization you may wish to prevent the download of new Office add-ins from the Office Store. This can be
used in conjunction with Centralized Deployment to ensure that only organization-approved add-ins are deployed
to users within your organization.
To turn off add-in acquisition:
1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Services & add-ins page.
2. Select User owned apps and services.
3. Clear the option to let users access the Office store.
This will prevent all users from acquiring the following add-ins from the store.
Add-ins for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2016 from:
Windows
Mac
Office
iOS
Acquisitions starting within AppSource
Add-ins within Office 365
A user who tries to access the store will see the following message: Sorry, Office 365 has been configured to
prevent individual acquisition of Office Store add-ins.
Support for turning off the Office Store is available in the following versions:
Windows: 16.0.9001 - Currently available.
Mac: 16.10.18011401 - Currently available.
iOS: 2.9.18010804 - Currently available.
The web - Currently available.
This does not prevent an administrator from using Centralized Deployment to assign an add-in from the Office
Store.
To prevent a user from signing in with a Microsoft account, you can restrict logon to use only the organizational
account. For more information, look here.

Minors and acquiring add-ins from the Store

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR ) is a European Union regulation that becomes effective May 25,
2018. It gives users rights to and protection of their data. One of the aspects of the GDPR is that minors cannot
have their personal data sent to parties that their parent or guardian hasn't approved. The specific age defined as a
minor depends on the region where the individual is located.
Regions that have statutory regulations about parental consent include the United States, South Korea, the United
Kingdom, and the European Union. For those regions, a minor will be blocked (via Azure Active Directory) from
getting any new Office add-ins from the Store and running add-ins that were previously acquired. For countries
without statutory regulations, there will be no download restrictions.
A user is determined to be a minor based on data specified in Azure Active Directory. The tenant admin is
responsible for declaring the legal age group and the parental consent for that user.
If the parent/guardian consents to a minor using a specific add-In, then the tenant admin can use centralized
deployment to deploy that add-In to all minors who have consent.
To be GDPR compliant for minors you need to ensure that one of following builds of Office is deployed in your
school/organization.
For Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Project:

Platform Build number

Office 2016 ProPlus Monthly for Windows 9001.2138

Office 2016 ProPlus Semi-Annual 8431.2159

Office 2016 for Windows 16.0.4672.1000

Office 2013 for Windows 15.0.5023.1000

Office 2016 for Mac 16.11.18020200

Office 2016 for iOS 2.12.18032600

Office for the web N/A

For Outlook:

Platform Build number

Outlook 2016 for Windows (MSI) Build No TBD

Outlook 2016 for Windows (C2R) 16.0.9323.1000

Office 2016 for Mac 16.0.9318.1000

Outlook mobile for iOS 2.75.0

Outlook mobile for Android 2.2.145

Outlook.com N/A

Office 2013 requirements

Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2013 for Windows will support the same minor checks if Active Directory
Authentication Library (ADAL ) is enabled. There are two options for compliance, as explained next.
Enable ADAL. This article explains how to enable ADAL for Office 2013: Using Office 365 modern
authentication with Office clients.
You also need to set the registry keys to enable ADAL as explained in Enable Modern Authentication for
 Office 2013 on Windows devices.
Additionally, you need to install the following April updates for Office 2013:
Description of the security update for Office 2013: April 10, 2018
April 3, 2018, update for Office 2013 (KB4018333)
Don't enable ADAL. If you're unable to enable ADAL in Office 2013, then our recommendation is to use
Group Policy to turn off the Store for the office clients. Information on how to turn off the app for Office
settings is located here.

End user experience with add-ins

Now that you've deployed the add-in, your end users can start using it in their Office applications (see Start using
your Office Add-in). The add-in will appear on all platforms that the add-in supports.
If the add-in supports add-in commands, the commands appear on the Office ribbon. In the following example, the
command Search Citation appears for the Citations add-in.

If the deployed add-in doesn't support add-in commands or if you want to view all deployed add-ins, you can view
them via My Add-ins.
In Word 2016, Excel 2016, or PowerPoint 2016
1. Select Insert > My Add-ins.
2. Select the Admin Managed tab in the Office Add-ins window.
3. Double-click the add-in you deployed earlier (in this example, Citations ).

In Outlook
1. On the Home ribbon, select Get Add-ins.

2. Select Admin-managed in the left nav.

Learn more
Learn more about creating and building Office Add-ins.
Use Centralized Deployment PowerShell cmdlets to manage add-ins.
Troubleshoot: User not seeing add-ins
 Find your Office 365 partner or reseller
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

As an admin, you can work with a partner to purchase, activate, and renew Office 365 subscriptions through a
Microsoft Open Volume Licensing program.
Not sure if Open Volume Licensing is for you? Check out the Microsoft Open Programs overview.

Find a new partner or reseller

If you're ready to buy or renew Office 365 through Open Volume Licensing, or you simply want more information
about working with a partner, choose an option below.
Search for a partner using Microsoft PinPoint
Call Microsoft Volume Licensing

Find contact information for a partner you've worked with in the past
NOTE
In some cases, you can findinformation in the Microsoft 365 admin center for partners you've worked with in the past. Keep
in mind that this information may be out of date. As a best practice, we recommend contacting the person or department
responsible for purchasing in your organization to find out which partner you should work with.

Get partner info in the admin center

TIP
Need help with the steps in this topic? We’ve got you covered. Make an appointment at your local Microsoft Store with an
Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and choose your location to schedule an
appointment.

1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Partner relationships page.

2. If you have a partner, the partner's name and relationship to your organization will be listed here. To view
partner contact information (phone number and email address), select the partner name.

More resources
Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center training and resources
For Microsoft partners
Help for partners
 Room and equipment mailboxes
8/8/2019 • 4 minutes to read • Edit Online

TIP
Need help with the steps in this topic? We’ve got you covered. Make an appointment at your local Microsoft Store with an
Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and choose your location to schedule an
appointment.

If you have a conference room, company car, or equipment that everyone needs to use, then you need to come up
with a way to make those resources reservable to everyone. The best way to do that is to create a room or
equipment mailbox in Office 365 for each resource. You might create one for your first floor conference room,
media equipment, or a moving truck.
Once you create a room or equipment mailbox, everyone in the company can reserve it for meetings or events
using Outlook. Learn how to use it and how to set it up on the next two tabs. Here are some other common
questions about room and equipment mailboxes.

Use room and equipment mailboxes

To use room or equipment mailboxes, open Outlook from your computer or sign in to Outlook on the web.
Schedule a new meeting and add the room or equipment to the meeting like you would when inviting other
employees or customers. You've now reserved it.
1. Open Outlook on your computer.
2. On the Home tab, choose New Items > Meeting.

Or, from your Calendar, just select New Meeting.

3. In the To field, type the name of the conference room or equipment you want to reserve, in addition to any
attendees you'd like to invite.
Or, select To then double-click the conference room or equipment from the list. Then select OK.
 4. In the Subject line, type the purpose of the reservation or meeting.
5. Change the Location value or leave as is.
6. Change the Start time and End time. Or, select All day event. To make the meeting or reservation repeat,
select Recurrence at the top.

7. Type a message describing the purpose and attach any files if needed.
8. To allow others to join online or call in to the meeting, select Skype Meeting.
9. To make sure the room, equipment, and people you've invited are available, select Scheduling Assistant at
the top. Then select an available time in the calendar.

TIP: In the scheduling calendar, blue means the room or equipment is reserved, or busy. Select the white, or
free, area on the calendar.
10. When finished, select Send.

Set up room and equipment mailboxes

To set up a room or equipment mailbox, go to the Microsoft 365 admin center. (You'll need to have admin
permission to do this.) Create the mailbox and let everyone know they can start reserving it for meetings and
events.
1. In the admin center, go to the Resources > Rooms & equipment page.
2. Select Add.
3. Fill out the room or equipment fields:

Room or Equipment: the type of mailbox you'd like to create.

Name: a friendly name or even short description.
Email: the email alias of the room or equipment. This is necessary to send a meeting request to the room or
equipment.
Capacity: the number of people who can fit in the room or use the equipment at the same time.
Location: the room number or location of the room in a building or region.
Phone number: the number of the room itself. This is different from the meeting phone number generated
when using Skype for Business.
4. Select Add.
5. Select the room or equipment mailbox you created to see or edit the details.
6. If you made changes, select Save and then Close.

Common questions about room and equipment mailboxes

How can you tell when the room or equipment is available?
Open Outlook and create a new meeting. Add the room or equipment to the meeting as if it were a person and
select Scheduling Assistant to see a live calendar view of the room or equipment's availability. If the hour slot is
clear, it's available; if it's blue, it's reserved.
How do you cancel a room or equipment request?
Open the meeting you scheduled in Outlook and then remove the room or equipment from the meeting like you
would an attendee. This will free up the room for others to reserve.
Does someone have to accept or decline every room or equipment request?
No, you don't need someone to accept or decline requests. You can decide whether you want to let the room or
equipment be automatically booked or managed by someone in your company.
Does a room mailbox or equipment mailbox need a product license?
No. While most people in your organization need a license to use Office 365, you don't need to assign a license to a
room mailbox or equipment mailbox.
Do I need an owner in charge of booking the rooms or equipment?
No, you don't need someone in charge of the room mailbox or equipment mailbox.
 Send email as a distribution list in Office 365
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

TIP
Need help with the steps in this topic? We’ve got you covered. Make an appointment at your local Microsoft Store with an
Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and choose your location to schedule an
appointment.

In Office 365, you can send email as a distribution list. When a person who is a member of the distribution list
replies to a message sent to the distribution list, the email appears to be from the distribution list, not from the
individual user. This topic shows you how to do this.

Send email as a distribution list

Before you perform these steps, make sure you've been added to an Office 365 distribution list and you've have
been granted Send as permission on it.
Admins: Make sure you've followed the steps in the Add an Office 365 user or contact to a list and Allow
members to send email as an Office 365 Group topics, and added the correct people to the distribution list.
1. Open Outlook on the web and go to your inbox.
2. Open a message that was sent to the distribution list.
3. Select Reply.
4. At the bottom of the message, select More > Show from.

5. Right-click on the From address - such as Ina@weewalter.me - and choose Remove.

6. Then type the distribution list address such as support@contoso.com, and send the message. The next time
you reply from the distribution list, its address will appear as an option in the From list.
 Upgrade distribution lists to Office 365 Groups in
Outlook
9/24/2019 • 6 minutes to read • Edit Online

You can upgrade distribution lists to Office 365 Groups with Outlook. This is a great way to give your
organization's distribution lists all the features and functionality of Office 365 groups. Why you should upgrade
your distribution lists to groups in Outlook
You can upgrade DLs one at a time, or several at the same time.

Upgrade one or many distribution lists to Office 365 Groups in Outlook

You must be an Office 365 global admin or Exchange admin to upgrade a distribution list.
1. Go to the Exchange admin center.
2. In the Exchange admin center, go to Recipients > Groups.
You'll see a notice indicating you have distribution lists (also called distribution groups ) that are eligible
to be upgraded to Office 365 groups.

3. Select one or more distribution lists (also called a distribution group ) from the groups page.

4. Select the upgrade icon.

5. On the information dialog, select Yes to confirm the upgrade. The process begins immediately. Depending
on the size and number of DLs you're upgrading, the process can take minutes or hours.
If the distribution list can't be upgraded, a dialog appears saying so. See Which distribution lists cannot be
upgraded?.
6. If you're upgrading multiple distribution lists, use the drop-down list to filter which distribution lists have
been upgraded. If the list isn't complete, wait a while longer and then select Refresh to see what's been
successfully upgraded.
There's no notice that tells you when the upgrade process has completed for all DLs you selected. You can
figure this out by looking to see what's listed under Available for upgrade or Upgraded DLs.
7. If you selected a DL for upgrade, but it's still appears on the page as Available to upgrade, then it failed to
upgrade. See What to do if the upgrade doesn't work.
 NOTE
If you're getting the groups digest emails you may notice at the bottom that it will sometimes offer to let you upgrade any
eligible distribution lists that you're the owner of. See Have a group conversation in Outlook for more information about
digest emails.

What to do if the upgrade doesn't work

Distribution lists that fail to upgrade remain unchanged.
If one or more eligible distribution lists fail to be upgraded, open a Support ticket. The issue will need to be
escalated to the Groups Engineering team for them to figure out the problem.
It's possible that the distribution list didn't get upgraded because of a service outage, but pretty unlikely. If you
want, wait a while and then try to upgrade the DL again.

How to use PowerShell to upgrade several distribution lists at the same

time
If you're experienced at using PowerShell, you might want to go this route instead of using the UI. We have a set
of cmdlets that will help you upgrade distribution lists. See below.
Upgrade a single DL
To upgrade a single DL run the following command:
Upgrade-DistributionGroup -DlIdentities \<Dl SMTP address\>

For example, if you want to upgrade a DLs with SMTP address dl1@contoso.com, run the following command:
Upgrade-DistributionGroup -DlIdentities dl1@contoso.com

NOTE
You can also upgrade a single distribution list to an Office 365 group using the New-UnifiedGroup PowerShell cmdlet

Upgrade multiple DLs in a batch

You can also pass multiple DLs as a batch and upgrade them together:

Upgrade-DistributionGroup -DlIdentities \<DL SMTP address1\>, \< DL SMTP address2\>,

\< DL SMTP address3\>, \< DL SMTP address 4\>

For example, if you want to upgrade five DLs with SMTP address dl1@contoso.com and dl2@contoso.com ,
dl3@contoso.com , dl4@contoso.com and dl5@contoso.com , run the following command:

Upgrade-DistributionGroup -DlIdentities dl1@contoso.com, dl2@contoso.com, dl3@contoso.com, dl4@contoso.com,

dl5@contoso.com

Upgrade all eligible DLs

There are two ways in which you can upgrade all the eligible DLs.
 NOTE
The Upgrade-DistributionGroup cmdlet doesn't receive data from the pipeline, for this reason it's required to use "foreach-
object{}" operator to run successfully.

1. Get the eligible DLs in the tenant and upgrade them using the upgrade command:

Get-EligibleDistributionGroupForMigration | Foreach-Object{
Upgrade-DistributionGroup -DlIdentities $_.PrimarySMTPAddress
}

2. Get the list of all DLs and upgrade only the eligible DLs:

Get-DistributionGroup| Foreach-Object{
Upgrade-DistributionGroup -DlIdentities $_.PrimarySMTPAddress
}

FAQ about upgrading distribution lists to Office 365 Groups in Outlook

Which distribution lists cannot be upgraded?
You can only upgrade cloud-managed, simple, non-nested distribution lists. The table below lists distribution lists
that CANNOT be upgraded.

PROPERTY ELIGIBLE?

On-premises managed distribution list. No

Nested distribution lists. Distribution list either has child No

groups or is a member of another group.

Distribution lists with member RecipientTypeDetails other No

than UserMailbox, SharedMailbox, TeamMailbox,
MailUser

Distribution list which has more than 100 owners No

Distribution list which only has members but no owner No

Distribution list which has alias containing special characters No

If the distribution list is configured to be a forwarding address No

for Shared Mailbox

If the DL is part of Sender Restriction in another DL. No

Security groups No

Dynamic Distribution lists No

Distribution lists which were converted to RoomLists No

 PROPERTY ELIGIBLE?

Distribution lists where MemberJoinRestriction and/or No

MemberDepartRestriction is Closed

How do I check which DLs are eligible for upgrade?

If you want to check whether a DL is eligible or not, you can run the below command:
Get-DistributionGroup \<DL SMTP address\> | Get-EligibleDistributionGroupForMigration

If you want to check which DLs are eligible for upgrade just run the following command:
Get-EligibleDistributionGroupForMigration

Who can run the upgrade scripts?

People with Office 365 global admin or Exchange admin rights.
Why is the contact card still showing a distribution list? What should I do to prevent a upgraded distribution list
from showing up in my auto suggest list?
For Outlook: When someone tries to send an email in Outlook by typing the Office 365 group name after
migration, the recipient will be resolved as the distribution list instead of the group. The contact card of the
recipient will be the distribution lists contact card. This is because of the recipient cache or nick name cache
in Outlook. The email will be sent successfully to the group, but might cause confusion to the sender.
You can perform the steps in this topic, Information about the Outlook AutoComplete list to reset the cache,
which will fix this issue.
For Outlook on the web: In case of Outlook on the web, the distribution list recipient will still remain in the
cache. You can follow the steps in Remove suggested name or email address from the Auto-Complete List
to refresh the cache to see the group contact card.
Do new group members get a welcome email in their inbox?
No. The setting to enable welcome messages is set to false by default. This setting affects both existing and new
group members who may join after the migration is complete. If the group owner later allows guest users, guest
users won't receive a welcome email in their inbox. Guest members can continue working with the group.
What if one or some of the DLs are not upgraded?
There are some cases in which though DL is eligible but could not be upgraded. The DL does not get upgraded
and remains as a DL.
Where admin has applied Group Email Address Policy for the groups in an organization and they try to
upgrade DLs which doesn't fulfill the criteria, the DL does not get upgraded
DLs with MemberJoinRestriction or MemberDepartRestriction set to Closed, could not be upgraded
What happens to the DL if the upgrade from EAC fails?
The upgrade will happen only when the call is submitted to the server. If the upgrade fails, your DLs will be intact.
They will work like they used to.
 Share your Office 365 sites with external users
8/8/2019 • 4 minutes to read • Edit Online

People who need to see or work with your site content but don't have user accounts for your SharePoint Online or
Office 365 environment are called "external users." You can share your sites and documents with external users
either globally, that is, for all sites in the tenant, or for each site collection individually.
After sharing is enabled for the tenant and individual site collections, site collection admins can extend invitations
to specific users. See Share SharePoint files or folders in Office 365 for instructions.

Deciding how to share your content

When considering if and how you want to share content externally, think about the following:
To whom do you want to grant access to content on your Team site and any sub-sites, and what do you want
them to be able to do?
To whom in your organization do you want to grant permission to share content externally?
Is there content you want to ensure is never available to be viewed by people external to your organization?
The answers to these questions will help you plan your strategy for content sharing.

TRY THIS: IF YOU NEED TO…

Share a site. If you want to share a site but you also want to Provide someone outside your organization with ongoing
restrict external users from gaining access to some of your access to information and content on a site. They need the
organization's internal content, consider creating a subsite with ability to perform like a full user of your site and create, edit,
unique permissions that you use exclusively for the purpose of and view content.
external sharing.

Share a document and require sign-in. Provide one or several people outside your organization with
secure access to a specific document for review or
collaboration, but these people do not require ongoing access
to other content on your internal site.

Share a document, but don't require sign-in. Share a link to a non-sensitive or non-confidential document
with people outside your organization so that they can either
view it or update it with feedback. These people do not require
ongoing access to content on your internal site.

IMPORTANT
When you deactivate external sharing, any external users who had access to the site at the time the feature was deactivated
are denied access to the site and no future invitations can be sent. If the feature is reactivated with external user names in the
SharePoint permissions groups, then those users will automatically be able to access the site again. To permanently prevent a
user from accessing the SharePoint site, you can remove them from the list of external users.

If external sharing is turned off globally, any shared guest links will also stop working. If the feature is later
reactivated, these links will resume working.

Enable external sharing for all SharePoint sites in the Microsoft 365
admin center
The ability to invite external users to SharePoint sites is enabled by default, so site owners and site collection
administrators can share team sites and sub-sites with external users at any time.
1. In the admin center, type "external" in the search box on the Home page, and choose Sites external
sharing.
2. On the page that opens, choose whether users can share guest links with existing external users, new and
existing external users, or anyone, including anonymous users.
3. Select Save.

Fine tune settings for individual sites

When you enable sharing on SharePoint sites, sharing is enabled for all sites in the tenant. But from the admin
center you can fine tune the sharing settings to disallow sharing on those sites where more stringent control is
necessary or to revoke individual user access to specific sites.

NOTE
If external sharing is turned off for the entire SharePoint Online environment, you will not be able to turn it on for specific site
collections.

On the sites page of the sharing settings (admin center) you can see a list of all the site collections currently active
in your tenant along with the sharing settings for each site collection.

Edit the sharing settings of a particular site collection in the admin

center
1. In the admin center, go to the Resources > Sites page.
2. Select the external sharing status next to the desired site collection.
3. In the sharing dialog box, next to Sharing status, select Edit.
4. Next to Let users share SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business content with people outside
the organization, slide the slider to On to turn on external sharing.
5. Choose whether users can share with existing guests, new and existing guests, or anyone.
6. Select Save.

Revoke site access for individual users in the admin center

1. In the admin center, go to the Resources > Sites page.
2. Select the sharing status next to the desired site collection.
3. In the sharing dialog box, next to External users, select Edit.
4. Under Remove external members, search for the members to remove.
5. Next to the member's name, select Remove.
6. Select Save to confirm the deletion. Note that once you save, the user(s) will no longer have access to the
selected site. Any guest links that were provided will be disabled.
 Share calendars with external users
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

TIP
Need help with the steps in this topic? We’ve got you covered. Make an appointment at your local Microsoft Store with an
Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and choose your location to schedule an
appointment.

It's often necessary to schedule meetings with people outside your organization. To simplify the process of finding
mutually agreeable meeting times, Office 365 enables you to make calendars available to "external users," those
who need to see free/busy time but don't have user accounts for your Office 365 environment.
Calendar sharing is a global setting, meaning that you, the admin, can enable it for all users in the tenant. Once
sharing is enabled, users can use Outlook Web App to share their calendars with anyone inside or outside the
organization. People inside the organization can view the shared calendar side-by-side with their own. People
outside the organization will be sent a URL that they can use to view the calendar. Users decide when to share, how
much to share, and when to keep their calendars private.

NOTE
If you want to share calendars with an organization that uses Exchange Server 2013 (an on-premises solution), the Exchange
administrator will need to set up an authentication relationship with the cloud. This is known as "federation" and must meet
minimum software requirements. See Sharing for more information.

Enable calendar sharing using the Microsoft 365 admin center

1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Services & add-ins page.
2. On the Services & add-ins page, select Calendar.
3. On the Calendar page that opens, choose whether you want to let your users share their calendars with
people outside of your organization who have Office 365 or Exchange.
4. Choose whether you want to allow anonymous users (users without logon credentials) to access calendars
via an email invitation.
5. Choose what type of calendar information to make available to users. You can allow all information, or limit
it to time only or time, subject, and location only.

Invite people to access calendars

Once sharing is enabled for the tenant, calendar owners can extend invitations to specific users. See Sharing your
calendar in Outlook Web App for instructions.
Get admin help with billing in Office 365 for business.
Not an admin? Add, update, or remove a credit card or other payment option for Office 365 for home.

View your bill

Manage credit cards or bank accounts

Assign licenses to users

Renew your subscription

Cancel your subscription

Contact support

Featured Articles
Try or buy
Extend your trial
Buy a subscription from your free trial
Buy another subscription
Buy or edit and add-on
Buy a domain name
Add storage space for your subscription

Billing
View your bill
Understand your invoice
Pay for your subscription
Manage credit cards or bank accounts
Change your payment method
Change your billing addresses
What tax will I be charged?
Apply for tax exempt status

Manage licenses
Understand subscriptions and licenses
Buy licenses for your subscription
Assign licenses to users
Remove licenses from users
Remove licenses from your subscription
Resolve license conflicts

Switch or upgrade
Switch to a different plan or subscription
What does switching plans do to my service and billing?
Important information for Office 365 Enterprise E4 customers

Renew or cancel
Renew your subscription
Reactivate your subscription
Cancel your subscription
What happens to my data and access when my subscription ends?
 Sign up for an Office 365 trial subscription
9/27/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

You can sign up for a trial Office 365 business subscription for free. You can try it out for 30 days.

Sign up for an Office 365 Business Premium trial subscription

1. To sign up for an Office 365 business trial subscription, go to the Office Products site.
2. Select the plan you want to sign up for, such as Office 365 Business Premium, scroll down the page, and
select Try free for 1 month.
3. On the next page, follow the steps to set up your account.
4. The signup process may take several minutes to complete. Once it's complete, you'll get more details on
how to start using your subscription.
For more information about setting up your account, see Set up Office 365 for business.
 Extend your trial for Office 365 for business
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

Do you need more time to try out the features of Office 365 for business before buying? If your trial subscription
is within 15 days of expiring and the trial hasn't been extended before then you can extend your trial for another
30 day period. You can only do this one time.

Use the new admin center to extend your trial

The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Products & services page.
2. On the Products & services page, find the trial subscription that you want to extend. In the Settings &
Actions section, select Extend trial.
3. Review the extension information, and if necessary, change your payment method. When you're finished,
select Extend trial.

Use the old admin center to extend your trial

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Subscriptions page.
2. On the Subscriptions page, select the trial subscription that you want to extend, and then, under the
expiration date, select Extend trial.
3. Complete the steps in the wizard.
When you're ready to buy, see Buy your trial version of Office 365 for business.
 Buy a subscription to Office 365 for business from
your free trial
9/27/2019 • 3 minutes to read • Edit Online

You've tried Office 365, and now you're ready to buy. You have two options when buying Office 365 from your
trial version:
Buy the same plan as your trial
Buy a different plan than your trial

Buy the same plan as your trial

It's easy, and, when you buy the same type of subscription as your trial version, you don't have to worry about
losing your data, accounts, and configuration.
Use the new admin center to buy the same plan as your trial
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Products & services page.
2. On the Products & services page, find the subscription that you want to buy. In the Licenses section,
select Purchase subscription.
3. Choose either a monthly or annual commitment for your subscription, then select Checkout.
4. On the next page, verify the subscription, and select Checkout.
5. On the next page, verify the Sold to address, the Billed to information, and Items in this order. If you
need to make any changes, select Change next to the applicable section.
6. When you're finished, select Accept agreement & place order.
Use the old admin center to buy the same plan as your trial
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Subscriptions page.
2. On the Subscriptions page, select the Buy now button for the trial subscription that you want to buy.
3. Review the pricing information and select Next.
4. Provide your payment information, and then select Place order.
5. On the confirmation page, select Go to Admin Home.

Buy a different plan than your trial

If you purchase a different type of subscription that your trial, you will have to reassign your user licenses from
your trial plan to your new plan (before your 90-day grace period ends after your trial plan expires) in order to
retain your data, accounts, and configuration.
Use the new admin center to buy another subscription
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Purchase services page.
2. On the Purchase services page, select the subscription that you want to buy, then select Buy.
3. Enter the number of licenses that you need, and choose whether to pay each month or for the whole year.
Choose whether you want to automatically assign licenses to everyone who does not currently have a
license. Then select Check out now.
4. Your cart opens. If your cart disappears from the screen, select Cart to reopen it, review the order and then
select Check Out.
5. Review the pricing information and select Next.
6. Provide your payment information, and then select Place order > Go to Admin Home.
Use the old admin center to buy a different plan than your trial
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Subscriptions page.
2. On the Subscription page, select Add subscriptions.
You'll see the subscriptions that are available to your organization. Any subscriptions that you've already
purchased will be identified as In Trial or Purchased.
3. Find the subscription that you want to buy, and then select Buy Now.
4. Enter the number of user licenses you need, chose whether to pay each month or for the whole year, and
then select Add to Cart.
5. Your cart opens. If your cart disappears from the screen, select Cart to reopen it, review the order and then
select Check Out.
6. Review the pricing information and select Next.
7. Provide your payment information, and then select Place order.
8. On the confirmation page, select Go to Admin Home.

TIP
Need help with the steps in this topic? We’ve got you covered. Make an appointment at your local Microsoft Store with an
Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and choose your location to schedule an
appointment.

Related topics
Extend your trial
Sign up for Office 365
Switch to a different Office 365 plan or subscription
 Buy another Office 365 for business subscription
9/27/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

If you already have an Office 365 for business subscription and you want to buy another subscription for your
organization, the best way is to do it is through the admin center. If you haven't yet purchased the first Office 365
for business subscription for your organization, go here to choose a plan.
When you buy another subscription through the admin center, you're guaranteed that the new subscription will be
associated with the same organization (domain name space) as your existing subscription. This makes it easier to
move users within your organization between subscriptions or assign them a user license for the additional
subscription they need.
After purchasing a new subscription, you'll need to assign the users who you want to use that subscription a user
license for it. To learn how, see Assign licenses to users in Office 365 for business.

Buy another subscription

Use the new admin center to buy another subscription
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365
admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Purchase services page.
2. On the Purchase services page, select the subscription that you want to buy, then select Buy.
3. Enter the number of licenses that you need, and choose whether to pay each month or for the whole year.
Choose whether you want to automatically assign licenses to everyone who does not currently have a
license. Then select Check out now.
4. Your cart opens. If your cart disappears from the screen, select Cart to reopen it, review the order and then
select Check Out.
5. Review the pricing information and select Next.
6. Provide your payment information, and then select Place order > Go to Admin Home.
Use the old admin center to buy another subscription
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Subscriptions page.
2. On the Subscription page, select Add subscriptions.
You'll see the subscriptions that are available to your organization. Any subscriptions that you've already
purchased are identified like this.
3. Mouse over or tap the subscription that you want to buy, and then select Buy Now.

4. Enter the number of user licenses you need, chose whether to pay each month or for the whole year, and
then select Add to Cart.
5. Your cart opens. If your cart disappears from the screen, select Cart to reopen it, review the order and then
select Check Out.
6. Review the pricing information and select Next.
7. Provide your payment information, and then select Place order.
8. On the confirmation page, select Go to Admin Home.

Related topics
Assign licenses to users
Remove licenses from users
 Buy or edit an add-on for Office 365 for business
9/27/2019 • 6 minutes to read • Edit Online

Several of the Office 365 for business plans have add-ons that you can buy for your subscription. An add-on
provides additional functionality to the subscription that you buy it for.

Buy an add-on
Use the new admin center to buy an add-on
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365
admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Purchase services page.
2. At the bottom of the Purchase services page, select Add-ons.
3. On the Purchase services page, select the add-on subscription that you want to buy.
4. Enter the number of licenses that you need, and choose whether to pay each month or for the whole year.
Choose whether you want to automatically assign licenses to everyone who does not currently have a
license. If shown, select a base subscription.
5. Select Check out now.
6. Review the pricing information, then select Next.
7. Provide your payment information, and then select Place order > Go to Admin Home.
Use the old admin center to buy an add-on
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Subscriptions page.
2. On the Subscriptions page, select the subscription for which you want to buy an add-on.
3. On the bottom-left corner of the subscription details, select Add-ons > Buy add-ons.

4. On the Purchase services page, mouse over or tap the add-on subscription that you want to buy, and then
select Buy now.
5. Enter the number of licenses that you need, and choose whether to pay each month or for the whole year.
Choose whether you want to automatically assign licenses to everyone who does not currently have a
license. If shown, select a base subscription.
6. Select Check out now.
7. Review the pricing information, and then select Next.
8. Provide your payment information, and then select Place order > Go to Admin Home.

Update an add-on
The steps that you use to update an add-on depend on whether the add-on is a traditional add-on, or a standalone
add-on.
Traditional add -ons are linked to a specific subscription. If you cancel the subscription, the associated add-on is
also cancelled.
Standalone add -ons are not linked to a specific subscription. Standalone add-ons appear as a separate
subscription on the Subscriptions page (or on the Products & services page in the new admin center), and have
their own expiration date. You manage a standalone add-on the same way that you manage any other
subscription.
Update a traditional add-on
Use the new admin center to update a traditional add-on
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365
admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Products & services page.
2. On the Products & services page, select the subscription for which you want to update an add-on.
3. Select Add-ons. The add-ons that you have purchased are shown.
4. Select Change quantity for the add-on you want to change.
5. Enter the quantity change you want for the subscription, then select Submit change.
Use the old admin center to update a traditional add-on
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Subscriptions page.
2. On the Subscriptions page, select the subscription for which you want to update an add-on.
3. Select Add-ons.
The add-ons that you have purchased are shown and each of the add-ons will have a Change quantity
link below it.
4. Select the Change quantity link for the add-on that you want to update.

5. Enter the number of user licenses that you need in the box, and then select Submit.
 TIP
You can also use the up-arrow and down-arrow to change the quantity of user licenses or just enter the number you
want in the box.

Update a standalone add-on

Use the new admin center to update a standalone add-on
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365
admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Products & services page.
2. On the Products & services page, select the add-on subscription that you want to update, and then select
Add/Remove licenses.
3. Enter the number of licenses that you need in the box, and then select Submit change.
Use the old admin center to update a standalone add-on
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Subscriptions page.
2. On the Subscriptions page, select the add-on subscription that you want to update, and then select
Add/Remove licenses.
3. Enter the number of licenses that you need in the box, and then select Submit.

TIP
You can also use the up-arrow and down-arrow to change the quantity of licenses or just enter the number you
want in the box.
Remove an add-on
You can cancel a standalone add-on the same way that you cancel a subscription. Or you can set Recurring
billing to off for a standalone add-on by using the steps above. However, you cannot remove a traditional add-on
after it's been bought. If you need to remove a traditional add-on, please contact support for help.

Available add-ons
The following table lists add-ons that are available for different editions of Office 365 for business.
For information about Skype for Business add-ons, see Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams add-on licensing.

ADD-ON AVAILABLE IN THESE SUBSCRIPTIONS

Customer Lockbox Office 365 Enterprise E1

Office 365 Enterprise E3
Office 365 Enterprise E4

Office 365 Online Advanced Threat Protection Office 365 Enterprise E1

Office 365 Enterprise E3
Office 365 Enterprise E4

Exchange Online Archiving Office 365 Business Essentials

Office 365 Business Premium
Office 365 Enterprise E1
Office 365 Enterprise F1

Microsoft MyAnalytics Office 365 Enterprise E1

Office 365 Enterprise E3
Office 365 Enterprise E4

Office 365 Advanced Compliance Office 365 Enterprise E1

Office 365 Enterprise E3
Office 365 Enterprise E4
 ADD-ON AVAILABLE IN THESE SUBSCRIPTIONS

Office 365 Extra File Storage Office 365 Business

Office 365 Business Essentials
Office 365 Business Premium
Office 365 Enterprise E1
Office 365 Enterprise E2
Office 365 Enterprise E3
Office 365 Enterprise E4
Office 365 Enterprise E5
Office for the web with SharePoint Plan 1
Office for the web with SharePoint Plan 2
SharePoint Online Plan 1
SharePoint Online Plan 2

Phone System in Office 365 Office 365 Enterprise E1

Office 365 Enterprise E3
Office 365 Enterprise E4
Office 365 Enterprise E5

Audio Conferencing in Office 365 Office 365 Business Essentials

Office 365 Business Premium
Office 365 Enterprise E1
Office 365 Enterprise E3
Office 365 Enterprise E4
Office 365 Enterprise E5 without Audio Conferencing
Microsoft 365 Business
Microsoft 365 E3
Microsoft 365 E5

Communications Credits in Office 365 Office 365 Enterprise E5

Domestic Calling Plan in Office 365 Office 365 Enterprise E5

International Calling Plan in Office 365 Office 365 Enterprise E5

Related topics
Add storage space for your subscription
 Add storage space for your subscription
9/27/2019 • 4 minutes to read • Edit Online

If you start to run out of storage for your SharePoint Online site collections, you can add storage to your
subscription if your plan is eligible. If you don't see the Office 365 Extra File Storage in the list of available add-
ons, it means your plan is not eligible. For more information, see Is my plan eligible?

View available storage

1. Sign in to the admin center with your work or school account as a global admin. Learn how to sign in.
2. In the admin center, select Admin centers > SharePoint.
3. On the Site collections menu, view the amount of storage used.
After you've determined how much storage you're using, you can add or remove storage space for your
subscription. To find out how much it will cost to add storage space, follow the steps in this article, and review the
pricing information before you purchase.
For information about setting site collection storage limits, see Manage site collection storage limits.

Add storage to your subscription

If you haven't yet purchased extra storage for your subscription, you can do that.
Use the new admin center to add storage space
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Purchase services page.
2. At the bottom of the Purchase services page, select Add-ons.
3. Select Office 365 Extra File Storage.
4. On the Office 365 Extra File Storage page, if shown, choose the base subscription, then enter the number
of gigabytes of storage you want to add.
5. Select Check out now.
6. On the How does this look? page, verify the number of gigabytes of storage you selected, review the
pricing information, and then select Next.
7. On the Complete order page, verify the total. If you need to make any changes, select Edit order. If the
order requires a credit check, select the check box. When you're finished, select Place order > Go to
Admin Home.
Use the old admin center to add storage space
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Subscriptions page.
2. On the Subscriptions page, choose the subscription to which you want to add storage space, then select
Add-ons.

NOTE
If you don't see Add-ons, and your subscription was purchased through a partner, select Volume Licensing
Service Center (VLSC).

3. Select Buy add-ons.

4. On the Purchase services page, mouse over or tap Office 365 Extra File Storage, then select Buy now.
5. Enter the number of user licenses that you need and, if shown, choose a base subscription. Select Check
out now.
6. On the How does this look? page, verify the number of gigabytes of storage you selected, review the
pricing information, and then select Next.
7. On the Complete order page, select Place order.

Increase or decrease storage

If you have already purchased extra file storage via the Office 365 Extra File Storage add-on, you can use these
steps to increase or decrease the extra storage space for your subscription. You can reduce the storage to as low as
1 gigabyte. To remove all of the extra storage space, you need to contact support.
Use the new admin center to increase or decrease storage space
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Products & services page.
2. Choose the subscription that contains the Office 365 Extra File Storage add-on.
3. Select Add-ons, then choose Change quantity.
4. In the Add/Remove gigabytes pane, enter the total gigabytes you want for the subscription, then select
 Submit change.
Use the old admin center to increase or decrease storage space
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Subscriptions page.
2. On the Subscriptions page, select Add-ons.

NOTE
If you don't see Add-ons, and your subscription was purchased through a partner, select Volume Licensing
Service Center (VLSC).

3. Under Office 365 Extra File Storage, select Change quantity.

4. In the right pane, enter the total number of gigabytes that you need, then select Submit.
For example, if you currently have 200 gigabytes of extra file storage but you only need 100 gigabytes, then
you would enter 100 in the box.
5. Select Close.

Is my plan eligible for Office 365 Extra File Storage?

Office 365 Extra File Storage is available for the following subscriptions:
Office 365 Enterprise E1
Office 365 Enterprise E2
Office 365 Enterprise E3
Office 365 Enterprise E4
Office 365 Enterprise E5
Office for the web with SharePoint Plan 1
Office for the web with SharePoint Plan 2
SharePoint Online Plan 1
SharePoint Online Plan 2
Office 365 Business Essentials
Office 365 Business Premium
Microsoft 365 Business
Microsoft 365 E3
Microsoft 365 E5
Microsoft 365 F1
 View your bill or invoice
9/27/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

This article is for people who have an Office 365 for business subscription. You must be a Global Admin or Billing
Admin to do the steps described in this article.
If you need help interpreting the charges you see on your bill, see Understand your invoice for a detailed
walkthrough.
Not an admin? Contact your IT administrator for help.
Have a problem with your bill? Contact support for business products.

View a bill or invoice

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Bills & payments page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Bills & payments page.
2. Select a date range from the drop-down list, and then choose the order you want to view.
3. On the summary page, you can see the following:
The total balance, the current amount due, the payment due date, the amount of the last payment, and the
date it was received.
Payment instructions.
A record of past payment dates, and the amounts paid.
The order creation date, and the order number.
4. To print or save a PDF copy of the invoice, select Download PDF.

Related topics
Pay by invoice, credit card, or bank account
Add, update, or remove a credit card or bank account
Minecraft: Education Edition payment options
 Understand your invoice for Office 365 for business
9/27/2019 • 6 minutes to read • Edit Online

Each month you'll receive an email that tells you that your new billing statement is available in the admin center.
Learn how to find and view your bill or invoice.
Your invoice contains two pages. Page 1 is the invoice summary, and contains general information about the
invoice, order, amount due, how to make a payment, and how to contact support.

Page 2 contains details about the billing activity for each subscription.

For descriptions of the fields and terms included in your invoice, see the Invoice Field Glossary later in this article.

Understand billing concepts

Before you view your invoice, it's helpful to understand a few key billing concepts.
Invoice balance vs. order balance
Invoice balance is the amount shown on your invoice, and is only the amount due for that particular billing
period. Your total order balance is the sum of all unpaid invoices. You can view your order balance in the Billing
section of the admin center.
Billing frequency vs. invoice frequency
Billing frequency means how often you are billed. Subscriptions are billed either monthly or annually,
depending on what option you chose during the subscription purchase. Invoice frequency means how often
you receive an invoice. If you chose annual billing, you'll only receive one invoice per year, unless activity for your
subscription requires a charge or a credit.
If you have more than one order, you'll receive an invoice for each order.

Invoice Field Glossary

The following table describes the fields you might see on your invoice. Some fields listed here might not appear
in your invoice, depending on whether you pay by invoice or by credit card or bank account.

NOTE
Paying by bank account is not available in some countries or regions.

NAME DESCRIPTION

Annual Price Subscriptions are billed monthly or annually. If you chose

annual billing during the subscription purchase, the annual
license price is reflected on the invoice. If you want to change
the billing frequency, you'll have to cancel your subscription
and repurchase it with the new billing frequency.

Billing Period Billing Period is the time period since the last invoice date.
Service Period is the time period during which you are
charged to use the service.

Bill-To This is the address of your billing department, and is usually

the same as the Sold-To address. To update your billing
address, see Change your billing addresses.

Charges Page 1 of your invoice summarizes all charges for the invoice
Billing Period. Page 2 shows the detailed charges for each
subscription.

Check If you pay by invoice and check payment is offered in your

country, the bottom of page 1 includes information about
where to send your payment. Please reference the invoice
number on your check.

Credits Page 1 of your invoice summarizes all credits for the invoice
Billing Period. Page 2 shows the detailed credits for each
subscription.

Customer PO Number Your Purchase Order (PO) number. If you update the PO
number, future invoices will include it. Change your purchase
order number.
NOTE You can't add a PO number to an existing invoice.
NAME DESCRIPTION

Days Each billing transaction is associated with a Service Period.

The Days column indicates the number of days in that service
period.

Discounts Page 1 of your invoice summarizes all discounts for the

invoice Billing Period. Page 2 shows the detailed discounts for
each subscription.

Due Date The date when payment is due for the invoice. If your
subscription is paid with a credit card or bank account, we will
charge your credit card or banking account the day after the
Invoice Date.
NOTE Paying by bank account is not available in some
countries or regions.

Electronic Funds Transfer If you chose "invoice" as the subscription payment method,
page 1 contains the Microsoft bank account information for
electronic (wire, ACH, SEPA, etc.) payments. Usually, your
bank will have a reference field you complete when you send
a payment. Please reference the invoice number shown in this
field.

Grand Total This row includes the totals for all Charges, Discounts, Credits,
SubTotal, Tax, and Total columns for all subscriptions listed on
the invoice.

Invoice Date The date the invoice was created. The invoice date is the day
after the end of your Billing Period. For example, if your Billing
Period is Jan 15 - Feb 14, your Invoice Date is Feb 15.

Invoice Number The unique number assigned to your invoice. Please reference
the Invoice Number with your payment.

Monthly Price Subscriptions are billed monthly or annually. If you chose

monthly billing during the subscription purchase, the monthly
license price is reflected on the invoice. If you want to change
the billing frequency, you'll have to cancel your subscription
and repurchase it with the new billing frequency.

Order Number Every time you buy a new subscription, an order is created.
Every month, you'll receive an invoice for each order.

Payment Instructions If you pay by credit card, you'll see "Do not pay - charged to
credit card on file." If you pay by invoice, you'll see
instructions for paying by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and
check (if applicable).

Payment Terms The number of days from the Invoice Date when payment is
due. The standard is 30 days.

Product On page 1 of your invoice, "Online Services" is the generic

term used to describe your subscriptions. On page 2 , you'll
see the individual subscription names.

QTY The number of licenses purchased during the Service Period.

 NAME DESCRIPTION

Service Period Service Period is the time period during which you are
charged to use the service. A Billing Period is the time period
since the last invoice date.

Service Usage Address The address where the service is being used, usually the same
as your Sold-To address. To update your Service Usage
Address, see Change your billing addresses.

Sold-To Your company name and address. To update this information,

see Change your organization's address, technical contact
email, and other information.

SubTotal Each subscription listed on your invoice has a separate

SubTotal row for all Charges, Discounts, Credits, SubTotal, Tax,
and Total columns for that subscription.

Tax Page 1 of your invoice shows the total tax. Page 2 shows the
tax rate applied, and the total tax amount for each line item. If
your invoice contains taxes and your company is tax exempt,
please contact support.

Total The amount due for the invoice Billing Period.

Change your purchase order number

If you pay by invoice, you can add or change the purchase order (PO ) number for your subscription.

NOTE
You can't add a PO number to an existing invoice. The PO number will appear on all future invoices.

Use the new admin center to change your purchase order number
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Products & services page.
2. Select the subscription you want to change, and in the Settings & Actions section, select Edit payment
details.
3. At the bottom of the Edit payment details pane, enter your PO number, then select Save.
Use the old admin center to change your purchase order number
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Subscriptions page.
2. Select the subscription you want to change, and in the Payment method section, select Change
payment details.
3. At the bottom of the Change payment details pane, enter your PO number, then select Submit.

Related topics
Pay for your Office 365 for business subscription
Minecraft: Education Edition payment options
 Pay for your Office 365 for business subscription
9/27/2019 • 7 minutes to read • Edit Online

When you set up your subscription, you can choose to pay by using credit card or bank account payments, or to
pay by invoice using check or electronic funds transfer (EFT) . Whichever method you choose, that is the payment
method we will continue to use for subsequent billing periods, unless you change your payment method.

NOTE
Paying by bank account is not available in some countries or regions.

Pay by credit card or bank account

When you pay by credit card or bank account, you'll be automatically charged for your subscription the day after
the invoice date, until the end of your subscription term. You can update your credit card or bank account
information whenever you need to. You can also choose to Receive a copy of your billing statement in email.
What if my credit card was declined and my payment is past due?
If you pay by credit card, and your credit card is declined, you'll receive an email letting you know that we were
unable to process the payment. This can happen for several reasons, including if the credit card has expired. We'll
continue to retry the transaction every few days. If those attempts fail, you'll continue to receive email alerts about
those failures. You can use the Pay now feature at any time to change your credit card information and
immediately resubmit the payment.

NOTE
If you switch to a different credit card to pay the outstanding balance on your subscription, that card will be charged for all
future automatic payments for that subscription.

Use the new admin center to pay your outstanding balance

The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Products & services page.
2. Find the subscription with the outstanding balance. In the Billing section, select Pay now.
3. If you're the credit card owner, you can change the expiration date for the card, pick a different card, oradd
a new card.

NOTE
When you use the Pay now feature, you'll be charged for the entire outstanding balance on your account, which
could be more than the amount due shown elsewhere.

4. If you're not the credit card owner, you can choose a different credit card oradd a new card.
5. After you've updated the credit card information or changed the credit card that is used to pay for the
subscription, select Submit payment.
Use the old admin center to pay your outstanding balance
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Subscriptions page.
2. Select the subscription that you want to change. In the My bill section, select Pay now.
3. If you're the credit card owner, you can change the expiration date for the card, pick a different card, oradd
a new card.

NOTE
When you use the Pay now feature, you'll be charged for the entire outstanding balance on your account, which
could be more than the amount due shown elsewhere.

4. If you're not the credit card owner, you can choose a different credit card oradd a new card.
5. After you've updated the credit card information or changed the credit card that is used to pay for the
subscription, select Submit. You'll see a confirmation message that says "Your payment method has been
updated and all outstanding charges are settled. Thank you."

Pay by invoice (check or EFT)

If your subscription costs over a certain amount of money (this amount varies by service location), you'll have the
option to pay by invoice by using a check or EFT. A credit check may be required for larger invoice payments. If a
credit check is required, you'll be notified when you purchase your subscription. And, if you agree to be contacted,
you'll get an email that includes more information about applying for credit approval. Credit checks are usually
completed within two business days.
If you pay by invoice for your subscription, you'll get an email that says your billing statement is ready to view.
This email does not contain a copy of your billing statement. However, you can also choose to Receive a copy of
your billing statement in email. Your billing statement includes details about your options for making a payment. If
you enter a purchase order (PO ) number when you buy a subscription, the number appears on your billing
statement. For information about accessing billing statements, see View your bill or invoice.

NOTE
By default, your organization's billing notifications are sent to the Office 365 email address and the alternate email address
of every global and billing admin in your organization. To change the alternate email address, see Change your billing
addresses.

Can I pay my bill online?

Unfortunately, if your subscription is set up to pay by invoice, we can't accept online payments directly. You can,
however, change your payment method to credit card or bank account, and the amount due will be automatically
charged to your card or account after each service period. For Azure, see How to change the credit card used to
pay for an Azure subscription.

NOTE
If you're switching to pay by automatic credit card payments, be sure to first pay all outstanding balances. Check your billing
statement for payment options and instructions. For more information, see Understand your invoice.

Where do I send my check or EFT payment?

 NOTE
Payment by check is only available in a few countries. You can follow the payment instructions below for your country, or
check your invoice.

If you're not sure how much you owe, you can check your bill and billing history online. For Azure, see How to
download your Azure billing invoice and daily usage data.
Choose your "bill-to" country or region from the drop-down menu below.

Receive a copy of your billing statement in email

You can choose to receive a copy of your billing statement as an email attachment. If you do, be aware that:
An email will be sent to both the primary and alternate email address for every person listed as a
notification recipient.
You will receive two separate emails: one that lets you know that your bill is ready, with instructions to log
on to the admin center to view it, and a second email that contains the billing statement as an attachment.
To receive your billing statement in email
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Billing notifications page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Billing notifications page.
2. Under Receive billing statement as email attachment?, switch the toggle to On.
You can stop receiving the billing statement emails at any time by switching the toggle to Off.

Need to switch payment methods?

If your original reasons for choosing invoice, credit card, or bank account have changed, for example, if you adjust
your subscription so that the payment amount is lower so that you no longer qualify for invoice payments, you
can change your payment method. For more information, see Change your payment method.

Related topics
Add, update, or remove a credit card or bank account
Understand your invoice
 Add, update, or remove a credit card or bank
account in Office 365 for business
9/27/2019 • 9 minutes to read • Edit Online

You must be a Global Admin or a Billing Admin to do the tasks described in this article.
Not an admin? Contact your IT administrator for help. Who has admin permissions in my business?
For Office 365 Home, or Personal, see Change the payment method or credit card linked to your Microsoft
account.

NOTE
Paying by using a bank account is not available in some countries or regions.
You must use a credit card issued from the same country as your tenant.

Add a new credit card or bank account

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Bills & payments page.
2. On the Payment methods tab, select Add a payment method.
3. In the Add a payment method pane, pick a payment method from the drop-down menu.
4. Enter the information for the new credit card or bank account, and then select Add.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
2. Pick the subscription you want to pay for with the new credit card or bank account, then select Update
payment details.

3. Select the drop-down arrow under Add or select a payment method, then choose New credit card
or New bank account.
4. Enter the information for the new credit card or bank account, then select Submit.

NOTE
The new credit card or bank account will only be used for the Office 365 subscription you chose in step 2. If you
have other subscriptions that you want to use the new credit card or bank account for, follow the steps in this
article to change the credit card or bank account used to pay for each subscription.

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.

2. Pick the subscription you want to pay for with the new credit card or bank account, then select Update
payment details.

3. Select the drop-down arrow under Add or select a payment method, then choose New credit card
or New bank account.

4. Enter the information for the new credit card or bank account, then select Submit.
 NOTE
The new credit card or bank account will only be used for the Office 365 subscription you chose in step 2. If you
have other subscriptions that you want to use the new credit card or bank account for, follow the steps in this
article to change the credit card or bank account used to pay for each subscription.

Update an existing credit card or bank account

NOTE
You can't change the number on an existing credit card or bank account. If for some reason the credit card or bank
account number has changed, add it as a new credit card or bank account, pick it as the payment option for your
subscription, then remove the existing credit card or bank account. You must use a credit card issued from the same
country as your tenant.

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Bills & payments page.
2. On the Payment methods tab, next to the payment method you want to update, select the More menu
(3 dots), and then select Edit payment method.

NOTE
If another admin purchased the subscription, you won't be able to update the credit card or bank account
information for it. If the credit card is about to expire and the other administrator isn't able to update it, you can
prevent service interruption by adding a different credit card or new bank account for the subscription.

3. Update your credit card or bank account information (name on the credit card or bank account, billing
address, security code, or expiration date) as needed, and then select Save.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
2. Pick the subscription you bought with the credit card bank account that you want to update, then select
Update payment details.

NOTE
If another admin purchased the subscription, you won't be able to update the credit card or bank account
information for it. If the credit card is about to expire and the other administrator isn't able to update it, you can
prevent service interruption by adding a different credit card or new bank account for the subscription.

3. Select the drop-down arrow under Add or select a payment method, choose the credit card or bank
account that you want to update, then select Edit details.
4. Update your credit card or bank account information (name on the credit card or bank account, billing
address. phone number, or expiration date) as needed, then select Submit.
5. A confirmation message should appear. If it doesn't, see Troubleshooting credit cards and bank accounts.

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.

2. Pick the subscription you bought with the credit card bank account that you want to update, then select
Update payment details.

NOTE
If another admin purchased the subscription, you won't be able to update the credit card or bank account
information for it. If the credit card is about to expire and the other administrator isn't able to update it, you can
prevent service interruption by adding a different credit card or new bank account for the subscription.

3. Select the drop-down arrow under Add or select a payment method, choose the credit card or bank
account that you want to update, then select Edit details.
4. Update your credit card or bank account information (name on the credit card or bank account, billing
address. phone number, or expiration date) as needed, then select Submit.
5. A confirmation message should appear. If it doesn't, see Troubleshooting credit cards and bank accounts.

Remove a credit card or bank account

NOTE
You can remove a credit card or bank account, as long as you don't have an outstanding balance on the credit card or
bank account, and you're not using it to pay for an active subscription. To remove an active payment method, add a new
card number or bank account, change your subscription to that payment method, and then delete the old credit card or
bank account.

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Bills & payments page.
2. On the Payment methods tab, select the name of the credit card or bank account you want to delete.
3. At the bottom of the Payment method details pane, select Delete.

NOTE
You won't be able to remove a credit card or bank account if it's currently being used to pay for a subscription.

4. In the Delete payment method pane, select Delete.

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
2. Pick any subscription, then select Update payment details.
3. Select the drop-down arrow under Add or select a payment method, choose the credit card or bank
account that you want to delete, then select Remove.

4. Select Remove again to delete the credit card or bank account.

NOTE
You won't be able to remove a credit card or bank account if it's currently being used to pay for a subscription. If
you try, you'll get a message that looks like this:

To remove the credit card or bank account, select Back and follow the steps in this article to change the credit
card or bank account that you're using to pay for the subscription. Then try removing the credit card or bank
account again.

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.

2. Pick any subscription, then select Update payment details.

3. Select the drop-down arrow under Add or select a payment method, choose the credit card or bank
account that you want to delete, then select Remove.
4. Select Remove again to delete the credit card or bank account.

NOTE
You won't be able to remove a credit card or bank account if it's currently being used to pay for a subscription. If
you try, you'll get a message that looks like this:

To remove the credit card or bank account, select Back and follow the steps in this article to change the credit
card or bank account that you're using to pay for the subscription. Then try removing the credit card or bank
account again.

Change the credit card or bank account that you're using to pay for a
subscription
NOTE
If you only have one payment method, you must add a new credit card or bank account to your subscription before you
can change to a different method.

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Bills & payments page.
2. On the Payment methods tab, next to the payment method you want to update, select the More menu
(3 dots), and then select Change subscriptions.
3. In the Change payment method pane, select a new payment method from the list, and then choose
Change.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
2. Pick the subscription that you want to pay for with the new credit card or bank account, then select
Update payment details.
3. Select the drop-down arrow under Add or select a payment method, then choose the credit card or
bank account that you want to use.

4. Select Submit. If the credit card or bank account that you want to use isn't listed yet, pick New credit
card or New bank account to add it.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
2. Pick the subscription that you want to pay for with the new credit card or bank account, then select
Update payment details.

3. Select the drop-down arrow under Add or select a payment method, then choose the credit card or
bank account that you want to use.
4. Select Submit. If the credit card or bank account that you want to use isn't listed yet, pick New credit
card or New bank account to add it.

Troubleshooting credit cards and bank accounts

ISSUE TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS

I get an error message that says "The browser is Set your browser to allow third-party cookies and try again.
currently set to block cookies."

My credit card was declined. If you pay by credit card, and your credit card is declined,
you'll receive an email letting you know that we were unable
to process the payment. Double-check that the credit card
details - card number, expiration date, name on the credit
card, and address, including city, state, and ZIP code -
appear exactly as they do on the credit card and your credit
card statement. You can update your credit card information
and immediately submit the payment by using the Pay now
feature. For more information, see What if my credit card
was declined and my payment is past due?.

If you continue to see the "declined" message, contact your

bank. It's possible that your credit card isn't active—for
example, if you recently received the credit card in the mail
with an updated expiration date, you may still need to
activate it. Your bank can also tell you if your credit card is
not approved for online, international, or recurring
transactions.

I need to update a credit card or bank account number. You can't change the number on an existing credit card or
bank account. If for some reason your credit card or bank
account number has changed, add the new card number or
bank account, change your subscription to that payment
method, and then delete the old credit card or bank account.

I only have one credit card or bank account on my If you only have one credit card or bank account, you'll get
account and I want to remove it. an error message when you try to remove it. To fix this,
make sure that you're using a different payment method to
pay for all of your subscriptions, then try removing the
credit card or bank account again.

I can't add my credit card or bank account. If you have trouble entering your credit card or bank
account information, you can contact support.

Related topics
Change your payment method
Change your billing addresses
Cancel your subscription
 Change your payment method for Office 365 for
business
9/27/2019 • 10 minutes to read • Edit Online

TIP
Need help with the steps in this topic? We’ve got you covered. Make an appointment at your local Microsoft Store with an
Answer Desk expert to help resolve your issue. Go to the Microsoft Stores page and choose your location to schedule an
appointment.

When you buy Office 365 for business, you choose to pay by credit card or bank account, pay by invoice, or pay
by using a prepaid product key. You can switch between paying by credit card or bank account and paying by
invoice at any time during your subscription. If you paid using a prepaid product key, you can choose to switch
over to paying by credit card or bank account, or to paying by invoice after your licensing period has ended. After
you switch payment methods, your users will continue to have the same license assignments as before.

IMPORTANT
Paying by using a bank account is not available in some countries or regions.

Just want to change your credit card or bank account information? See Add, update, or remove a credit
card or bank account in Office 365 for business.
What if I have an outstanding balance?
If you're moving from invoice to credit card or bank account, your existing invoice charges won't be transferred to
your credit card or bank account, so be sure to pay any outstanding invoice balance by wire transfer. In some
regions, you can also pay your outstanding balance by check. See your invoice for more information about paying
your outstanding balance.
If you're moving from credit card or bank account to invoice, any outstanding balance will be transferred to your
next invoice.

NOTE
If you pay by credit card, and your credit card is declined, you'll receive an email letting you know that we were unable to
process the payment. You can update your credit card information and immediately submit the payment by using the Pay
now button on the Subscriptions page. For more information, see What if my credit card was declined and my payment is
past due?

When you buy Office 365 for business, you choose to pay by credit card or bank account, pay by invoice, or pay
by using a prepaid product key. You can switch between paying by credit card or bank account and paying by
invoice at any time during your subscription. If you paid using a prepaid product key, you can choose to switch
over to paying by credit card or bank account, or to paying by invoice after your licensing period has ended.

NOTE
After you switch payment methods, your users will continue to have the same license assignments as before.
Want to change your payment frequency? If you want to change how frequently you pay for your
subscription, either from annual to monthly or monthly to annual, you'll need to call Office 365 support for help.
Just want to change your credit card or bank account information? See Add, update, or remove a credit
card or bank account in Office 365 for business.
What if I have an outstanding balance?
If you're moving from invoice to credit card or bank account, your existing invoice charges won't be transferred to
your credit card or bank account, so be sure to pay any outstanding invoice balance by wire transfer. In some
regions, you can also pay your outstanding balance by check. See your invoice for more information about paying
your outstanding balance.
If you're moving from credit card or bank account to invoice, any outstanding balance will be transferred to your
next invoice.

NOTE
If you pay by credit card, and your credit card is declined, you'll receive an email letting you know that we were unable to
process the payment. You can update your credit card information and immediately submit the payment by using the Pay
now button on the Subscriptions page. For more information, see What if my credit card was declined and my payment is
past due?

Change from invoice to credit card or bank account

TIP
The following steps apply to individual subscriptions only. If you have multiple subscriptions in your organization, complete
these steps for each subscription that you want to change.

When you change from paying by invoice to paying by credit card or bank account, we automatically create a new
subscription for you, move your users to the new subscription, and then disable your old subscription. Don't
worry, your users won't see a disruption in service and all of their information will be available through the new
subscription.

IMPORTANT
You cannot use the new admin center to change from invoice to credit card or bank account.

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing> Subscriptions page.

2. Find the subscription that you want to change. In the Payment details section, select Change payment
details.
3. In the Change payment details pane, select Change your payment method.
4. In the Change your payment method dialog box, select Continue.
5. On the How does this look? page, you can optionally increase the number of users licenses that you want
for this subscription. To continue, select Next.
6. Some subscriptions have the option to choose a monthly or annual commitment. If you see a choice to pay
by the year or by the month on the How do you want to pay? page, choose how frequently you want to
pay.
7. In the Payment method list, choose Existing card, New credit card, or New bank account.
8. If you chose the New credit card or New bank account option in step 9, fill out the rest of your payment
information.
9. When you're done filling out the form, select Place order.
When you return to the Subscriptions page, you will see the old subscription marked Disabled and the new one
marked Active. You can let the old subscription expire.

Change from invoice to credit card or bank account

TIP
The following steps apply to individual subscriptions only. If you have multiple subscriptions in your organization, complete
these steps for each subscription that you want to change.

When you change from paying by invoice to paying by credit card or bank account, we automatically create a new
subscription for you, move your users to the new subscription, and then disable your old subscription. Don't
worry, your users won't see a disruption in service and all of their information will be available through the new
subscription.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing> Subscriptions page.
2. Find the subscription that you want to change. In the Payment details section, select Change payment
details.
3. In the Change payment details pane, select Change your payment method.
4. In the Change your payment method dialog box, select Continue.
5. On the How does this look? page, you can optionally increase the number of users licenses that you want
for this subscription. To continue, select Next.
6. Some subscriptions have the option to choose a monthly or annual commitment. If you see a choice to pay
by the year or by the month on the How do you want to pay? page, choose how frequently you want to
pay.
7. In the Payment method list, choose Existing card, New credit card, or New bank account.
8. If you chose the New credit card or New bank account option in step 9, fill out the rest of your payment
information.
9. When you're done filling out the form, select Place order.
When you return to the Subscriptions page, you will see the old subscription marked Disabled and the new one
marked Active. You can let the old subscription expire.

Change from credit card or bank account to invoice

NOTE
The option to pay by invoice is only available if your subscription costs over a certain amount (which varies by service
location). A credit check might be required for larger invoice payments. To learn more, see Pay for your Office 365 for
business subscription.
 IMPORTANT
You cannot use the new admin center to change from credit card or bank account to invoice.

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing> Subscriptions page.

2. Find the subscription that you want to change. In the Payment method section, select Change payment
details.

3. In the Change payment details pane, select Change your payment method.

TIP
If the Change your payment method link isn't displayed, it means that switching from credit card or bank account
to invoice isn't available for the subscription because the subscription doesn't meet the minimum cost amount for
billing by invoice. The minimum cost amount required to be billed by invoice varies by geographic location.

4. In the Change your payment method dialog box, select Continue.

5. Select OK to return to the admin center.

Change from credit card or bank account to invoice

NOTE
The option to pay by invoice is only available if your subscription costs over a certain amount (which varies by service
location). A credit check might be required for larger invoice payments. To learn more, see Pay for your Office 365 for
business subscription.

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing> Subscriptions page.

2. Find the subscription that you want to change. In the Payment method section, select Change payment
details.
3. In the Change payment details pane, select Change your payment method.

TIP
If the Change your payment method link isn't displayed, it means that switching from credit card or bank account
to invoice isn't available for the subscription because the subscription doesn't meet the minimum cost amount for
billing by invoice. The minimum cost amount required to be billed by invoice varies by geographic location.

4. In the Change your payment method dialog box, select Continue.

5. Select OK to return to the admin center.

Verify which payment method is configured

You can use the following steps at any time to verify the payment method that's configured for a subscription.
Use the new admin center to verify which payment method is configured
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing> Products & services page.
2. Find the subscription that you want to verify. The payment method that's configured for the subscription
appears in the Billing section.
Use the old admin center to verify which payment method is configured
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing> Subscriptions page.
2. Find the subscription that you want to verify. The payment method that's configured for the subscription
appears under Payment method.

Verify which payment method is configured

You can use the following steps at any time to verify the payment method that's configured for a subscription.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing> Subscriptions page.
2. Find the subscription that you want to verify. The payment method that's configured for the subscription
appears under Payment method.

Change your payment frequency

IMPORTANT
You cannot use the old admin center to change your payment frequency. If you want to change how frequently you pay for
your subscription, either from annual to monthly or monthly to annual, you'll need to select the Try the new admin center
toggle located at the top of the Home page, or call Office 365 support for help.

The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing> Products & services page.
2. Find the subscription that you want to change. In the Billing section, next to either Billed monthly or
Billed annually, select Edit.
3. Choose the option for how often you want to be billed, then select Change.
When you purchase Office 365 operated by 21Vianet in China, you choose either to pay by invoice, or by online
payment using Alipay or China UnionPay. You can change your payment method later by calling support and
going through the purchasing process again.
 NOTE
If your subscription costs under a certain amount of money (this amount varies by service location), the invoice payment
method is not available as an option. If your subscription costs over a certain amount of money, you will have the option to
pay by invoice. A credit check may be required for larger invoice payments.

1. Call the 21Vianet support team.

2. Wait while the support agent puts your subscription in a "canceled - reduced functionality" or "expired"
state. Don't worry, your users will still be able to use their services during this time.
3. While on the phone with the service agent, purchase a new subscription and, during checkout, choose the
payment method you want to switch to.
After you complete these steps, your payment method will be changed and your users will continue to have the
same license assignments as before.
 Change your billing addresses for Office 365 for
business
9/27/2019 • 5 minutes to read • Edit Online

Your bill or invoice contains three addresses:

Sold-To Address Your company name and address, as shown in your organization profile.
Bill-To address The address of your billing department, usually the same as the Sold-To address.
Service Usage Address The address where the service is being used, usually the same as the Sold-To
address. If your organization has remote users or multiple offices, use the address where the majority of
your users are located.
In most cases, these addresses are the same. If you need to change one or more of the addresses, you can do
that. You can also provide an alternate email address to receive billing notifications, and change the alternate
email address for other admins.
To learn more about your bill or invoice, see View your bill or invoice and Understand your invoice.
To learn more about your bill or invoice, see View your bill or invoice and Understand your invoice.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet in China, see View your bill or get Fapiaos for Office 365
operated by 21Vianet.

Change your Sold-To address

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Billing accounts page.
2. select Edit billing account information.
3. Update your organization information, then select Save.

Change your Bill-To address

Use the new admin center to change your Bill-To address
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Payment methods page.
2. Select the credit card or bank account that you want to change.
3. On the Payment method details page, select Edit.
4. Update your billing address, then select Save > Done.
Use the old admin center to change your Bill-To address
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
2. Select the subscription you want to change, then select Change payment details.
3. Credit card and bank account customers: On the Change payment details page, select the credit card or
bank account that you want to update, select Edit details, update your billing address, then select Submit

NOTE
The ability to pay by bank account isn't available in some countries or regions.

Invoice customers: On the Change payment details page, update your billing address, then select
Submit.

NOTE
The ability to pay an invoice by check isn't available in some countries or regions.

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.

2. Select the subscription you want to change, then select Change payment details.

3. Credit card and bank account customers: On the Change payment details page, select the credit card or
bank account that you want to update, select Edit details, update your billing address, then select
Submit.

NOTE
The ability to pay by bank account isn't available in some countries or regions.

Invoice customers: On the Change payment details page, update your billing address, then select
Submit.

NOTE
The ability to pay an invoice by check isn't available in some countries or regions.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
2. Select the subscription you want to change, then select Change payment details.

3. On the Change payment details page, update your billing address, and then select Submit.
You can Change your payment method for Office 365 operated by 21Vianet from Invoice to Online
payment using Alipay or China UnionPay, or vice versa.

Change your service usage address

Use the new admin center to change your service usage address
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Products & services page.
2. Find the subscription you want to change. In the Settings & Actions section, select Edit service usage
address.
3. In the Edit your service usage address pane, update your address, then select Save.
Use the old admin center to change your service usage address
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
2. Select the subscription you want to change, select More actions, then choose Edit service usage
address.

3. In the Edit your service usage address pane, update your address, then select Submit.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
2. Select the subscription you want to change, select More actions, then choose Edit service usage
address.

3. In the Edit your service usage address pane, update your address, then select Submit.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
2. Select the subscription you want to change, select More actions, then choose Edit service usage
address.
3. In the Edit your service usage address pane, update your address, then select Submit.

Change the alternate email address your billing notifications are sent
to
By default, your organization's billing notifications are sent to the Office 365 email address and the alternate
email address of every global and billing admin in your organization. Each admin can change their alternate
email address by updating their profile information.
1. Sign in to Office 365 with your work or school account as a global admin. Learn how to sign in.
2. Select the User icon, then select My account.
3. Select Personal info.
4. In the Contact details box, select Edit.
5. In the Alternate email box, type the alternate email address you want to use, then select Save.

Change the alternate email address for another admin

You can also change the alternate email address of other global and billing admins in your organization.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Billing notifications page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Billing notifications page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Billing Notifications page.
2. On the Billing notifications page, select the admin you want to change.
3. In the Edit user roles pane, type the alternate email address you want to use, then select Save.
 What tax will I be charged for Office 365?
9/27/2019 • 3 minutes to read • Edit Online

Find out what tax you're charged in the following regions. You can also apply for tax exempt status by providing
the proper documentation to Support.

Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA)

When you buy Office 365 services in the European Union, this purchase is subject to Value-Added Tax (VAT).
If you're located in a European Union Member State and you do not provide your valid local VAT ID,
Microsoft Ireland Operations Ltd. will apply current local VAT rate, based on the billing country your
account is set to.
If you're located in Switzerland or Liechtenstein, the current Swiss VAT rate is applied, whether you provide
your VAT ID or not.
Generally, if you're located in an EMEA country outside the European Union and Switzerland/Liechtenstein,
VAT is not charged by Microsoft Ireland Operations Ltd.
Before we can validate your VAT ID, it must be available for verification in the VAT Information Exchange
System (VIES ). If your VAT ID cannot be verified, please contact your local tax authority.
You might qualify for VAT zero-rating:
If you're in a European Union Member State outside Ireland: You can provide your valid local VAT ID.
This will entitle Microsoft Ireland Operations Ltd. to VAT zero-rate the transaction. However, you may have
a local VAT accounting obligation, so please check with your tax advisers if you have any concerns. For
instructions, see "Add your VAT ID (EU countries only)" below.
If you're in Ireland and you have relevant valid VAT exemption certification: Microsoft Ireland
Operations Ltd. may be entitled to exempt the transaction from VAT. If you don't, Microsoft Ireland
Operations Ltd. applies the current Irish VAT rate, whether you provide a VAT ID or not.
Add your VAT ID (EU countries only)
Use the new admin center to add your VAT ID
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Products & services page.
2. Find the subscription card for the subscription you want to update.
3. In the Settings & Actions section, select Edit service usage address.
4. On the Edit your service usage address page, enter your VAT ID in the VAT number box, and then select
Save.
Use the old admin center to add your VAT ID
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Subscriptions page.
2. Select the subscription name, and then select More actions > Edit VAT number.
3. On the Edit your service usage address page, enter your VAT ID in the VAT number box, and then select
Submit.

Asia Pacific countries (APAC)

If you're billed by the Microsoft Regional Sales office, "Microsoft Regional Sales" appears on your invoice, and
you're usually not charged a consumption or Value-Added Tax (VAT) tax unless it is a domestic sale.
If you're billed from another location, the current local tax is applied. You'll see the following on your invoice:
Singapore to Singapore
Korea to Korea
Japan to Japan
Taiwan to Taiwan

North, Central, and South America

In the United States and Canada, various tax rates apply depending on your location. In Puerto Rico, local Value-
Added Tax (VAT) charges apply.
If your billing is done by Microsoft Corporation (see your invoice), and you signed up for Office 365 outside of the
United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, then tax is generally not charged.

Related topics
Apply for tax exempt status
View your bill
Understand your invoice
 Apply for tax exempt status for Office 365 for
business
9/27/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

If you qualify for tax exempt status in your country or region, please contact support to create a service request to
establish tax exempt status for your subscription. You'll have to provide the following documentation when you
submit your request:

LOCATION DOCUMENTATION

United States and Canada Sales Use Tax Certificate

Puerto Rico Certificado de Compras Exentas

Ireland 13B/56A Tax Exemption Certificate

International organizations that hold tax exemption Certification/letter confirmation from relevant local tax
authorities

Related topics
What tax will I be charged?
 Renew Office 365 for business
8/24/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

This article applies to most paid Office 365 for business subscriptions.
To renew by using a product key that you bought from a retail store or Office 365 partner, see Find and enter
your product key.

NOTE
Paying by bank account isn't available in some countries or regions.

Turn Recurring billing off or on

If you pay by credit card or bank account, Recurring billing is turned on by default. When Recurring billing is
on, your subscription will continue to be billed each year on the day you subscribed. You can turn it off or back
on again in the admin center if your subscription is active.
If you prepaid for your subscription with a product key, your subscription will expire at the end of subscription
term. You can turn on Recurring billing and provide credit card or bank account information so that your
subscription will continue to be billed every year on the day you subscribed. You also have the option to pay
every month, or to pay for the entire year up front. Your credit card or bank account will not be charged until
your initial subscription term has expired.
Use the new admin center to turn recurring billing off or on
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Products & services page.
2. Choose the subscription for which you want to manage recurring billing.
3. Under Billing, next to Renews on or Expiring on, select edit.
4. In the Recurring billing settings pane, select Turn OFF to turn it off. If recurring billing is already turned
off, select Monthly or Once to turn it on.
5. Select Submit change.

NOTE
You can only change the Recurring billing setting for active subscriptions. If your subscription has already
expired or is disabled, you will need to reactivate it before you can turn Recurring billing on or off.
When Recurring billing is turned off, the subscription isn't cancelled right away. It remains active until it
expires. You can view the expiration date in the Billing section of the subscription details on the Products &
services page.
To learn how to cancel the subscription right away, see Cancel my subscription.

Use the old admin center to turn recurring billing on or off

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
 If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Subscriptions page.
2. Choose the subscription for which you want to manage recurring billing.
3. To turn on Recurring billing, switch the toggle to On.

You can turn off Recurring billing by switching the toggle to Off.

NOTE
You can only change the Recurring billing setting for active subscriptions. If your subscription has already
expired or is disabled, you will need to reactivate it before you can turn Recurring billing on or off.
When Recurring billing is turned off, the subscription isn't cancelled right away. It remains active until it
expires. You can view the expiration date on the subscription card
To learn how to cancel the subscription right away, see Cancel my subscription.

Related topics
Reactivate your subscription
Add, update, or remove a credit card or bank account
What happens to my data and access when mysubscription ends?
Enter your product key
Buy your trial version of Office 365 for business
 Reactivate your subscription
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

If your subscription expires, or was disabled by Microsoft, or if you cancelled it in the middle of a subscription
term, you can reactivate it in the admin center.
Not an admin? Contact your administration to reactivate your subscription.

Use the new admin center to reactivate your subscription

The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Products & services page.
2. On the Products & services page, find the subscription that you want to reactivate. In the Billing section,
select Reactivate.
If you don't see Reactivate as an available action, call Support to reactivate your subscription.
3. Confirm your payment details. You can update your existing payment information here. When you're
finished entering your payment method, select Reactivate.
If your subscription was expired, then after you submit your payment details, your subscription returns to
an active state, and the Next billing date extends by either one month or one year, depending on your
current subscription commitment. If you pay by credit card or bank account, your credit card or bank
account will be charged for the extension. If you pay by invoice, you'll see the extension reflected on your
next invoice. To make sure that your subscription doesn't expire again, follow the steps to Turn Recurring
billing on or off.

NOTE
The ability to pay by bank account isn't available in some countries or regions.

If your subscription was cancelled, or was disabled because a payment wasn't received, it returns to an
active state, and your Next billing date stays the same.

Use the old admin center to reactivate your subscription

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Subscriptions page.
2. Find the subscription that you want to reactivate, then select Reactivate.
 If you don't see Reactivate as an available action, call Support to reactivate your subscription.
3. Enter your payment details. You can update your existing payment information here.
If your subscription was expired, then after you submit your payment details, your subscription returns to
an active state, and the Next billing date extends by either one month or one year, depending on your
current subscription commitment. If you pay by credit card or bank account, your credit card or bank
account will be charged for the extension. If you pay by invoice, you'll see the extension reflected on your
next invoice. To make sure that your subscription doesn't expire again, follow the steps to Turn Recurring
billing on or off.

NOTE
The ability to pay by bank account isn't available in some countries or regions.

If your subscription was cancelled, or was disabled because a payment wasn't received, it returns to an
active state, and your Next billing date stays the same.
 Switch to a different Office 365 for business plan
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

When your business changes, or you need more features, you can switch plans.
The easiest way to switch plans is to use the Switch plans button in the admin center. However, using the Switch
plans button isn't supported in all situations. In some cases, you might be able to switch plans manually.

NOTE
This article applies to the old admin center. To view the article about the new admin center, see Upgrade to a different plan.
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins, and you can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin center.

Need something else?

Cancel your subscription
Upgrade Office 365 for home to a business subscription
Call Microsoft Support

Use the Switch plans button

When you use the Switch plans button, you're led through the process of buying a new plan that you can switch
your current plan to, all users are automatically assigned licenses in the new plan, and your old plan is canceled
for you.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Subscriptions page.
2. Select Switch plans to view the list of new plans that are available.
The Switch plans button isn't there | I don't see the plan I want
3. Select a plan to see the new total cost per month. Be sure to read the key information, then select Next
to check out.
Help me choose a new plan.
4. Select Chat now on the Checkout page if you need help.
When you finish checkout, Office 365 takes a few minutes to finalize the switch. You can start using your
new subscription right away.

The Switch plans button isn't there

If the Switch plans button isn't available, you can try to switch plans manually or call Support. For more
information, see Why can't I switch plans?
Here's why this can happen:
You're using more than one Office 365 plan. You can only use the Switch plans button if all users
 subscribe to the same plan.
You're already using Office 365 Enterprise E5, so you already have all the functionality available in Office
365.

I don't see the plan I want

When you use the Switch plans button, the plans that you can switch to are displayed based on the services in
your current plan. You can only use the Switch plans button to switch to a plan that has the same data-related
services, or to a higher version. This ensures that users don't lose data related to those services during the switch.
To compare plans before switching, see the Office 365 for business product comparison page. For technical
specifications, see Office 365 Service Descriptions.
If you want to switch to a plan with fewer services, you can switch plans manually, or Call Microsoft Support for
help.

Why some switches take longer

Credit checks when switching plans: If you pay by invoice, or reach a certain level of cost, a credit check might
be required. A credit check can take up to two business days. Users will have full access to their current plan until
you switch them to the new one.
Verification of non-profit status: It normally takes 30 days to complete the verification process for your non-
profit status. If it has been more than 30 days, please contact support.

Call support to help you switch plans

Call support
 What does upgrading Office 365 plans do to my
service and billing?
9/25/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

When you upgrade plans automatically by using the Switch plans button (or the Upgrade tab in the new admin
center), your services and billing are affected.

Access to services
Admins won't be able to use the admin center while the plan is being upgraded. This can take up to an hour.
Users will experience no interruption of service. They will continue to have the existing service until the upgrade is
fully completed.

Users and licenses

Users on the old subscription will automatically be moved to the new subscription.
If your old subscription includes multiple services, and if you have changed which of these services your users are
assigned to, you may want to make note of this before you upgrade plans so that you can recreate these changes
afterwards. All users will be given access to all services in the new subscription. For example, if you previously
purchased Office 365 Enterprise E3 for all 100 of your users, but unassigned the SharePoint Online service from
50 of them, this change would not be kept after you upgrade plans.
If you have more than one subscription before you upgrade plans, and have users assigned licenses to more than
one subscription, this assignment pattern will be kept as much as possible in the new subscription.
All user data will be retained during the upgrade, including Exchange mailboxes and SharePoint Online
documents, lists, and other information.

Billing
The day your plan upgrade is complete, the billing on your old subscription will be turned off and the billing on
your new subscription will be turned on. You'll get a prorated credit for any unused service on the old subscription.
You'll receive a new invoice that includes the credit for your old subscription within 30 days of upgrading to the
new subscription.

NOTE
The length of time it takes to actually credit your payment account depends on the payment method that was used for the
subscription.

Upgrading from a prepaid subscription before it expires? If the total cost of your new subscription is greater
than or equal to the remaining value of your prepaid subscription, you won't lose any prepaid time. On the
checkout page, you'll see a credit for your unused time. However, if the total cost of your new subscription is less
than the remaining value of your current prepaid subscription, you'll forfeit some of your unused time. You'll be
notified before you checkout, and you can wait to upgrade until closer to your prepaid subscription's expiration
date.
Call support to help you upgrade plans
Call Microsoft Support
 Back up data before switching Office 365 for business
plans
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

If a user will be switched to another subscription that has fewer data-related services or a user leaves the
organization, a copy of their data that's stored in Office 365 can be downloaded before they are switched to the
new subscription.

Save a copy of Outlook information

If users have Outlook, they can export or backup email, contacts, and calendar to an Outlook .pst file before their
plan is switched.
After the switch to the new plan is finished, users can Import email, contacts, and calendar from an Outlook .pst
file.

Save files stored in OneDrive for Business

Before being switched to a different subscription, users can download files and folders from OneDrive or
SharePoint to a different location, such as a folder on their computer's hard drive, or a file share on the
organization's network.

Save Yammer information

Admins can export all messages, notes, files, topics, users, and groups to a .zip file. For more information, see
Export data from Yammer Enterprise. Developers can use the Yammer API to do this, as well.

How to save SharePoint information

If a user is switched from a subscription that has SharePoint Online to one that doesn't have it, the SharePoint tile
will no longer appear in their Office 365 menu.
However, as long as the new subscription is within the same organization as the one they are switched from, users
will still be able to access the SharePoint team site. They can view and update notebooks, documents, tasks, and
calendars by using the direct URL to the team site.

TIP
We recommend that users go to the team site before their subscription is switched and save the URL as a favorite or
bookmark in their browser.

By default, the URL of the team website is in this form:

https://<orgDomain>/_layouts/15/start.aspx#/SitePages/Home.aspx

where <orgDomain> is the organization's URL.

For example, if the domain of the organization is contoso.onmicrosoft.com, then the direct URL to the team site
would be https://contoso.onmicrosoft.com/_layouts/15/start.aspx#/SitePages/Home.aspx.
Of course, users can also download SharePoint Online documents from the SharePoint team site to their local
computer or to another location at any time.
 Cancel your subscription
10/3/2019 • 4 minutes to read • Edit Online

Eligibility: If you have fewer than 25 licenses assigned to users, you can cancel your Office 365 for business trial
or paid subscription online in the admin center at any time. If you have more than 25 licenses assigned to users,
call support to cancel your subscription.
Refund: Any prorated credit will be returned to you within the next billing cycle.

NOTE
If you have multiple subscriptions to the same product, such as Office 365 Enterprise E3, cancelling one of them will not
impact the purchased licenses or services inside the other subscriptions.

Steps to cancel your subscription

If you added your own domain name to use with your subscription, you must remove the domain before you
cancel your subscription. For more information, see Remove a domain from Office 365.
Use the new admin center to cancel your subscription
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Products & services page.
2. Find the subscription that you want to cancel, and under Settings & Actions, select Cancel
subscription.
3. Review the important dates, provide feedback about why you are cancelling, then select Cancel
subscription.
Your subscription now appears in a Disabled state, and has reduced functionality until it's deleted. For
more information about what you can expect when a paid Office 365 for business subscription is
canceled, see What happens to my data and access when my Office 365 for business subscription ends?
Use the old admin center to cancel your subscription
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Subscriptions page.
2. On the Subscriptions page, select a subscription.
3. From the More actions menu, select Cancel subscription.

4. Review the important dates, provide feedback about why you are cancelling, then select Cancel
subscription.
 Your subscription now appears in a Disabled state, and has reduced functionality until it's deleted. For
more information about what you can expect when a paid Office 365 for business subscription is
canceled, see What happens to my data and access when my Office 365 for business subscription ends?

Other steps you might have to take

Change custom domain settings
If you use a custom domain with your subscription, there are a few extra steps that you must do before you can
cancel your subscription. If you don't have a custom domain, you can skip ahead to Save your data.
Change your domain nameserver records (if needed)
If you set up a custom domain, you added DNS records so the domain would work with Office 365 services.
Before you remove your domain, be sure to update the DNS records, such as your domain MX record, at your
DNS host.
For example, change the MX record at your DNS host. Email sent to your domain stops coming to your Office
365 address and goes to your new email provider instead. (An MX record determines where email for your
domain is sent.)
If your nameserver (NS ) records are pointing to Office 365 nameservers, changes to your MX record
don't take effect until you change your NS records to point to your new DNS host (see Step 2).
Before you update the MX record, let your users know the date you plan to switch their email, and the
new email provider you plan to use. Also, if your users want to move their existing Office 365 email to
the new provider, they must take extra steps.
On the day you change the MX record, follow the rest of the steps in this article.
Update your domain MX and other DNS records (if you're using a custom domain )
If you switched your nameserver (NS ) records to Office 365 when you set up your domain, you must set up or
update your MX record and other DNS records at the DNS host you plan to use, and then change your NS
record to that DNS host.
If you didn't switch NS records when you set up your domain, when you change the MX record, your mail
starts going to the new address right away.
For more information, see How does Office 365 manage my DNS records?. To change your NS records, see
Remove a domain from Office 365.
Save your data
When the cancellation becomes effective, your users lose access to their dat. Before you cancel the subscription,
have them save their OneDrive for Business or SharePoint Online files to another location. Any customer data
that you leave behind might be deleted after 90 days, and is deleted no later than 180 days after cancellation.
To move email, contacts, tasks, and calendar information to another account, see Export or backup email,
contacts, and calendar to an Outlook .pst file.
To save a document library or list content (such as contacts) from a SharePoint Online environment
(OneDrive for Business or team sites) to file shares or to a local computer, see Manual migration of
SharePoint Online content.
Uninstall Office (optional)
If you canceled your subscription, and didn't move users to a different subscription that includes Office, Office
365 runs in reduced functionality mode. When this happens, users can only read and print documents, and
Office 365 applications display Unlicensed Product notifications. To avoid any confusion, have your users
uninstall Office from their machines.
Related topics
Renew your subscription
Reactivate your subscription
Switch to a different plan or subscription
 What happens to my data and access when my
Office 365 for business subscription ends?
7/5/2019 • 10 minutes to read • Edit Online

If your subscription ends—either because it expires, or because you decide to cancel—your access to Office 365
services, applications, and customer data go through multiple states before the subscription is fully turned off, or
deprovisioned. If you are aware of this progression, you'll be better equipped to return your subscription to an
active state before it's too late, or—if you're leaving Office 365—back up your data before it is ultimately deleted.

Office 365 for business: Subscription lifecycle

The following table explains what you can expect when a paid Office 365 for business subscription expires.

EXPIRED DISABLED
ACTIVE (30 DAYS*) (90 DAYS*) DEPROVISIONED

Data accessible to all Data accessible to all Data accessible to admins Data deleted
only Azure Active Directory is
removed, if not in use by
other services

Users have normal access to Users have normal access to Users can't access Office Users can't access Office
Office 365, data, and Office Office 365, files, and 365, files, or applications 365, files, or applications
applications applications

Admins have normal access Admins can access the Admins can access the Admins can access the
to Office 365, data, and admin center admin center, but can't admin center to purchase
Office applications assign licenses to users and manage other
subscriptions

Global or billing admins can Global or billing admins can

reactivate the subscription in reactivate the subscription in
the admin center the admin center

*For most offers, in most countries and regions.

NOTE
What is "customer data"? Customer data, as defined in the Microsoft Online Service Terms, refers to all data, including all
text, sound, or image files that are provided to Microsoft by, or on behalf of, the customer through the customer's use of
Office 365 services. To learn more about the protection of customer data, see the Get started with the Microsoft Service
Trust Portal.

What are my options if my subscription is about to expire?

While a subscription is active, you and your end users have normal access to your data, services like email and
OneDrive for Business, and Office applications. As the admin, you'll receive a series of notifications via email and
in the admin center as your subscription nears its expiration date.
Before the subscription actually reaches its expiration date, you have a few options:
Enable recurring billing for the subscription.
If Recurring billing is already turned on, you don't have to take any action. Your subscription will be
automatically billed, and you'll be charged for an additional year or month, depending on your
current payment frequency. If for any reason you've turned Recurring billing off, you can always
turn Recurring billing back on.
If you purchased Office 365 Business with a prepaid card, you can turn on Recurring billing for your
subscription.
If you're an Open Volume Licensing customer with a prepaid, one-year subscription, contact your
partner to purchase a new product key. You'll receive instructions via email to activate your key in
the Volume Licensing Service Center. To learn how to find a new partner, or the partner you've
worked with in the past, see Find your Office 365 partner or reseller.
If you have Office 365 Business, see Manage recurring billing for your subscription.
Let the subscription expire.
If you're paying by credit card or invoice and you don't want to continue your subscription,turn
Recurring billing off. Your subscription will expire on its expiration date, and you can ignore all
related email notifications.
If you're an Open Volume Licensing customer working with a partner, you can let your subscription
expire by taking no action.
If you're a Office 365 Small Business Premium customer, and you prepaid for Office 365 and
activated it with a product key, you can let your subscription expire by taking no action.
Cancel before the subscription expires. For details, see Cancel your subscription.
Manage recurring billing for the subscription.
If Recurring billing is already turned on, you don't have to take any action. Your subscription will be
automatically billed, and you'll be charged for an additional year or month, depending on your
current payment frequency. If for any reason you've turned Recurring billing off, you can always
turn Recurring billing back on.
If you purchased Office 365 Business with a prepaid card, you can turn on Recurring billing for your
subscription.
If you're an Open Volume Licensing customer with a prepaid, one-year subscription, contact your
partner to purchase a new product key. You'll receive instructions via email to activate your key in
the Volume Licensing Service Center. To learn how to find a new partner, or the partner you've
worked with in the past, see Find your Office 365 partner or reseller.
If you have Office 365 Business, see Renew Office 365 for business.
Let the subscription expire.
If you're paying by credit card or invoice and you don't want to continue your subscription,turn
Recurring billing off. Your subscription will expire on its expiration date, and you can ignore all
related email notifications.
If you're an Open Volume Licensing customer working with a partner, you can let your subscription
expire by taking no action.
If you're a Office 365 Small Business Premium customer, and you prepaid for Office 365 and
activated it with a product key, you can let your subscription expire by taking no action.
 Cancel before the subscription expires. For details, see Cancel your subscription.
Renew the subscription. If Recurring billing is already turned on, you don't have to take any action.
Your subscription will be automatically billed, and you'll be charged for an additional year or month,
depending on your current payment frequency. If for any reason you've turned Recurring billing off, you
can always turn Recurring billing back on.
Let the subscription expire. If you're paying by credit card or invoice and you don't want to continue your
subscription, turn Recurring billing off. Your subscription will expire on its expiration date, and you can
ignore all related email notifications.
Cancel before the subscription expires. For details, see Cancel your subscription.

What happens after my subscription expires?

If you let your subscription expire, it goes through multiple states before it is ultimately deleted. This gives you, as
the admin, time to reactivate if you want to continue the service, or to back up your data if you decide you no
longer want the subscription.
Here's what you can expect when your subscription is in each state.
State: Expired
What to expect: The expired state lasts for 30 days for most subscriptions, including subscriptions purchased
through Microsoft Open, in most countries and regions. For Volume Licensing products, except for Microsoft
Open, the expired state lasts 90 days.
What to expect: The expired state lasts for 30 days for most subscriptions, including subscriptions purchased
through Microsoft Open, in most countries and regions. For Volume Licensing products, except for Microsoft
Open, the expired state lasts 90 days.
What to expect: The expired state is 30 days for most subscriptions, in most countries and regions.
In this state, users have normal access to the Office 365 portal, Office applications, and services such as email and
SharePoint Online.
As an admin, you still have access to the admin center. Don't worry—global or billing admins can reactivate the
subscription and continue using Office 365. If you don't reactivate, be sure to back up your data.
State: Disabled
What to expect: If you don't reactivate your subscription while it is in the expired state, it moves into a disabled
state, which lasts for 90 days for most subscriptions, in most countries and regions. For Volume Licensing
products, the disabled state lasts 30 days.
What to expect: If you don't reactivate your subscription while it is in the expired state, it moves into a disabled
state, which lasts for 90 days for most subscriptions, in most countries and regions. For Volume Licensing
products, the disabled state lasts 30 days.
What to expect: If you don't reactivate your subscription while it is in the expired state, it moves into a disabled
state, which is 90 days for most subscriptions, in most countries and regions.
In this state, your access decreases significantly. Your users can't sign in, or access services like email or
SharePoint Online. Office applications eventually move into a read-only, reduced functionality mode and display
Unlicensed Product notifications. You can still sign in and get to the admin center, but can't assign licenses to
users. Your customer data, including all user data, email, and files on team sites, is available only to you and other
admins.
As a global or billing admin, you can reactivate the subscription and continue using Office 365 with all of your
customer data intact. If you choose not to reactivate, be sure to back up your data.
State: Deprovisioned
What to expect: If you don't reactivate your subscription while it is in grace or disabled, the subscription is
deprovisioned.
Admins and users no longer have access to the services or Office applications that came with the subscription. All
customer data—from user data to documents and email—is permanently deleted and unable to be recovered in
any way.
At this point, you can't reactivate the subscription. However, as a global or billing admin, you can still access the
admin center to manage other subscriptions, or to buy new subscriptions to meet your business needs.

NOTE
Adding a new subscription of the same type that has been deprovisioned does not restore the data that was associated with
the deprovisioned subscription.

What happens when my trial ends?

When your trial ends, you won't be able to continue using Office 365 for free. You have a few options:
Buy Office 365. When your trial expires, it moves into a grace period, giving you another 30 days (for most
trials, in most countries and regions) to purchase Office 365. To learn how to convert your trial into a paid
subscription, see Buy your trial version of Office 365 for business.
Buy Office 365. When your trial expires, it moves into a grace period, giving you another 30 days (for most
trials, in most countries and regions) to purchase Office 365. To learn how to convert your trial into a paid
subscription, see Buy your trial version of Office 365 for business.
Buy Office 365. When your trial expires, it moves into a grace period, giving you another 30 days (for most
trials, in most countries and regions) to purchase Office 365. To learn how to convert your trial into a paid
subscription, see Buy or try subscriptions for Office 365 operated by 21Vianet.
Extend your trial. Need more time to evaluate Office 365? In certain cases, you may be able to extend
your trial.
Cancel the trial or let it expire. If you decide not to buy Office 365, you can let your trial expire or cancel
it. Be sure to back up any data you want to keep. Soon after the 30 day grace period, your trial account
information and data is permanently erased.

What happens if I cancel a subscription?

If you cancel your subscription before its term end date, the subscription skips the expired state and moves
directly into the disabled state, which is 90 days for most subscriptions, in most countries and regions. We
recommend that you back up your data before canceling, but as an admin, you can still access and back up data
for your organization while it is in the disabled state. Any customer data that you leave behind may be deleted
after 90 days, and will be deleted no later than 180 days after cancellation.
Here's what to expect for you and your users if you cancel a subscription.
Admin access Admins can still sign in and access the admin center, and buy other subscriptions as needed.
As a global or billing admin, you have 90 days to reactivate the subscription with all data intact.
User access Your users won't be able to use services like OneDrive for Business, or access customer data
—for example, email or documents on team sites. Office applications, like Word and Excel, will eventually
move into a read-only, reduced functionality mode and display Unlicensed Product notifications.
To learn how to cancel, see Cancel your subscription.
IMPORTANT
If you want your subscription data to be deleted before the typical Disabled period is over, you can request expedited
deprovisioning. When you request expedited deprovisioning, your subscription data is deleted within 3 days of cancellation.
To use expedited deprovisioning, call support.

NOTE
The information on this page is subject to the Microsoft Policy Disclaimer and Change Notice. Return to this site periodically
to review any such changes.
 Understand subscriptions and licenses in Office 365
for business
10/4/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

This article explains the relationship between subscriptions and licenses, and provides additional information
about who can assign licenses, understanding what happens when you assign a license to someone, and how
many devices can people install Office on. It also includes links to understanding licenses for non-user mailboxes,
and Articles about managing licenses.
When you buy a subscription to Office 365 for business, you sign up for a set of applications and services that you
pay for on a either a monthly or an annual basis. The applications and services that you receive as part of your
subscription depend on which product you purchased, such as Office 365 Business or Office 365 Business
Premium. You can review what comes with each product on the Buy Office 365 page.
When you buy a subscription, you specify the number of licenses that you need, based on how many people you
have in your organization. After your purchase is complete, you create accounts for people, and then assign a
license to each person. As your organizational needs change, you can buy more licenses to accommodate new
people, or reassign licenses to other users when someone leaves your organization.
If you have more than one subscription, you can assign licenses to different people for each subscription. For
example, all of your users could be assigned to all Office 365 applications and services as part of an Office 365
Business Premium subscription, while a subset of users could also be assigned to Visio Online through a separate
Visio subscription.

Find out who can assign licenses

Different types of admins can work with licenses in different ways, depending on their roles. The following table
lists the most common options. For a complete list of admin roles and privileges, see About admin roles.

PURCHASE MORE
ADMIN ROLE ASSIGN A LICENSE REMOVE A LICENSE LICENSES DELETE AN ACCOUNT

Global admin Yes Yes Yes Yes

Billing admin No No Yes No

User management Yes Yes No Yes

admin

Service admin No No No No

Password admin No No No No

Understand what happens when you assign a license to someone

The following table lists what automatically happens when you assign a license to someone:
 IF THE SUBSCRIPTION HAS THIS SERVICE THIS AUTOMATICALLY HAPPENS

Exchange Online A mailbox is created for that person.

SharePoint Online Edit permissions to the default SharePoint Online team site
are assigned to that person.

Skype for Business Online The person will have access to the features associated with
the license.

Office 365 ProPlus The person will be able to download Microsoft Office on up to
5 Macs or PCs, 5 tablets, and 5 smartphones.

How many devices can people install Office on?

If your subscription includes any of the following products, each person can install Office on up to 5 PCs or Mac, 5
tablets, and 5 phones.
Office 365 Business
Office 365 Business Premium
Office 365 ProPlus
Office 365 Enterprise E3
Office 365 Enterprise E5

Understand licenses for non-user mailboxes

You don't need to assign licenses to resource mailboxes, room mailboxes, and shared mailboxes, except when they
are over their storage quota of 50 gigabytes (GB ). For more about non-user mailboxes, see the following articles:
Create a shared mailbox
Shared Mailboxes in Exchange Online for all other Office 365 plans.
Create and Manage Room Mailboxes
Manage Equipment Mailboxes

Articles about managing licenses

Assign licenses to users
Remove licenses from users
Buy licenses for your subscription
Buy another subscription
Buy or edit an add-on
Remove licenses from your subscription
Resolve license conflicts
Manage Yammer user licenses
 Buy licenses for your Office 365 for business
subscription
9/27/2019 • 4 minutes to read • Edit Online

Use the new admin center to buy licenses

The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Products & services page.
2. On the Products & services page, find the subscription to which you want to add licenses, and then select
Add/Remove licenses.
What if I don't see the Add/Remove licenses link?
3. In the Total licenses box, enter the total number of licenses that you need for this subscription, and then
select Submit change. For example, if you have 100 licenses and you need to add 5 more, enter 105.
After you purchase new licenses, be sure to assign the licenses to users.

Use the old admin center to buy licenses

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Subscriptions page.
2. On the Subscriptions page, select the subscription to which you want to add licenses, and then select
Add/Remove licenses.
What if I don't see the Add/Remove licenses link?
3. In the Total licenses box, enter the total number of licenses that you need for this subscription, and then
select Submit > Close. For example, if you have 100 licenses and you need to add 5 more, enter 105.
After you purchase new licenses, be sure to assign the licenses to users.

What if I don't see the Add/Remove licenses link?

This section describes the reasons why the Add/Remove licenses link might not be available, and what you can
do about it.
A credit check is pending
If a credit check is pending, you'll see a "Pending credit check" message, and you won't be able to buy licenses until
the credit check is completed. If a credit check is pending, check back later to see if the credit check has completed.
Credit checks typically take up to two working days to complete.
After the credit check is complete, you should see the Add/Remove licenses link in the Users section. If so, go to
Buy licenses for your Office 365 for business subscription.
You activated the subscription using a product key
If the subscription was purchased and activated using a 25-character product key product key, you'll see the text
"Prepaid". If your subscription was prepaid using a product key, see Add licenses to a subscription paid for using a
product key.
You bought your subscription through a partner
If the subscription was purchased via a partner, you'll see the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC ) link. If your
licenses were purchased via a partner see Add licenses to a subscription purchased through the Volume Licensing
Service Center.
You bought your subscription through a reseller
If the subscription was purchased via a Cloud Solution Provider (CSP ) partner, you must contact your CSP
partner to buy more licenses.
You have a trial subscription
If you have a trial subscription, you must first buy your trial subscription, then you can add more licenses. A trial
version of Office 365 will display the text "Trial". For more information, see Buy a subscription to Office 365 for
business from your free trial.

What you need to know about buying licenses for your Office 365 for
business subscription
NOTE
If you pay for your subscription by credit card or bank account, any new licenses that you buy are available
immediately after you receive an order confirmation. If you pay by invoice, you might have to wait for a credit check
before your new licenses are available to use.
If you prepaid for your subscription with a product key, you can add more licenses by adding a credit card or bank
account to cover the additional cost of the new licenses. After you have purchased the new licenses, we add a second
subscription with the number of new licenses that you just added. For example, if you have a prepaid subscription
with 5 licenses, and then bought 10 more licenses, you will see two subscriptions listed: one with the five prepaid
licenses, and one with the 10 new licenses.
Paying by bank account is not available in some countries or regions.

You need to be either a Global admin or a Billing admin. For more information, see About admin roles.
To buy a license and add a new user to your subscription at the same time, see Add users individually or in
bulk to Office 365 - Admin Help.
If you pay by credit card or bank account, the charge for buying new licenses will appear on your payment
method in two days.
If you pay by invoice, the charge for buying new licenses will appear on your next billing statement.
If you buy new licenses in the middle of your billing period, your first billing statement might have a partial
charge. The remaining amount will be included on your next billing statement.

Articles about managing licenses

Understand subscriptions and licenses
Assign licenses to users
Remove licenses from users
Remove licenses from your subscription
 Buy another subscription
Buy or edit an add-on
Manage Yammer user licenses

Related topics
Cancel your subscription
 Assign licenses to users
10/11/2019 • 6 minutes to read • Edit Online

You can assign licenses to users on either the Active users page, or on the Licenses page. Which method you
use depends on whether you want to assign product licenses to specific users, or assign users licenses to
specific products.

Assign licenses to users on the Licenses page

When you use the Licenses page to assign licenses, you assign licenses for a specific product to up to 20 users.
On the Licenses page, you see a list of all the products you have subscriptions for, together with the total
number of licenses for each product, how many licenses are assigned, and how many are available.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Licenses page.
2. Select a product for which you want to assign licenses.
3. Select Assign licenses.
4. In the Assign licenses to users pane, begin typing a name, and then choose it from the results to add it to
the list. You can add up to 20 users at a time.
5. Select Turn apps and services on or off to assign or remove access to specific items.
6. When you’re finished, select Assign, then select Close.
If there's a conflict, a message displays, tells you what the problem is, and how to fix it. For example, if you
selected licenses that contain conflicting services, the error message says to review the services included with
each license and try again.
To change the apps and services a user has access to:
1. Select the row that contains the user.
2. In the right pane, select or deselect the apps and services that you want to give access to or remove access
from.
3. When you're finished, select Save, then select Close.

Assign licenses to multiple users on the Active users page

Use the new admin center to assign licenses to multiple users
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the circles next to the names of the users you want to assign licenses to.
3. At the top, select More options (...), then select Manage product licenses.
4. In the Manage product licenses pane, select Add to existing product license assignments > Next.
5. In the Add to existing products pane, switch the toggle to the On position for the license that you want
the selected users to have.
By default, all services associated with those licenses are automatically assigned to the users. You can
limit which services are available to the users. Switch the toggles to the Off position for the services that
 you don't want the users to have.
6. At the bottom of the pane, select Add > Close.
Use the old admin center to assign licenses to multiple users
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the boxes next to the names of the users you want to assign licenses to.
3. In the Bulk actions pane, select Edit product licenses.
4. In the Assign products pane, select Add to existing product license assignments > Next.
5. Switch the toggle to the On position for the licenses that you want the selected users to have.
By default, all services associated with those licenses are automatically assigned to the users. You can
limit which services are available to the users. Switch the toggles to the Off position for the services that
you don't want the users to have.
6. At the bottom of the Add to existing products pane, select Add > Close > Close.

Assign licenses to one user on the Active users page

Use the new admin center to assign licenses to one user
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. On the Active Users page, select the row of the user you want to assign a license to.
3. In the right pane, select Licenses and Apps.
4. Expand the Licenses section, select the boxes for the licenses that you want to assign, then select Save
changes.
Use the old admin center to assign licenses to one user
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the box next to the name of the user you want to assign a license to.
3. In the right pane, in the Product licenses row, select Edit.
4. In the Product licenses pane, switch the toggle to the On position for the license that you want to
assign to this user.
By default, all services associated with that license are automatically assigned to the user. You can limit
which services are available to the user. Switch the toggles to the Off position for the services that you
don't want that user to have.
5. At the bottom of the Product licenses pane, select Save > Close > Close.
Move users to a different subscription
If you have more than one subscription, and you have users who already have a license for one subscription,
but you want to move them to another subscription, you can replace their existing license with a different one.
Use the new admin center to move users to a different subscription
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the circles next to the names of the users you want to replace existing licenses for.
3. At the top, select More options (...), then select Manage product licenses.
4. In the Manage product licenses pane, select Replace existing product license assignments >
Next.
5. Switch the toggle to the On position for the licenses that you want to assign to these users.
You can limit which services are available to the users. Switch the toggles to the Off position for the
services that you don't want those users to have. Any previous license assignments for the selected users
are removed.
6. At the bottom of the Replace existing products pane, select Replace > Close.
Use the old admin center to move users to a different subscription
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the boxes next to the names of the users you want to replace existing licenses for.
3. In the Bulk actions pane, select Edit product licenses.
4. In the Assign products pane, select Replace existing product license assignments > Next.
5. Switch the toggle to the On position for the licenses that you want to assign to these users.
You can limit which services are available to the users. Switch the toggles to the Off position for the
services that you don't want that users to have. Any previous license assignments for the selected users
are removed.
6. At the bottom of the Replace existing products pane, select Replace > Close > Close.

What you need to know about assigning licenses to users

You must be a Global admin, Billing admin, License admin, or User management admin. For more
information, see About Office 365 admin roles.
You can assign licenses to user accounts with Office 365 PowerShell.
Use these steps to add a license to an existing user account. Learn how to add a user account and assign
a license at the same time
Some services, like Sway, are automatically assigned to users, and don't need to be assigned individually.
Related topics
Understand subscriptions and licenses
Remove licenses from users
Remove licenses from your subscription
 Unassign licenses from users
10/11/2019 • 4 minutes to read • Edit Online

You can remove, or unassign, licenses from users on either the Active users page, or on the Licenses page.
Which method you use depends on whether you want to unassign product licenses from specific users, or
unassign users licenses from specific products.

Unassign licenses from users on the Licenses page

When you use the Licenses page to unassign licenses, you unassign licenses for a specific product for up to 20
users.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Licenses page.
2. Select the product for which you want to unassign licenses.
3. Select the users for which you want to unassign licenses.
4. Select Unassign licenses.
5. In the Unassign licenses box, select Unassign.

Unassign licenses from one user on the Active users page

Use the new admin center to remove licenses from one user
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About Microsoft 365
admin center preview.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. On the Active Users page, select the row of the user you want to unassign a license for.
3. In the right pane, select Licenses and Apps.
4. Expand the Licenses section, clear the boxes for the licenses that you want to unassign, then select Save
changes.
Use the old admin center to unassign licenses for one user
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Active users page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Active users page.
2. Pick the user you want to unassign the license for.
3. On the right, in the Product licenses row, select Edit.
4. In the Product licenses pane, switch the toggle to the Off position for the license you want to unassign
for the user. For example, if you switch off the Office 365 Enterprise E3 license, it unassigns that license
and all services under that license for that user.
5. At the bottom of the Product licenses pane, select Save > Close > Close.

Unassign licenses from multiple users on the Active users page

Use the new admin center to remove licenses from multiple users
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
2. Select the circles next to the names of the users you want to unassign licenses for.
3. At the top, select More options (...), then select Manage product licenses.
4. In the Manage product licenses pane, select Replace existing product license assignments > Next.
5. At the bottom of the Replace existing products pane, select the Remove all product licenses from
the selected users check box, then select Replace > Close.
Use the old admin center to unassign licenses for multiple users
1. In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Active users page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Active users page.
2. Select the boxes next to the names of the users you want to unassign all licenses for.
3. In the Bulk actions pane, select Edit product licenses.
4. In the Replace existing products pane, select Replace existing product license assignments >
Next.
5. At the bottom of the Replace existing products pane, select the Remove all product licenses from
the selected users check box, then select Replace > Close > Close.

What you need to know about unassigning licenses for users

You must be a Global admin, Billing admin, License admin, or User management admin. For more
information, see About Office 365 admin roles.
You can remove licenses from user accounts with Office 365 PowerShell.
You can also delete user accounts that have been assigned a license to make their license available to
other users. When you delete a user account, their license is immediately available to be assigned to
someone else.
When a license is removed from a user, data that is associated with that account is held for 30 days. After
the 30-day grace period, the data is deleted and can't be recovered. Files that are saved in OneDrive or
SharePoint Online aren't deleted.
Also, the user's mailbox is no longer searchable by using an eDiscovery tool such as Content Search or
Advanced eDiscovery when the license is removed. For more information, see the "Searching
disconnected or de-licensed mailboxes" section in Content Search in Office 365.
If you have an Enterprise subscription, like Office 365 Enterprise E3, Exchange Online lets you preserve
the mailbox data of a deleted user account by using inactive mailboxes. For more information, see Create
and manage inactive mailboxes in Exchange Online.
For information about how to block a user's access to Office 365 data after their license has been
removed and how to get access to the data afterwards, see Remove a former employee.
If you remove a user's license and they still have Office installed, they see Unlicensed Product
 notifications when they use Office.

Related topics
Understand subscriptions and licenses
Remove licenses from your subscription
Assign licenses to users
 Remove licenses from your Office 365 for business
subscription
9/27/2019 • 3 minutes to read • Edit Online

You can't remove a license from a subscription if it's assigned to a user. If you want to remove a license that is
currently assigned to someone, you'll need to remove the license from the user before you can remove the
license from the subscription.
Use the new admin center to remove licenses from your subscription
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Products & services page.
2. On the Products & services page, find the subscription from which you want to remove licenses, then
select Add/Remove licenses.
What if I don't see the Add/Remove licenses link?
3. In the Total licenses box, enter the total number of licenses that you need for this subscription, and then
select Submit change. For example, if you have 110 licenses and you want to remove 5 of them, enter
105.
Use the old admin center to remove licenses from your subscription
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Subscriptions page.
2. On the Subscriptions page, select the subscription from which you want to remove licenses, then select
Add/Remove licenses.
What if I don't see the Add/Remove licenses link?
3. In the Total licenses box, enter the total number of licenses that you need for this subscription and then
select Submit. For example, if you have 110 licenses and you want to remove 5 of them, enter 105.

What if I don't see the Add/Remove licenses link?

This section describes the reasons why the Add/Remove licenses link might not be available, and what you can
do about it.
A credit check is pending
If a credit check is pending, you'll see a "Pending credit check" message, and you won't be able to remove
licenses until the credit check is completed. If a credit check is pending, check back later to see if the credit check
has completed. Credit checks typically take up to two working days to complete.
After the credit check is complete, you should see the Add/Remove licenses link in the Users section. If so, go
to Remove licenses from your Office 365 for business subscription.
You activated the subscription using a product key
If the subscription was purchased and activated using a 25-character product key product key, you'll see the text
"Prepaid". If your subscription was prepaid using a product key, you can't remove licenses because they have
already been paid for. However, you can remove the extra licenses when you renew the subscription.
You bought your subscription through a partner
If your subscription was purchased through a CSP or partner, you can’t remove licenses. Contact your CSP or
use the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC ) link to contact your partner for help.

What you need to know about removing licenses from users in Office
365 for business
You need to be either a Global admin or a User management admin. For more information, see About
admin roles.
Use these steps to add a license to an existing user account. Learn how to add a user account and assign a
license at the same time.

Articles about managing licenses for your subscription

Understand subscriptions and licenses
Remove licenses from users
Assign licenses to users
Buy licenses for your subscription
Buy another subscription
Buy or edit an add-on
Manage Yammer user licenses

Related links
Cancel your subscription
 Resolve license conflicts in Office 365 for business
7/5/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

We recommend that you buy the licenses that you need for your subscription before you create new users. That
way, a license can be assigned to new users as user accounts are created. If you have already assigned all of your
licenses to users, but some of the licenses have expired, or you try to remove a license that is already assigned to a
user, you will have license conflicts. For more information, see Remove licenses from your subscription.

How do I view license conflicts?

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Licenses page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Licenses page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Licenses page.
2. Check the Status column for information about the conflict. If there's a conflict, you'll see a warning
message, that says one or more users need a valid license.

NOTE
You won't see the Status column if there are no conflicts.

How do I resolve license conflicts?

You can resolve license conflicts by either buying more licenses or by removing licenses from users who no longer
need them. You can optionally delete a user account to free a license.

Related topics
Assign licenses to users
Remove licenses from users
Use these resources to get started using your own domain for email, websites, and accounts in Office 365.

Add your users and domain to Office 365

Find and fix issues after adding your domain or DNS records

Quickly add a GoDaddy domain to Office 365

Learn about your initial onmicrosoft domain

Remove a domain

Featured Articles
Understand domains
What is a domain?
Intro to domains and DNS
Learn about your initial onmicrosoft domain
How adding a domain or changing DNS records affects current email
How DNS management works in Office 365
Read the Office 365 service description for domains

Get started
Verify your domain (prove you own the domain)
Gather the information you need to create DNS records
Find your domain's registrar
Buy a domain name
Set up a pilot with your custom domain for a few people in your company
Quickly add a GoDaddy domain to Office 365
Get step-by-step help to add the required DNS records for Office 365 services
How to prepare a non-routable domain for directory synchronization
Domains FAQ

Create DNS records for Office 365

Create DNS records at GoDaddy
Create DNS records at 1&1 IONOS
Create DNS records at Network Solutions
Help for many more popular providers:
Create DNS records for Office 365 when you manage your DNS records

Change nameservers to Office 365

Change nameservers to set up Office 365 with 1&1 IONOS
Change nameservers to set up Office 365 with Network Solutions
Quickly add a GoDaddy domain to Office 365
Help for many more popular domain registrars:
Change nameservers to Office 365 so records are set up for you

Make changes
Find and fix issues after changing your domain name or DNS records
Add or edit custom DNS records in Office 365
Add custom subdomains or multiple domains in Office 365
Change how Office 365 manages DNS for your domain
Remove a domain
Office 365 integration with on-premises environments
More questions? Call support or open a support ticket

More videos
Set up a GoDaddy domain in Office 365
 What is a domain?
9/27/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

Check the Domains FAQ if you don't find what you're looking for.
A domain is a unique name that appears after the @ sign in email addresses, and after www. in web addresses. It
typically takes the form of your organization's name and a standard Internet suffix, such as yourbusiness.com or
stateuniversity.edu.
Using a custom domain like rob@contoso.com with Office 365 can help build credibility and recognition for your
brand.

Choose the experience that's best for you:

Buy a new Domain:
Use Office 365 to buy a new domain - we'll set everything up. Learn more.
Use a domain you already own:
If you already own a domain like you@yourcompany.com you can add it and start using OneDrive and Office apps
right away. You'll need to take a few minutes to setup mail and Skype for Business.

TIP
Not sure where your domain is registered? - Get help finding your domain registrar

Use a default domain for now:

You can use a default domain like yourcompany.onmicrosoft.com to log in for now and add a custom domain later.
You can't change or rename your default domain - so make sure it's what you want before moving on.

Feeling stuck?
Call Office 365 Support - Get help setting up a domain with Office 365
 Buy a domain name in Office 365
9/27/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

To Add, modify or remove domains you must be a Global Administrator of a business or enterprise plan.
These changes affect the whole tenant, Customized administrators or regular users won't be able to make these
changes.
Check the Domains FAQ if you don't find what you're looking for.
Sign in and go to Settings > Domains > Buy a domain
1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Domains page.
2. On the Domains page, select Buy domain.
You can choose from the following top level domains for your domain.
.biz
.com
.info
.me
.mobi
.net
.org
.tv
.co.uk
org.uk

NOTE
When you select Buy domain, you may be redirected to your Microsoft partner's website if the tenant is
purchased/managed through a Microsoft partner.

Domain Privacy
We offer a free Domain Privacy Subscription with the purchase of a domain. This keeps your contact
information attached to the registration of your domain with ICANN private. Learn more.
Buy a domain from another domain registrar
If you want to buy a domain from a domain registrar other than GoDaddy, we recommend you use one below
that supports automatic setup (Domain Connect).
1&1 IONOS
WordPress
Transfer your domain to a different domain registrar
If your domain is managed by a provider that doesn't support all the necessary DNS records, you can transfer it
to a different registrar. When you transfer the domain, you change who you send payments to in order to renew
and keep your domain name.
Request the transfer at the registrar that you want to move your domain to. Look on their website for an option
such as Transfer DNS. Be aware that after they make the changes, it can take a few days update across the
Internet.

How to buy a domain for Office 365 operated by 21Vianet

If you don't already have your own domain, you can easily buy one online at a domain name registrar, domain
reseller, or even at your current Internet provider. You get a domain name when you sign up for Office 365
operated by 21Vianet, for example, contoso.partner.onmschina.cn. But you may want to use a custom domain
name, like fourthcoffee.com.
To set up a domain in Office 365, you must own a domain and change some of the DNS records for your
domain.
Cau t i on

Some domain registrars or DNS hosting providers do not allow creating all the DNS records required by Office
365. The following list of hosting providers supports all the needed records. If you're thinking of using a
different hosting provider, Service limitations when your hosting provider does not support SRV, CNAME, TXT,
or redirection.
After you register your domain (at a domain registrar), you sign in to Office 365 as an admin and set up your
domain so you can use it with your email address and other services..

NOTE
The SharePoint Online Public Website information in this article only applies if your organization purchased Office 365
prior to March 9, 2015.

Domain registrars that support all DNS records required for Office
365
Oray
HiChina
east.net
BIZCN
 Find your domain registrar for Office 365
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

Check the Domains FAQ if you don't find what you're looking for.

Domain registrar
Find your domain name registrar

NOTE
Only domains ending in .COM, .NET, and .EDU work with this tool.

1. On the InterNIC search page, in the Whois Search box, type your domain. For example, contoso.com.
2. Select the Domain option, and then select Submit.
3. On the Whois Search Results page, locate the Registrar entry. This entry lists the organization that
provides registrar service for your domain.

DNS hosting provider

Find your DNS hosting provider

NOTE
Only domains ending in .COM, .NET, and .EDU work with this tool.

1. On the InterNIC search page, in the Whois Search box, type your domain. For example, contoso.com.
2. Select the Domain option, and then select Submit.
3. On the Whois Search Results page, locate the first Name Server entry.
4. Copy the name server (NS ) information that appears after the colon (:), and then paste it into the Search
box at the top of the page. Select Nameserver, and then select Submit.
5. On the Whois Search Results page, locate the Registrar entry. This entry lists your DNS hosting provider,
the DNS provider who owns the name server for your domain.
 DNS basics
7/5/2019 • 11 minutes to read • Edit Online

Check the Domains FAQ if you don't find what you're looking for.
Domain names, like contoso.com, are managed by using a worldwide system of domain registrars and databases.
The Domain Name System (DNS ) provides a mapping between human-readable computer hostnames and the IP
addresses used by networking equipment. An understanding of DNS and domain registrar basics can help you
manage domains in Office 365.

Domain names, like contoso.com, are managed by using a worldwide system of domain registrars and databases.
The Domain Name System (DNS ) provides a mapping between human-readable computer hostnames and the IP
addresses used by networking equipment. An understanding of DNS and domain registrar basics can help you
manage domains in Office 365.

Domain names, like contoso.com, are managed by using a worldwide system of domain registrars and databases.
The Domain Name System (DNS ) provides a mapping between human-readable computer hostnames and the IP
addresses used by networking equipment. An understanding of DNS and domain registrar basics will help admins
manage domains in Office 365 operated by 21Vianet.

What are domain names?

Domain names are used in URLs and email addresses, and they have different levels. For example,
mail.contoso.com is a domain name with the following three levels:
.com is the top-level domain
contoso is the second-level domain
mail is the third-level domain
Why use a third-level domain? You might want to have different domain names for marketing or a blog. For
example, blog.contoso.com. You typically add a second-level domain, like contoso.com, to use with Office 365 but
you can also use third-level domains if you like.
Learn more about what you can do with domains for each type of offering in the Office 365 service description for
domains.

Understand DNS record types

DNS records stored at a DNS host for your domain are used to direct traffic for your domain. The following table
describes frequently used DNS records and how they're used with Office 365.
 IDENTIFIES THE NAME SERVERS THAT ARE THE "AUTHORITATIVE
NAMESERVERS" FOR A DOMAIN. WHEN YOU CHANGE THE
NAMESERVERS FOR YOUR DOMAIN, YOU CHANGE WHERE YOUR
DNS RECORDS ARE MANAGED AND WHERE THE DNS SYSTEM
LOOKS FOR INFORMATION ABOUT MAIL SERVERS AND SO ON.
OFFICE 365 HAS ITS OWN NAMESERVERS, OR YOU MAY DECIDE TO
KEEP USING THE NAMESERVERS THAT ARE ALREADY SET UP WITH
NS (NAMESERVER) RECORD YOUR DOMAIN.

A record (address record) Associates a domain name with an IP address.

CNAME (alias or canonical) record Redirects one domain to another in the DNS system. When a
name server looks up a domain and finds that it has a CNAME
record, the server replaces the first domain name with the
CNAME, and then looks up the new name.

MX (mail exchanger) record Points to where your email should be sent. It also has a
priority field so that you can send mail to different servers in a
priority order.

SPF (sender policy framework) record A TXT record that helps prevent email spoofing and phishing.

SRV (service) record Used by Skype for Business Online and Exchange Online to
coordinate the flow of information between Office 365
services. For example, the SRV records are required to see
presence in Outlook Web App, and to use Skype for Business
Online, Skype, or other instant messaging tools with people in
other companies.

TTL (time-to-live) The amount of time that a nameserver keeps a DNS record
before the server looks for an updated version.

How does DNS work?

Part of setting up your domain with a cloud service like Office 365 includes changing or adding DNS records for
the domain. These changes are required because of how the Internet works with the DNS, Domain Name System,
and domain names, to know where to send or find things, like email and websites.
The Internet is set up to use DNS, or Domain Name System, which lets us use familiar names, like contoso.com, to
locate specific Internet locations that are actually, under the covers, labeled with hard-to-remember numbers called
IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. IP addresses look something like 70.42.241.42, so you can see it's much easier to
use a domain name to identify locations like email hosts and websites.
So that's the short answer: DNS records tell the Internet where to send email (like joe@contoso.com) or find
websites (like www.contoso.com) that use your domain name. When you put the right information into the right
DNS records for your domain, the DNS system routes everything correctly so your email, for example, arrives in
Office 365 instead of somewhere else.
A domain's DNS records can be helpful in other ways, too. For example, Exchange checks a DNS record that lets
Outlook automatically set up a connection to the right Exchange server.
DNS records help the Internet send email to the right place
As you read above, DNS essentially directs traffic around the Internet, mapping friendly domain names to those
hard-to-remember IP addresses. One DNS record, called the MX record, is specifically for sending email to the
right host.
DNS records are like a database of information about your domain. The records and their values are kept in
something called a zone file, which includes a list of each record for your domain and what its value is. Domain
registrars and other DNS hosting companies provide a UI on their websites so you can edit the records in your
domain's zone file. And that's where you update the MX record for your domain, to send email messages to Office
365.
When you change your email to Office 365, by updating your domain's MX record in the next step, ALL email sent
to that domain will start coming to Office 365. If other people use your domain for email, you must set up Office
365 mailboxes for each of those people.
Sound complicated? Well, it can be, but we walk you through each step in the Office 365 domain setup.
DNS tells the Internet where to look for websites too
When you type in a website address, for example, www.contoso.com, the Internet first checks with one of the DNS
servers for something called a name server (NS ) record for (in this case) contoso.com. The NS record tells the
Internet where it should look for the zone file that has all the other DNS record values for that domain. There are
lots of DNS servers, all connected to each other. The servers work together to keep track of all registered domain
names, which have to be unique, and where the domain's zone files are.
Let's say that the NS record for contoso.com says "godaddy.com." Now the Internet knows that GoDaddy.com is
where to look for the zone file listing all the other DNS records for contoso.com. Those DNS records include the
MX record that says where to send emails for contoso.com and other records. If the MX record has a value that
says (but in technical terms) "send email to Office 365," that's where all the email messages sent to a contoso.com
email address (like joe@contoso.com) will be sent. Then, as long as there's a mailbox called "joe" at that location,
the email will be delivered.
Let's say that the NS record for contoso.com says "godaddy.com." Now the Internet knows that GoDaddy.com is
where to look for the zone file listing all the other DNS records for contoso.com. Those DNS records include the
MX record that says where to send emails for contoso.com and other records. If the MX record has a value that
says (but in technical terms) "send email to Office 365," that's where all the email messages sent to a contoso.com
email address (like joe@contoso.com) will be sent. Then, as long as there's a mailbox called "joe" at that location,
the email will be delivered.
Let's say that the NS record for contoso.com says "hichina.com." Now the Internet knows that hichina.com is
where to look for the zone file listing all the other DNS records for contoso.com. Those DNS records include the
MX record that says where to send emails for contoso.com and other records. If the MX record has a value that
says (but in technical terms) "send email to Office 365," that's where all the email messages sent to a contoso.com
email address (like joe@contoso.com) will be sent. Then, as long as there's a mailbox called "joe" at that location,
the email will be delivered.
The actual values that you must enter for all of this to work with Office 365 are listed for you when you're setting
up your domain, in the domain setup steps. If you're doing the set up manually, you copy and paste the values into
the correct DNS records (MX record, CNAME records, and so on) at your DNS host, which might be your domain
registrar but doesn't have to be.
Why might your domain's zone file be somewhere besides at your domain registrar? Well, you might register your
domain name at a domain registrar like GoDaddy, but your DNS records might be managed somewhere else, at a
separate DNS hosting company or a web hosting company. The NS records for your domain store that
information so all the DNS servers know where to look.
Why might your domain's zone file be somewhere besides at your domain registrar? Well, you might register your
domain name at a domain registrar like GoDaddy, but your DNS records might be managed somewhere else, at a
separate DNS hosting company or a web hosting company. The NS records for your domain store that
information so all the DNS servers know where to look.
Why might your domain's zone file be somewhere besides at your domain registrar? Well, you might register your
domain name at a domain registrar like HiChina, but your DNS records might be managed somewhere else, at a
separate DNS hosting company or a web hosting company. The NS records for your domain store that
information so all the DNS servers know where to look.

NOTE
If you set up your domain in Office 365 so that Office 365 sets up and manages your DNS records for you, then as part of
setup, you'll Change DNS management to Office 365.

Why add a domain in Office 365?

Adding a custom domain, like fourthcoffee.com, to Office 365 lets you use a shorter, more familiar email address
and userID with the service. You're given a domain to use when you sign up for a Office 365 account, but it
includes "onmicrosoft.com." Many people prefer to add their organization or business domain if they plan to use
Office 365 for email.

NOTE
If you just want to download and use Office 365 apps, like Outlook or Word, you don't need to add a domain: Install Office
on your PC or Mac.

You can use your domain name in Office 365 with your email, public website, and instant messaging address.
Email: Your domain name lets you customize your email, so you can use a shorter, easier-to-remember
address than the initial onmicrosoft.com email address that comes with your account. So instead of
joe@contoso.onmicrosoft.com, the email address (which is also the work account that you use to sign in to
Office 365) could be joe@contoso.com.
Website: If you have an Office 365 subscription that includes a SharePoint Online Public Website (no
longer available for purchase), your public website comes with an initial address like this: contoso-
public.sharepoint.com. If you set up your website for your business, you can use a custom domain name to
rename the website address to something like www.contoso.com.
Instant messaging: Your Skype for Business Online address can also be customized to use your domain
name, so people in your organization can connect with each other on Skype for Business Online by using a
shorter, easier-to-remember address (like joe@contoso.com).

Why add a domain in Office 365?

Adding a custom domain, like fourthcoffee.com, to Office 365 lets you use a shorter, more familiar email address
and userID with the service. You're given a domain to use when you sign up for a Office 365 account, but it
includes "onmicrosoft.com." Many people prefer to add their organization or business domain if they plan to use
Office 365 for email.

NOTE
If you just want to download and use Office 365 apps, like Outlook or Word, you don't need to add a domain: Install Office
on your PC or Mac.

You can use your domain name in Office 365 with your email, public website, and instant messaging address.
Email: Your domain name lets you customize your email, so you can use a shorter, easier-to-remember
address than the initial onmicrosoft.com email address that comes with your account. So instead of
joe@contoso.onmicrosoft.com, the email address (which is also the work account that you use to sign in to
Office 365) could be joe@contoso.com.
 Website: If you have an Office 365 subscription that includes a SharePoint Online Public Website (no
longer available for purchase), your public website comes with an initial address like this: contoso-
public.sharepoint.com. If you set up your website for your business, you can use a custom domain name to
rename the website address to something like www.contoso.com.
Instant messaging: Your Skype for Business Online address can also be customized to use your domain
name, so people in your organization can connect with each other on Skype for Business Online by using a
shorter, easier-to-remember address (like joe@contoso.com).

The DNS records required for Office 365

There are a number of DNS records required for Office 365 to work with your domain. In addition to setting up
your domain's MX record so email will be sent to Office 365, there are records to help with tasks like making sure
Outlook can automatically connect to the right Exchange server, setting up instant messaging, and helping to
prevent spam email.
You can find a list of values to set up your domain. They're included right in the Office 365 portal.
Or, if you're planning a deployment, you may want to review a list of all the DNS records required for Office 365,
what their function is, and example values. Check out External Domain Name System records for Office 365.

How can I learn more?

Check out one of the following:
Not sure where your domain is registered? Get help finding your domain registrar.
Find out why you have to complete the wizard steps before you can use your domain with Office 365.
 Gather the information you need to create Office
365 DNS records
9/27/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

Check the Domains FAQ if you don't find what you're looking for.
Step 1: Find the TXT record value and verify
1. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to the Settings > Domains page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Domains page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Domains page.
2. On the Domains page, select your domain, then select Start setup. You'll go back to the domains setup
wizard to see the specific value you need to add.
3. On the Verify domain page, select Add a TXT record instead, then select Next.
4. Copy the TXT value shown. It looks like this: MS=msXXXXXXXX.
5. Go to Create DNS records at any DNS hosting provider, and select your DNS host from the list of
registrars to see the step-by-step instructions.
6. Follow the steps for creating the TXT record (or MX record) at your DNS host, then verify the domain back
in Office 365.
7. Remove the TXT record (or MX record) from your DNS host once the domain is verified in Office 365.
Step 2: Find the MX record value for email and more
1. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to the Settings > Domains page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Domains page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Domains page.
2. On the Domains page, select your domain.
3. Under Required DNS settings, you'll see the DNS records to add.
You'll want to keep this information available while you make changes at your DNS host, so you can copy
and paste the values.
The groups of DNS records that are listed on the page depend on your choices listed under Domain
purpose.
4. Go to Create DNS records at any DNS hosting provider, and then select your DNS host from the list of
registrars to see step-by-step instructions for adding records at that DNS host's website.
5. Follow the steps for creating the records at your DNS host.
 Find and fix issues after adding your domain or DNS
records in Office 365
9/27/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

Check the Domains FAQ if you don't find what you're looking for.
Getting your domain set up to work with Office 365 can be challenging. The DNS system is nitpicky to work with,
and the DNS setup for your domain affects important business activities, like email!

What's going on?

Can't verify your domain?
Outlook isn't working?
Everyone's email got switched to Office 365 and you only wanted YOUR email to switch?
Can't confirm non-profit or school account status?
Services not working with your domain?
Accessing your website isn't working?

Can't verify your domain?

There are a couple of common reasons that domain verification doesn't work as it should:
1. The verification record value isn't quite correct. Doublecheck that you've copied and pasted the exact
value into the TXT verification record at your DNS host. One common issue is not including the "MS="
part of the record. We need that too!
2. The record hasn't been saved. At some DNS hosts, you have to take an extra step to save the zone file
(where the DNS record is stored) so that it will update across the Internet. Make sure you've saved your
changes so Office 365 can see and verify the record.
3. The record hasn't updated across the Internet. It typically only takes a few minutes for us to be able to
see the new record, but occasionally it can take as long as a few hours.

Outlook isn't working?

If you've set up your MX record and other DNS records correctly for your domain, but mail doesn't work, let us
help you fix your Outlook problems.

Everyone's email got switched to Office 365 and you only wanted
YOUR email to switch?
When you add your domain to Office 365, typically your domain's MX record is updated (by you or Office 365)
to point to Office 365, and ALL email sent to that domain will start coming to Office 365. Make sure you've
created mailboxes in Office 365 for everyone who has email on your domain BEFORE you change the MX
record.
What if you don't want to move email for everyone on your domain to Office 365? You can take steps to pilot
Office 365 with just a few email addresses instead.

Can't confirm non-profit or school account status?

There are a couple of scenarios when you just need to verify your organization's domain and not set up any
services. For example, to prove to Office 365 that your organization qualifies for a school subscription.
Check out the guidance in Verify your Office 365 domain to prove ownership, nonprofit or education status, or to
activate Yammer to make sure you've completed all the required steps. It's a little different for each situation.

Services not working with your domain?

We can help you track down issues with your domain's DNS setup. The domains troubleshooter in Office 365
will show you any records that need fixing, and exactly what the records need to be set to.

TIP
Got your DNS set up correctly, but mail doesn't work in Outlook on your desktop? Check out the different mail flow
scenarios you can have with Office 365 to make sure you've got things set up correctly for your business. Or get more
troubleshooting help with email here: Fix Outlook problems.

Accessing your website isn't working?

If you've fixed any DNS issues and you're still having trouble, try one of the following.
People can't get to your website at www.mydomain.com: Track down website issues
You can't update your A record or CNAME record to point to your website: Update custom DNS records
in Office 365
 Using Domain Connect
9/17/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

Check the Domains FAQ if you don't find what you're looking for.
Domain Connect enabled registrars let you add your domain to Office 365 in a three-step process that takes
minutes.
In the wizard, we'll just confirm that you own the domain, and then automatically set up your domain's records, so
email comes to Office 365 and other Office 365 services, like Skype for Business, work with your domain.

NOTE
Make sure you disable any popup blockers in your browser before you start the setup wizard.

Registrars with Domain Connect

1&1 IONOS
123Reg
GoDaddy
WordPress

What happens to my email? And my website?

After you finish setup, the MX record for your domain is updated to point to Office 365 and all email for your
domain will start coming to Office 365. Make sure you've added users and set up mailboxes in Office 365 for
everyone who gets email on your domain!
If you have a website that you use with your business, it will keep working where it is. The Domain Connect setup
steps don't affect your website.
 Set up your domain (host-specific instructions)
9/27/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

To start using a custom domain (contoso.com) with Office 365, you need to verify your domain and configure your
domain's DNS records.
You can add and manage DNS records using the administrative tools at your domain host, or give Office 365
control of your domain records and we'll set them up for you.
Select your domain host below for the exact steps. If you're not sure who your host is, see Find your domain
registrar.

Let Office 365 manage your DNS records

1&1 IONOS

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Bluehost

Google Domains

Hostgator

MyDomain

Namecheap

Network Solutions

Or, learn how to change nameservers to set up Office 365 with any domain registrar.

Manage your own DNS records

1&1 IONOS Hover

123-reg.co.uk Managed by Google (eNom)

Amazon Web Services (AWS) MyDomain

Azure DNS zones name.com

Bluehost Namecheap

Cloudflare Names.co.uk
 Crazy Domains Netregistry

DNSMadeEasy Network Solutions

Dreamhost OVH

Dyn.com Register.com

eNomCentral Register365 for Office 365

Freenom Windows-based DNS

GoDaddy Wix

Google Domains Yahoo! Small Business

Hostgator

I need general instructions, because my domain host isn't on this list.

 Change nameservers to set up Office 365 with any
domain registrar
9/27/2019 • 6 minutes to read • Edit Online

Check the Domains FAQ if you don't find what you're looking for.
Check Set up your domain (host-specific instructions) first to see if we have instructions for your registrar.
Follow these instructions to add and set up your domain in Office 365 so your services like email and Skype for
Business Online will use your own domain name. To do this, you'll verify your domain, and then change your
domain's nameservers to Office 365 so the correct DNS records can be set up for you. Follow these steps if the
following statements describe your situation:
You have your own domain and want to set it up to work with Office 365.
You want Office 365 to manage your DNS records for you. (If you prefer, you can manage your own DNS
records.)

Add a TXT or MX record for verification

NOTE
You will create only one or the other of these records. TXT is the preferred record type, but some DNS hosting providers
don't support it, in which case you can create an MX record instead.

Before you use your domain with Office 365, we have to make sure that you own it. Your ability to log in to your
account at your domain registrar and create the DNS record proves to Office 365 that you own the domain.

NOTE
This record is used only to verify that you own your domain; it doesn't affect anything else. You can delete it later, if you like.

Find the area on your DNS hosting provider's website where you can create a new record
1. Sign in to your DNS hosting provider's website.
2. Choose your domain.
3. Find the page where you can edit DNS records for your domain.
Create the record
Depending on whether you are creating a TXT record or an MX record, do one of the following:
If you create a TXT record, use these values:

Record Type Alias or Host Name Value TTL

 TXT Do one of the following:
Type @ or leave the field
empty or type your domain
name.
> [!NOTE]> Different DNS
hosts have different
requirements for this field.

MS=ms XXXXXXXX Set this value to 1 hour or

> [!NOTE]> This is an to the equivalent in minutes
example. Use your specific ( 60 ), seconds ( 3600 ), etc.
Destination or Points to
Address value here, from
the table in Office 365. How
do I find this?

If you create an MX record, use these values:

Record Type Alias or Host Name Value Priority TTL

MX Type either @ or your MS=ms XXXXXXXX > For Priority, to avoid Set this value to 1
domain name. [!NOTE]> This is an conflicts with the MX hour or to the
example. Use your record used for mail equivalent in minutes
specific Destination flow, use a lower ( 60 ), seconds ( 3600
or Points to Address priority than the ), etc.
value here, from the priority for any
table in Office 365. existing MX records.
How do I find this? For more information
about priority, see
What is MX priority?

Save the record

Now that you've added the record at your domain registrar's site, you'll go back to Office 365 and request Office
365 to look for the record.
When Office 365 finds the correct TXT record, your domain is verified.
1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Domains page.
2. On the Domains page, select the domain that you are verifying.
3. On the Setup page, select Start setup.
4. On the Verify domain page, select Verify.

NOTE
Typically it takes about 15 minutes for DNS changes to take effect. However, it can occasionally take longer for a change
you've made to update across the Internet's DNS system. If you're having trouble with mail flow or other issues after adding
DNS records, see Troubleshoot issues after changing your domain name or DNS records.

Change your domain's nameserver (NS) records

When you get to the last step of the domains setup wizard in Office 365, you have one task remaining. To set up
your domain with Office 365 services, like email, you change your domain's nameserver (or NS ) records at your
domain registrar to point to the Office 365 primary and secondary nameservers. Then, because Office 365 hosts
your DNS, the required DNS records for your services are set up automatically for you. You can update the
nameserver records yourself by following the steps your domain registrar may provide in the help content at their
website. If you're not familiar with DNS, contact support at the domain registrar.
To change your domain's nameservers at your domain registrar's website yourself, follow these steps:
1. Find the area on the domain registrar's website where you can edit the nameservers for your domain.
2. Create two nameserver records, or edit the existing nameserver records to match the following values:

First nameserver ns1.bdm.microsoftonline.com

Second nameserver ns2.bdm.microsoftonline.com

TIP
You should use at least two nameserver records. If there are any other nameservers listed, you can either delete them, or
change them to ns3.bdm.microsoftonline.com and ns4.bdm.microsoftonline.com.

3. Save your changes.

Cau t i on

When you change your domain's NS records to point to the Office 365 nameservers, all the services that are
currently associated with your domain are affected. If you skipped any steps of the wizard, such as adding email
addresses, or if you're using your domain for blogs, shopping carts, or other services, there are additional steps
that are required. Otherwise this change could result in service downtime, such as lack of email access or your
current website being inaccessible.
1. Find the area on the domain registrar's website where you can edit the nameservers for your domain.
2. Create two nameserver records, or edit the existing nameserver records to match the following values:

First nameserver ns1.dns.partner.microsoftonline.cn

Second nameserver ns2.dns.partner.microsoftonline.cn

TIP
You should use at least two nameserver records. If there are any other nameservers listed, you can either delete them, or
change them to ns3.dns.partner.microsoftonline.cn and ns4.dns.partner.microsoftonline.cn.

3. Save your changes.

Cau t i on

When you change your domain's NS records to point to the Office 365 operated by 21Vianet nameservers, all the
services that are currently associated with your domain are affected. If you skipped any steps of the wizard, such as
adding email addresses, or if you're using your domain for blogs, shopping carts, or other services, there are
additional steps that are required. Otherwise this change could result in service downtime, such as lack of email
access or your current website being inaccessible.
For example, here are some additional steps that might be required for email and website hosting:
 Move all email addresses that use your domain to Office 365 before you change your NS records.
Want to add a domain that's currently used with a website address, like www.fourthcoffee.com? You can
take below steps while you add the domain to keep its website hosted where the site is hosted now so
people can still get to the website after you change the domain's NS records to point to Office 365.
1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Domains page.
2. On the Domains page, select a domain.
3. Under DNS settings, select Custom Records, and then choose New custom record.
4. Select the type of DNS record you want to add, and type the information for the new record.
5. Select Save.

NOTE
Your nameserver record updates may take up to several hours to update across the Internet's DNS system. Then your Office
365 email and other services will be all set to work with your domain.
 Create DNS records at any DNS hosting provider for
Office 365
10/1/2019 • 21 minutes to read • Edit Online

Check the Domains FAQ if you don't find what you're looking for.
Check our list of host-specific instructions to find your host and follow the steps to add all the records you need.
If you don't know the DNS hosting provider or domain registrar for your domain, see Find your domain registrar
or DNS hosting provider.
To set up the records yourself, these are the records to add. Note that your verification record and MX record are
unique to your domain. To set them up, you'll need to get and use a specific "token" value for your domain. The
steps below explain how to do that.

IMPORTANT
The exact name of the boxes or fields you type or paste the information into, to create each type of DNS record, are
different for each DNS host. Your DNS host may have Help on their website to assist you in mapping the instructions we
show here to the exact fields on their website. Remember to check to see if we have step-by-step instructions for your DNS
host in Create DNS records for Office 365. > Some DNS hosts don't let you create all of the required record types, which
causes service limitations in Office 365. If your domain's host doesn't support SRV, TXT, or CNAME records, for example, we
recommend that you transfer your domain to a DNS host that does support all required records. For a fast, automated
process setting up with Office 365, we recommend that you transfer your domain to GoDaddy.

NOTE
Typically it takes just a few minutes for DNS changes to take effect. However, it can occasionally take longer for a change
you've made to update across the Internet's DNS system. If you're having trouble with mail flow or other issues after
adding DNS records, see Find and fix issues after changing your domain name or DNS records.

Add a TXT or MX record for verification

NOTE
You will create only one or the other of these records. TXT is the preferred record type, but some DNS hosting providers
don't support it, in which case you can create an MX record instead.

Before you use your domain with Office 365, we have to make sure that you own it. Your ability to log in to your
account at your domain registrar and create the DNS record proves to Office 365 that you own the domain.

NOTE
This record is used only to verify that you own your domain; it doesn't affect anything else. You can delete it later, if you
like.

Find the area on your DNS hosting provider's website where you can create a new record.
1. Sign in to your DNS hosting provider's website.
2. Choose your domain.
3. Find the page where you can edit DNS records for your domain.
Create the record.
1. Depending on whether you are creating a TXT record or an MX record, do one of the following:
If you create a TXT record, use these values:

Record Type Alias or Host Name Value TTL

TXT Do one of the following: MS=ms XXXXXXXX Set this value to 1 hour or
Type @ or leave the field Note: This is an example. to the equivalent in minutes
empty or type your domain Use your specific ( 60 ), seconds ( 3600 ), etc.
name. Destination or Points to
Note: Different DNS hosts Address value here, from
have different requirements the table in Office 365.
for this field. How do I find this?

If you create an MX record, use these values:

Record Type Alias or Host Name Value Priority TTL

MX Type either @ or your MS=ms XXXXXXXX For Priority, to avoid Set this value to 1
domain name. **Note:**This is an conflicts with the MX hour or to the
example. Use your record used for mail equivalent in minutes
specific Destination flow, use a lower ( 60 ), seconds ( 3600
or Points to priority than the ), etc.
Address value here, priority for any
from the table in existing MX records.
Office 365. For more information
How do I find this? about priority, see
What is MX priority?

2. Save the record.

Now that you've added the record at your domain registrar's site, you'll go back to Office 365 and request Office
365 to look for the record.
When Office 365 finds the correct TXT record, your domain is verified.
1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Domains page.
2. On the Domains page, select the domain that you are verifying.
3. On the Setup page, select Start setup.
4. On the Verify domain page, select Verify.

NOTE
Typically it takes about 15 minutes for DNS changes to take effect. However, it can occasionally take longer for a change
you've made to update across the Internet's DNS system. If you're having trouble with mail flow or other issues after
adding DNS records, see Troubleshoot issues after changing your domain name or DNS records.
Add MX record to route email
Add an MX record so email for your domain will come to Office 365. When you update your domain's MX
record, all new email for anyone who uses your domain will now come to Office 365. Any email you already have
will stay at your current email host, unless you decide to migrate email and contacts to Office 365 to Office 365.
Task
Find the page where you can create records for your domain.
1. Sign in to your DNS host's website.
2. Choose your domain.
3. Find the page where you can edit DNS records for your domain.
The MX record you'll add includes a value (the Points to address value) that looks something like this: <MX
token>.mail.protection.outlook.com, where <MX token> is a value like MSxxxxxxx.
The MX record you'll add includes a value (the Points to address value) that looks something like this: <MX
token>.mail.protection.outlook.de, where <MX token> is a value like MSxxxxxxx.
1. On your DNS host's website, add a new MX record.
Now you'll get the information for the MX record from Office 365.
2. For the MX record (in the step above), copy the Points to address value.
You'll use this value in the record you're creating on your DNS host's site, as described in the next step.
3. In the new MX record on your DNS host's site, make sure that the fields are set to precisely the following
values:
Record Type: MX
Priority: Set the priority of the MX record to the highest value available, which is typically 0.
For more information about priority, see What is MX priority?
Host Name: @
Points to address: Paste the Points to address value that you just copied from Office 365 here.
TTL: Set this value to 1 hour or to the equivalent in minutes ( 60 ), seconds ( 3600 ), etc.
4. Save the record.
Remove any other MX records.
If you have any MX records for this domain that send email to someplace other than Office 365, delete them all.

Add three CNAME records

Follow the steps below to add the three CNAME records that are required for Office 365. If additional CNAME
records are listed in Office 365, add those following the same general steps shown here.
On your DNS host's website, you'll create three new CNAME records, typically one at a time.
1. In the boxes for each new record, type or copy and paste the following values. After you add each of the first
three new records, choose to create another CNAME record.
 Record Type Host Points to TTL

CNAME (Alias) autodiscover autodiscover.outlook.com 1 hour

CNAME (Alias) lyncdiscover webdir.online.lync.com 1 hour

CNAME (Alias) sip sipdir.online.lync.com 1 hour

NOTE
For TTL: Set this value to 1 hour or to the equivalent in minutes ( 60 ), seconds ( 3600 ), etc. > These records do not apply
to Exchange, Lync, or Skype for Business hybrid deployments.

2. When you've finished, save the records.

Follow the steps below to add the three CNAME records that are required for Office 365. If additional CNAME
records are listed in Office 365, add those following the same general steps shown here.
On your DNS host's website, you'll create three new CNAME records, typically one at a time.
1. In the boxes for each new record, type or copy and paste the following values. After you add each of the first
three new records, choose to create another CNAME record.

Record Type Host Points to TTL

CNAME (Alias) autodiscover autodiscover- 1 hour

outlook.office.de

CNAME (Alias) lyncdiscover webdir.online.skype.de 1 hour

CNAME (Alias) sip sipdir.online.lync.de 1 hour

NOTE
For TTL: Set this value to 1 hour or to the equivalent in minutes ( 60 ), seconds ( 3600 ), etc. > These records do not apply
to Exchange, Lync, or Skype for Business hybrid deployments.

2. When you've finished, save the records.

Follow the steps below to add the three CNAME records that are required for Office 365. If additional CNAME
records are listed in Office 365, add those following the same general steps shown here.
On your DNS host's website, you'll create three new CNAME records, typically one at a time.
1. In the boxes for each new record, type or copy and paste the following values. After you add each of the first
three new records, choose to create another CNAME record.

Record Type Host Points to TTL

 CNAME (Alias) autodiscover autodiscover.partner.outlook 1 hour
.cn

CNAME (Alias) lyncdiscover webdir.online.partner.lync.cn 1 hour

CNAME (Alias) sip sipdir.online.partner.lync.cn 1 hour

NOTE
For TTL: Set this value to 1 hour or to the equivalent in minutes ( 60 ), seconds ( 3600 ), etc. > These records do not apply
to Exchange, Lync, or Skype for Business hybrid deployments.

2. When you've finished, save the records.

Add two CNAME records for Mobile Device Management (MDM) for
Office 365
IMPORTANT
If you have Mobile Device Management (MDM) for Office 365, then you must create two additional CNAME records.
Follow the procedure that you used for the other four CNAME records, but supply the values from the following table. > (If
you do not have MDM, you can skip this step.)

Record Type Host Points to TTL

CNAME (Alias) enterpriseregistration enterpriseregistration.windo 1 hour

ws.net

CNAME (Alias) enterpriseenrollment enterpriseenrollment.manag 1 hour

e.microsoft.com

IMPORTANT
If you have Mobile Device Management (MDM) for Office 365, then you must create two additional CNAME records.
Follow the procedure that you used for the other four CNAME records, but supply the values from the following table. > (If
you do not have MDM, you can skip this step.)

Record Type Host Points to TTL

CNAME (Alias) enterpriseregistration enterpriseregistration.micros 1 hour

oftonline.de

CNAME (Alias) enterpriseenrollment enterpriseenrollment- 1 hour

s.manage.microsoft.com

Add a TXT record for SPF to help prevent email spam

 IMPORTANT
You cannot have more than one TXT record for SPF for a domain. If your domain has more than one SPF record, you'll get
email errors, as well as delivery and spam classification issues. If you already have an SPF record for your domain, don't
create a new one for Office 365. Instead, add the required Office 365 values to the current record so that you have a single
SPF record that includes both sets of values.

On your DNS host's website, edit the existing SPF record or create a new TXT record for SPF.

IMPORTANT
SPF is designed to help prevent spoofing, but there are spoofing techniques that SPF cannot protect against. To protect
against these, once you have set up SPF, you should also configure DKIM and DMARC for Office 365. To get started, see
Use DKIM to validate outbound email sent from your domain in Office 365. Next, see Use DMARC to validate email in
Office 365.

1. In the boxes for the new record, type or copy and paste the set of values below that apply to your situation.

Record Type Host TXT Value TTL

TXT (Text) @ v=spf1 1 hour

include:spf.protection.outloo
k.com -all
Note: We recommend
copying and pasting this
entry, so that all of the
spacing stays correct.

For TTL: Set this value to 1 hour or to the equivalent in minutes ( 60 ), seconds ( 3600 ), etc.
2. When you've finished, save the record.
3. To validate your SPF record, use one of these SPF validation tools

IMPORTANT
You cannot have more than one TXT record for SPF for a domain. If your domain has more than one SPF record, you'll get
email errors, as well as delivery and spam classification issues. If you already have an SPF record for your domain, don't
create a new one for Office 365. Instead, add the required Office 365 values to the current record so that you have a single
SPF record that includes both sets of values.

On your DNS host's website, edit the existing SPF record or create a new TXT record for SPF.

IMPORTANT
SPF is designed to help prevent spoofing, but there are spoofing techniques that SPF cannot protect against. To protect
against these, once you have set up SPF, you should also configure DKIM and DMARC for Office 365. To get started, see
Use DKIM to validate outbound email sent from your domain in Office 365. Next, see Use DMARC to validate email in
Office 365.

1. In the boxes for the new record, type or copy and paste the set of values below that apply to your situation.
 Record Type Host TXT Value TTL

TXT (Text) @ v=spf1 1 hour

include:spf.protection.outloo
k.de -all
We recommend copying
and pasting this entry, so
that all of the spacing stays
correct.

For TTL: Set this value to 1 hour or to the equivalent in minutes ( 60 ), seconds ( 3600 ), etc.
2. When you've finished, save the record.
3. To validate your SPF record, use one of these SPF validation tools

IMPORTANT
You cannot have more than one TXT record for SPF for a domain. If your domain has more than one SPF record, you'll get
email errors, as well as delivery and spam classification issues. If you already have an SPF record for your domain, don't
create a new one for Office 365. Instead, add the required Office 365 values to the current record so that you have a single
SPF record that includes both sets of values.

On your DNS host's website, edit the existing SPF record or create a new TXT record for SPF.

IMPORTANT
SPF is designed to help prevent spoofing, but there are spoofing techniques that SPF cannot protect against. To protect
against these, once you have set up SPF, you should also configure DKIM and DMARC for Office 365. To get started, see
Use DKIM to validate outbound email sent from your domain in Office 365. Next, see Use DMARC to validate email in
Office 365.

1. In the boxes for the new record, type or copy and paste the set of values below that apply to your situation.

Record Type Host TXT Value TTL

TXT (Text) @ v=spf1 1 hour

include:spf.protection.partne
r.outlook.cn -all> [!NOTE]>
We recommend copying
and pasting this entry, so
that all of the spacing stays
correct.

For TTL: Set this value to 1 hour or to the equivalent in minutes ( 60 ), seconds ( 3600 ), etc.
2. When you've finished, save the record.
3. To validate your SPF record, use one of these SPF validation tools

Add two SRV records

On your DNS host's website, you'll create two new SRV records, typically one at a time. That is, after you add the
first SRV record at the website, choose to create another SRV record.
1. In the boxes for each new record, type or copy and paste the following values. (See the notes below for
creating SRV records when your DNS host doesn't have all of these as separate fields.)

Record Name Target Protocol Service Priority Weight Port TTL

Type

SRV @ sipdir.onli _tls _sip 100 1 443 1 hour

(Service) (Or leave ne.lync.co
blank, if m
@ is not
allowed)

SRV @ sipfed.onli _tcp _sipfedera 100 1 5061 1 hour

(Service) (Or leave ne.lync.co tiontls
blank, if m
@ is not
allowed)

NOTE
For Name: If your DNS host doesn't allow setting this to @, leave it blank. Use this approach only when your DNS host has
separate fields for the Service and Protocol values. Otherwise, see the Service and Protocol notes below.

For Service and Protocol: If your DNS host doesn't provide these fields for SRV records, you must specify
the Service and Protocol values as the record's Name value. (Note: Depending on your DNS host, the
Name field might be called something else, like: Host, Hostname, or Subdomain.) To set up the combined
value, you create a single string, separating the values with a dot. For example: Name: _sip._tls

For Priority, Weight, and Port: If your DNS host doesn't provide these fields for SRV records, you must
specify them as the record's Target value. (Note: Depending on your DNS host, the Target field might be
called something else, like: Content, IP Address, or Target Host.) To set up the combined value, you create a
single string, separating the values with spaces and ending with a dot. The values must be included in this
order: Priority, Weight, Port, Target. For example: Target: 100 1 443 sipdir.online.lync.com.

Variation for Priority, Weight, and Port: Some DNS hosts provide some, but not all, of the required fields
separately. For these DNS host sites, specify the values that aren't shown separately as a combined string, in
order, for the record's Target value. (Note: Depending on your DNS host, the Target field might be called
something else, like: Content, IP Address, or Target Host.) To set up the combined value, you create a
single string for the fields that aren't shown individually, separating the values with spaces. The values must
be included in order , leaving out the values that have separate fields available: Priority, Weight, Port, Target.
For example, when Priority has a separate field, concatenate only the Weight, Port, and Target values: Target:
1 443 sipdir.online.lync.com

For TTL: Set this value to 1 hour or to the equivalent in minutes ( 60 ), seconds ( 3600 ), etc.

2. When you've finished, save the records.

 NOTE
Typically it takes about 15 minutes for DNS changes to take effect. However, it can occasionally take longer for a change
you've made to update across the Internet's DNS system. If you're having trouble with mail flow or other issues after
adding DNS records, see Troubleshoot issues after changing your domain name or DNS records.

On your DNS host's website, you'll create two new SRV records, typically one at a time. That is, after you add the
first SRV record at the website, choose to create another SRV record.
1. In the boxes for each new record, type or copy and paste the following values. (See the notes below for
creating SRV records when your DNS host doesn't have all of these as separate fields.)

Record Name Target Protocol Service Priority Weight Port TTL

Type

SRV @ sipdir.onli _tls _sip 100 1 443 1 hour

(Service) (Or leave ne.lync.de
blank, if
@ is not
allowed)

SRV @ sipfed.onli _tcp _sipfedera 100 1 5061 1 hour

(Service) (Or leave ne.lync.de tiontls
blank, if
@ is not
allowed)

NOTE
For Name: If your DNS host doesn't allow setting this to @, leave it blank. Use this approach only when your DNS host has
separate fields for the Service and Protocol values. Otherwise, see the Service and Protocol notes below.

For Service and Protocol: If your DNS host doesn't provide these fields for SRV records, you must specify
the Service and Protocol values as the record's Name value. (Note: Depending on your DNS host, the
Name field might be called something else, like: Host, Hostname, or Subdomain.) To set up the combined
value, you create a single string, separating the values with a dot. > For example: Name: _sip._tls

For Priority, Weight, and Port: If your DNS host doesn't provide these fields for SRV records, you must
specify them as the record's Target value. (Note: Depending on your DNS host, the Target field might be
called something else, like: Content, IP Address, or Target Host.) To set up the combined value, you create a
single string, separating the values with spaces and ending with a dot. The values must be included in this
order: Priority, Weight, Port, Target. > For example: Target: 100 1 443 sipdir.online.lync.de.

Variation for Priority, Weight, and Port: Some DNS hosts provide some, but not all, of the required fields
separately. For these DNS host sites, specify the values that aren't shown separately as a combined string, in
order, for the record's Target value. (Note: Depending on your DNS host, the Target field might be called
something else, like: Content, IP Address, or Target Host.) To set up the combined value, you create a
single string for the fields that aren't shown individually, separating the values with spaces. The values must
be included in order , leaving out the values that have separate fields available: Priority, Weight, Port, Target.
> For example, when Priority has a separate field, concatenate only the Weight, Port, and Target values:
Target: 1 443 sipdir.online.lync.de
 For TTL: Set this value to 1 hour or to the equivalent in minutes ( 60 ), seconds ( 3600 ), etc.

2. When you've finished, save the records.

NOTE
Typically it takes about 15 minutes for DNS changes to take effect. However, it can occasionally take longer for a change
you've made to update across the Internet's DNS system. If you're having trouble with mail flow or other issues after
adding DNS records, see Troubleshoot issues after changing your domain name or DNS records.

On your DNS host's website, you'll create two new SRV records, typically one at a time. That is, after you add the
first SRV record at the website, choose to create another SRV record.
1. In the boxes for each new record, type or copy and paste the following values. (See the notes below for
creating SRV records when your DNS host doesn't have all of these as separate fields.)

Record Name Target Protocol Service Priority Weight Port TTL

Type

SRV @ sipdir.onli _tls _sip 100 1 443 1 hour

(Service) (Or leave ne.partne
blank, if r.lync.cn
@ is not
allowed)

SRV @ sipfed.onli _tcp _sipfedera 100 1 5061 1 hour

(Service) (Or leave ne.partne tiontls
blank, if r.lync.cn
@ is not
allowed)

NOTE
For Name: If your DNS host doesn't allow setting this to @, leave it blank. Use this approach only when your DNS host has
separate fields for the Service and Protocol values. Otherwise, see the Service and Protocol notes below.

For Service and Protocol: If your DNS host doesn't provide these fields for SRV records, you must specify
the Service and Protocol values as the record's Name value. (Note: Depending on your DNS host, the
Name field might be called something else, like: Host, Hostname, or Subdomain.) To set up the combined
value, you create a single string, separating the values with a dot. > For example: Name: _sip._tls

For Priority, Weight, and Port: If your DNS host doesn't provide these fields for SRV records, you must
specify them as the record's Target value. (Note: Depending on your DNS host, the Target field might be
called something else, like: Content, IP Address, or Target Host.) To set up the combined value, you create a
single string, separating the values with spaces and ending with a dot. The values must be included in this
order: Priority, Weight, Port, Target. > For example: Target: 100 1 443 sipdir.online.partner.lync.cn.

Variation for Priority, Weight, and Port: Some DNS hosts provide some, but not all, of the required fields
separately. For these DNS host sites, specify the values that aren't shown separately as a combined string, in
order, for the record's Target value. (Note: Depending on your DNS host, the Target field might be called
something else, like: Content, IP Address, or Target Host.) To set up the combined value, you create a
single string for the fields that aren't shown individually, separating the values with spaces. The values must
 be included in order , leaving out the values that have separate fields available: Priority, Weight, Port, Target.
> For example, when Priority has a separate field, concatenate only the Weight, Port, and Target values:
Target: 1 443 sipdir.online.partner.lync.cn

For TTL: Set this value to 1 hour or to the equivalent in minutes ( 60 ), seconds ( 3600 ), etc.

2. When you've finished, save the records.

NOTE
Typically it takes about 15 minutes for DNS changes to take effect. However, it can occasionally take longer for a change
you've made to update across the Internet's DNS system. If you're having trouble with mail flow or other issues after
adding DNS records, see Troubleshoot issues after changing your domain name or DNS records.

More about updating DNS records

If you know how to update DNS records at your domain's DNS host, use the Office 365 DNS values to
edit records at your domain's DNS host, for example, to set up an MX record or SPF record. Find the specific
values to use by following these steps, or view them in the domains setup wizard as you step through it.
If you need some help figuring out how to add the required DNS records see Set up your domain (host-
specific instructions, first gather the information you need to create Office 365 DNS records. Then use the
general steps in this topic to set up your domain's DNS records so you can use your domain with Office 365
services, like email.
If you don't have a website that you use with your custom domain, you can have Office 365 set up and
manage DNS records for your domain instead of doing all the setup yourself. Learn about the two options for
setting up and managing DNS records for a custom domain in Office 365.
 Remove a domain from Office 365
9/25/2019 • 4 minutes to read • Edit Online

Contributors:
Check the Domains FAQ if you don't find what you're looking for.
Are you removing your domain because you want to add it to a different Office 365 subscription plan? Or do you
just want to cancel your subscription? You can change your plan or subscription or cancel your subscription.
Step 1: Move users to another domain
Use the new admin center to move users
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. Go to the admin center.
2. Select Users > Active users.
3. Select the boxes next to the names of all the users you want to move.
4. Select More options (… ), at the top of the page, and then choose Change domains.
5. In the Change domains pane, select a different domain.
Use the old admin center to move users
1. Go to the admin center.
1. Go to the admin center.
1. Go to the admin center.
2. Select Users > Active users.
3. Select the boxes next to the names of all the users you want to move.
4. At the top of the page, choose More > Edit domains.
5. In the Edit domains pane, select a different domain.
You'll need to do this for yourself, too, if you're on the domain that you want to remove. When you edit the
domain for your account, you'll have to log out and log back in using the new domain you chose to continue.
Use the new admin center to move yourself to another domain
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. Go to Users > Active Users, and select your account from the list.
2. On the Account tab, select Manage username, and then choose a different domain.
3. At the top, select your account name, then select Sign Out.
4. Sign in with the new domain and your same password.
You can also use PowerShell to move users to another domain. See Set-MsolUserPrincipalName for more
information. To set the default domain, use Set-MsolDomain.
Use the old admin center to move yourself to another domain
1. Go to Users > Active Users, and select your name in the list.
2. In the Username / Email section, select Edit, and then choose a different domain.
3. Select Set as primary > Save > Close.
4. At the top, select your account name, then select Sign Out.
5. Sign in with the new domain and your same password.
You can also use PowerShell to move users to another domain. See Set-MsolUserPrincipalName for more
information. To set the default domain, use Set-MsolDomain.
Step 2: Move groups to another domain
Use the new admin center to move groups
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page.
2. Select the group name, and then on the General tab under Email address, Primary, select Edit.
3. Use the drop-down list to choose another domain.
4. Select Save, then Close. Repeat this process for any groups or distribution lists associated with the domain
that you want to remove.
Use the old admin center to move groups
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page.
2. Select the group name, and then select Edit next to Name.
3. Use the drop-down list to choose another domain.
4. Select Save, then Close. Repeat this process for any groups or distribution lists associated with the domain
that you want to remove.
Step 3: Remove the old domain
1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Domains page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Setup > Domains page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Setup > Domains page.
2. On the Domains page, select the domain that you want to remove.
3. In the right pane, select Remove.
4. Follow any additional prompts, and then select Close.

How long does it take for a domain to be removed?

It can take as little as 5 minutes for Office 365 to remove a domain if it's not referenced in a lot of places such as
security groups, distribution lists, users, and Office 365 groups. If there are many references that use the domain
it can take several hours (a day) for the domain to be removed.
If you have hundreds or thousands of users, use PowerShell to query for all users and then move them to another
domain. Otherwise, it's possible for a handful of users to be missed in the UI, and then when you go to remove
the domain, you won't be able to and you won't know why. See Set-MsolUserPrincipalName for more
information. To set the default domain, use Set-MsolDomain.

Still need help?

NOTE
You can't remove the ".onmicrosoft.com" domain from your account.

Still not working? Your domain might need to be manually removed. Give us a call and we'll help you take care of
it!
 Transfer data manually between two Office 365
accounts
9/17/2019 • 5 minutes to read • Edit Online

Prepare to roll up your sleeves and block out a chunk of time on your calendar: transferring data between two
Office 365 accounts is a manual, complicated, and time-consuming process. This is not an automated or supported
process. We'll get you started.
Cau t i on

There will be down time during the process where email, Skype for Business and a public website hosted on Office
365 won't work. Users will get new user names and passwords, and they'll need to reset up Outlook.
Only transfer data manually using the instructions in this topic if one of the following applies:
You need to change to a plan in a different service family.
Your company name changed, and you decided to create a new subscription and migrate your data because
you want to use different initial domain names.
You need to combine multiple subscriptions into one new one.

IMPORTANT
If you need to change your subscription plan and can use the Switch plans wizard, or if you need to transfer to a new
subscription plan in the same subscription family even when the Switch plans wizard doesn't work, you don't need to
manually transfer your data, and there is no down time.

TASKS STEPS

Purchase the plan you want to move to. When you sign up, you specify the company name to use in
the initial domain names: yourcompany .onmicrosoft.com,
yourcompany -public.sharepoint.com, and yourcompany
.sharepoint.com. You need to use a different yourcompany
name than you did for any existing subscriptions.
> [!NOTE]> It typically takes a minimum of several months
after cancelling a subscription to release the initial domain
names that use yourcompany from our systems. Even if you
plan to save all your data from your old Office 365
subscription, and cancel that subscription, the old
yourcompany value is not immediately available for use in a
new subscription.

Remove your custom domain from your old Office 365 Follow the required steps before you remove a domain to
subscription. remove the domain name from user email addresses and
remove DNS records for email and Lync for the custom
domain. If you host your public website on Office 365, you'll
also need to remove the CNAME record that points to it.
> [!IMPORTANT]> After you remove the MX record that
routes email to this custom domain, email will stop working
until you have added the domain to your new account, set up
the new MX record, and set up your users. When you remove
the DNS records for Lync, Lync will stop working. And after
you remove the CNAME record that points to your public
website, it will not be available. Remove the domain .
 TASKS STEPS

Set up your custom domain for your new subscription, and set Set up your new subscription, including creating the required
up your users. DNS records for your custom domain.
Create your users, with email addresses on your custom
domain.

Transfer data from your old subscription to your new Sign in to both accounts in separate browser windows:
subscription. Right-click the Internet Explorer icon, and open two InPrivate
browser windows. You can use different credentials in the two
windows to sign in on both accounts.
Transfer administrative settings between subscriptions
Transfer team site structure and data
Transfer a public website between subscriptions
Transfer administrative settings between subscriptions

Cancel the subscription for the plan you're done with by Verify that your new subscription is working and all data has
calling Microsoft Support for Office 365. been transferred.
Contact customer support to cancel your old subscription.

Transfer administrative settings between subscriptions

Go to the following pages on each account, and set up the new account based on the old account's settings.
If you are transferring data from Office 365 to Office 365 Midsize Business or Office 365 Enterprise, the admin
pages are structured differently. Watch a Video: Introducing Office 365 Enterprise, and go to the following places to
look at admin settings.
For Office 365 Enterprise and Office 365 Midsize Business:

LOCATION PURPOSE

Admin > Office 365 > Service settings Select each tab for settings for mail, sites, Lync, user software,
passwords, community, rights management, and mobile.

Admin > Exchange Exchange Online settings

Admin > SharePoint SharePoint Online settings

Admin > Skype for Business Additional Skype for Business settings

For Office 365 Small Business

LOCATION PURPOSE

Admin > Manage organization-wide settings Administrative settings

Transfer a public website between subscriptions

If you have a public website hosted on Office 365, you need to save it and re-create it on your new subscription.

NOTE
If your public website is hosted at a DNS hosting provider, no changes are required. It will not be affected by your transition.
To save a document library or list content from a SharePoint Online environment to file shares or to a local
computer, see Manual migration of SharePoint Online content.

NOTE
The Public site migration app can't transfer data to a different subscription.

Transfer team site structure and data

There are several ways to save or transfer team site data:
You can save the old site as a template and import the template into the new site.
To transfer documents, first manually recreate your hierarchy on the new site. Then you can open both
SharePoint team sites at the same time, open both document libraries with Windows Explorer, and copy and
paste the documents. See Video: Copy or move library files by using Open with Explorer.
To transfer list data, save a list template, and use the saved template to re-create the list on the new site.
To save a document library or list content from a SharePoint Online environment (OneDrive for Business or
team sites) to file shares or to a local computer, see Information about manual migration of SharePoint
Online content.

Transfer users' data between subscriptions

Email:
Ask users to move their email, contacts, tasks, and calendar information after you set up your new subscription.
They can get to their old email by using their initial user name, such as sue@contoso.onmicrosoft.com.
OneDrive For Business data:
Ask users to Copy/Sync OneDrive for Business content to their computer, and then add it back to their new
subscription.
 Overview of Office 365 Groups for administrators
9/27/2019 • 4 minutes to read • Edit Online

With Office 365 Groups, you can give a group of people access to a collection of collaboration resources for those
people to share. These resources include:
A shared Outlook inbox
A shared calendar
A SharePoint document library
A Planner
Power BI
Yammer (if the group was created from Yammer)
A Team (if the group was created from Teams)
Roadmap (if you have Project for the web )
With an Office 365 group, you don’t have to manually assign permissions to each of these resources, because
adding members to the group automatically gives them the permissions they need to the tools that the group
provides.
Any Office 365 user can create a group unless you limit group creation to a specific set of people. Note that if you
limit group creation, users who cannot create groups will not be able to create SharePoint sites, Planners, or teams.
These services need to be able to create a group using the user context. Users can still participate in group
activities, such as creating tasks in Planner or responding to conversations in Outlook, provided they are a member
of the group.
Groups have the following roles:
Owners - Group owners can add or remove members and have unique permissions like the ability to delete
conversations from the shared inbox or change different settings about the group. Group owners can rename
the group, update the description or picture and more.
Members - Members can access everything in the group, but can't change group settings.
Guests - Group guests are members who are from outside your organization. By default group members can
invite guests to join your group, though you can control that setting.
Only global admins and user management admins can create and manage groups in the admin center. You can't be
a delegated admin (for example, a consultant who is an admin on behalf of).
As an administrator, you can:
Specify who can create groups
Create a naming policy for groups in your organization
Choose which domain to use when creating a group
Manage guest access to groups
Recover a deleted group (within 30 days of deletion)
If you prefer a more automated way to manage the lifecycle of your Office 365 Groups you can use expiration
policies to expire groups at a specific time interval. The group's owners will get an email 30, 15 and 1 day before
the group expiration that allows them to easily renew the group if it's still needed. See: Office 365 Group Expiration
Policy.
You can administer your groups from the Microsoft 365 admin center or by using PowerShell.
If you have a lot of users, such as in a large corporation or enterprise, you may have many users who create groups
for various purposes. We highly recommend that you review Plan for governance in Office 365 Groups for best
practices.

Group limits
The following limits apply to Office 365 Groups:

MAXIMUM... VALUE

Owners per group 100

Groups a user can create 250

Groups an admin can create Up to default tenant limit of 500K

Number of members More than 1,000, though only 1,000 can access the Group
conversations concurrently.
Users might notice delays when accessing the calendar and
conversations in very large groups in Outlook.

Number of Groups a user can be a member of 1,000

File storage 1 Terabyte + 10 GB per subscribed user + any additional

storage purchased. You can purchase an unlimited amount of
additional storage.

Group Mailbox size 50 GB

The default maximum number of Office 365 Groups that an Office 365 organization can have is currently 500,000,
but can be increased by request. For more information on Office 365 Groups limits, see Office 365 Groups -
Admin help
Managing your Office 365 Groups is more effective when you have actionable information about Groups usage.
The Microsoft 365 Admin Center has a reporting tool that can let you see things such as storage use, how many
active Groups you have and even how your users are using the Groups. See: Office 365 Reports in the admin
center for more information.

Which Office 365 plans include Groups?

Any Office 365 subscription that has Exchange Online and SharePoint Online will support groups. That includes
the Business Essentials and Business Premium plans, and the Enterprise E1, E3 and E5 plans. The Group takes on
the licensing of the person who creates the Group (also known as the "organizer" of the Group). As long as the
organizer has the proper license for whatever features you want the Group to have, that license will convey to the
Group.
If you have an Exchange-only plan you can still get the shared Inbox and shared Calendar features of groups in
Outlook but you won’t get the document library, Planner or any of the other capabilities.
If you have a Yammer-only plan you will still have the conversations feed in the Yammer group but you won't get
the document library, Planner, or any of the other capabilities.
Office 365 Groups works with Azure Active Directory (AAD ). The Groups features you get depends on which
Azure Active Directory subscription you have, and what license(s) is assigned to the organizer of the Group.
 IMPORTANT
For all the Groups features, if you have an Azure AD Premium subscription, users can join the group whether or not they
have an AAD P1 license assigned to them. Licensing isn't enforced. Periodically we will generate usage reports that tell you
which users are missing a license, and need one assigned to them to be compliant with the licensing requirements. For
example, let's say a user doesn't have a license and they are added to a group where the naming policy is enforced. The
report will flag for you that they need a license.

Related topics
Learn about Office 365 Groups
Upgrade distribution lists to Office 365 Groups
Manage Office 365 Groups with PowerShell
SharePoint Online Limits
 Compare groups
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

In the Groups section of the Microsoft 365 admin center, you can create and manage these types of groups:
Office 365 groups are used for collaboration between users, both inside and outside your company.
Distribution groups are used for sending notifications to a group of people.
Security groups are used for granting access to SharePoint resources.
Mail-enabled security groups are used for granting access to SharePoint resources, and emailing
notifications to those users.
Shared mailboxes are used when multiple people need access to the same mailbox, such as a company
information or support email address.

Office 365 groups

Office 365 groups are used for collaboration between users, both inside and outside your company. With each
Office 365 group, members get a group email and shared workspace for conversations, files, and calendar events,
and a Planner.
You can add users external to your company to a group as long as this has been enabled by the administrator. You
can also allow external senders to send email to the group email address.
Office 365 groups can be configured for dynamic membership in Azure Active Directory, allowing group
members to be added or removed automatically based on user attributes such as department, location, title, etc.
Office 365 groups can be accessed through mobile apps such as Outlook for iOS and Outlook for Android.
Group members can send as or send on behalf of the group email address if this has been enabled by the
administrator.

Distribution groups
Distribution groups are used for sending notifications to a group of people. They can receive external email if
enabled by the administrator.
Distribution groups are best for situations where you need to broadcast information to a set group of people, such
as "People in Building A" or "Everyone at Contoso."

Security groups
Security groups are used for granting access to Office 365 resources, such as SharePoint. They can make
administration easier because you need only administer the group rather than adding users to each resource
individually.
Security groups can contain users or devices. Creating a security group for devices can be used with mobile device
management services, such as Intune.
Security groups can be configured for dynamic membership in Azure Active Directory, allowing group members
or devices to be added or removed automatically based on user attributes such as department, location, or title; or
device attributes such as operating system version.

Mail-enabled security groups

Mail-enabled security groups function the same as regular security groups, except that they cannot be dynamically
managed through Azure Active Directory and cannot contain devices.
They include the ability to send mail to all the members of the group.

Shared mailboxes
Shared mailboxes are used when multiple people need access to the same mailbox, such as a company
information or support email address, reception desk, or other function that might be shared by multiple people.
Shared mailboxes can receive external emails if the administrator has enabled this.
Users with permissions to the group mailbox can send as or send on behalf of the mailbox email address if the
administrator has given that user permissions to do that. This is particularly useful for help and support mailboxes
because users can send emails from "Contoso Support" or "Building A Reception Desk."
Currently it's not possible to migrate a shared mailbox to an Office 365 Group. Is this something you want? Let us
know. Vote here

Related topics
Learn about Office 365 Groups
 Create an Office 365 group in the Microsoft 365
admin center
9/25/2019 • 5 minutes to read • Edit Online

While users can create an Office 365 group from Outlook or other apps, as an admin, you may need to create or
delete groups, add or remove members, and customize how they work. The Microsoft 365 admin center is the
place to do this.

TIP
Office 365 connected Yammer groups must be created in Yammer, but can be managed in the Microsoft 365 admin center
like other Office 365 groups. To learn more, see Yammer and Office 365 Groups.

Create an Office 365 group

1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page.
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page.
2. Select Add a group.
3. On the Choose a group type page, select Office 365, and select Next.
4. On the Basics page, type a name for the group, and, optionally, a description. Select Next.
5. On the Edit settings page, type a unique email address for the group, choose a privacy option and
whether you want to add Microsoft Teams, and then selectNext.
6. On the Owners choose the name of one or more people who will be designated to manage the group.
Anyone who is a group owner will be able to delete email from the Group inbox. Other members won't be
able to delete email from the Group inbox. Select Next.
7. After reviewing your settings and making any changes, select Create group.
8. Select Close.

Configure the group

Once the group has been created, you can add members and configure additional settings.
Use the new admin center to add members to a group
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
Users can add themselves or request approval, or you can add them now.
1. In the admin center, refresh the page so your new group appears, select Groups > Groups, and then select
the name of the group that you want to add members to.
2. On the Members tab, select View all and manage members.
3. Select Add members.
4. Select the users you want to add, and then select Save.
5. Select Close three times.
The group will appear in Outlook with members assigned to it.
Use the old admin center to add members to a group
Users can add themselves or request approval, or you can add them now.
1. In the admin center, refresh the page so your new group appears, select Groups > Groups, and then select
the group that you want to add members to.
2. Next to Members, select Edit.
3. Select Add members.
4. Select the users you want to add, and then select Save.
5. Select Close three times.
The group will appear in Outlook with members assigned to it.
Send copies of conversations to group members' inboxes
When you use the admin center to create a group, by default users do not get copies of group emails and meeting
invitations sent to their inboxes. They'll need to go to the group to see conversations and meetings. You can
change this setting in the admin center.
When you turn this setting on, group members will get a copy of group emails and meeting invitations sent to
their Outlook Inbox. They can read and delete this copy of the email and not affect anyone else. In the Group
inbox, a copy of the email still exists.
Group members can opt out of receiving these emails by choosing to stop following the group in Outlook.
Use the new admin center to send copies of conversations to group members' inboxes
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page, and then select the name of the group you want to
change.
2. On the Settings tab, select Send copies of group conversations and events to group members if you
want members to receive copies of group messages and calendar items in their own inbox.
3. Select Save.
Use the old admin center to send copies of conversations to group members' inboxes
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page, and then select the group you want to change.
2. Next to Name, select Edit.
3. Turn Send copies of group conversations and events to group members' inboxes to On if you want
members to receive copies of group messages and calendar items in their own inbox.
4. Select Save.
Let people outside the organization email the group
This option is great if you want to have a company email address such as info@contoso.com.
Use the new admin center to let people outside the organization email the group
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
1. Refresh your admin center page so your new group appears.
2. In the admin center groups list, select the name of the group you want to change, and then on the Settings
tab, select Allow external senders to email this group.
3. Select Save.
Use the old admin center to let people outside the organization email the group
1. Refresh your admin center page so your new group appears.
2. In the admin center groups list, select the group you want to change, and then next to Name, select Edit.
3. Set the Let people outside the organization email the group toggle to On.
4. Select Save.

Who can delete email from the Group Inbox?

The Group owner can delete any emails from the Group Inbox, regardless of whether they were the initial author.
A member can delete an email conversation from the Group Inbox if they initiated it, and only using Outlook on
the web (right-click the email, then choose Delete). They can't do it from the Outlook app (Outlook 2016).
When an email is deleted from the group mailbox, it is not deleted from any of the group members' personal
mailboxes.

Related topics
Manage guest access to Office 365 groups
Choose the domain to use when creating Office 365 Groups
Allow members to send as or send on behalf of an Office 365 Group
Upgrade distribution lists to Office 365 Groups
Manage Office 365 Groups with PowerShell
 Plan for governance in Office 365 Groups
9/24/2019 • 20 minutes to read • Edit Online

Office 365 Groups has a rich set of tools to implement any governance capabilities your organization might
require. This article guides IT Pros to ask the right questions to determine their requirements for governance and
how to meet them based on their organizational profile.

Why Office 365 Groups?

We know that organizations today are using a diverse toolset. There’s the team of developers using team chat, the
executives sending email, and the entire organization connecting over enterprise social. Multiple collaboration tools
are in use because every group is unique and has their own functional needs and workstyle. Some will use only
email while others will live primarily in chat. If users feel the IT-provided tools do not fit their needs, they will likely
download their favorite consumer app which supports their scenarios. Although this process allows users to get
started quickly, it leads to a frustrating user experience across the organization with multiple logins, difficulty
sharing, and no single place to view content.
This concept is referred to as “Shadow IT” and poses a significant risk to organizations. It reduces the ability to
uniformly manage user access, ensure security, and service compliance needs. Office 365 Groups empowers users
and reduces the risk of shadow IT by providing in a single step many of the tools needed to collaborate.
Office 365 Groups lets you choose a set of people with which you wish to collaborate, and easily set up a collection
of resources for those people to share. Manually assigning permissions to resources is a thing of the past as adding
members to the Group automatically grants the needed permissions to all assets provided by the group.

Technical Architecture
There are three main communication modalities supported by Office 365 Groups. Groups can be created within
these experiences and used across the Office 365 suite:
Outlook: collaboration through email with a shared group inbox and calendar
Microsoft Teams: a persistent chat-based workspace where you can have informal, real-time, conversations
around a variety of topics, organized by specific sub-groups
Yammer: enterprise social experience for collaboration

NOTE
Creating a new group via other teamwork applications - such as SharePoint, Planner or Stream - will create a Group with an
Outlook communication modality with the ability to connect to Microsoft Teams.
Depending on where a Group is created, certain resources are provisioned automatically, such as:
Inbox - For email conversations between your members. This inbox has an email address and can be set to
accept messages from people outside the group and even outside your organization, much like a traditional
distribution list.
Calendar – For scheduling events related to the group
SharePoint Team Site – A central repository for information, links and content relating to your group
SharePoint Document Library – A central place for the group to store and share files
OneNote Notebook – For gathering ideas, research, and information
Planner – For assigning and managing project tasks among your group members
Yammer Group – A common place to have conversations and share information
Microsoft Teams – A chat-based workspace in Office 365
To learn more about which resources are created for each group, visit Learn about Office 365 Groups.

NOTE
When a new Office 365 Group is created via Yammer or Teams, the group isn't visible in Outlook or the address book because
the primary communication between those users happens in their respective clients.

IMPORTANT
When a new Yammer group is created, the Office 365 group does not create a group mailbox or calendar resource. Therefore,
a Yammer group cannot be connected to Microsoft Teams. See Yammer and Groups

Where to start a conversation

There are multiple places to have a conversation within Office 365. Understanding where to start a conversation
can help organizations define a strategy for communication.

Teams: chat-based workspace (high velocity collaboration) – inner loop

Built for collaboration with the people you work with every day
Puts information at the fingertips of users in a single experience
Add tabs, connectors and bots
Live chat, audio/video conferencing, recorded meetings.
Yammer: connect across the org (enterprise social) – outer loop
Communities of Practice - Cross-functional groups of people who share a common interest or expertise
 but are not necessarily working together on a day-to-day basis
Leadership connection, learning communities, role-based communities
Outlook Groups: modern DL (email-based collaboration)
Ubiquitous for targeted communication
Upgrade DLs to Office 365 Groups – Why you should upgrade?
SharePoint – Core content collaboration experience for all Office 365 Groups
Every Group gets a connected SharePoint team site
Share content, create customized pages and author news
Connect existing SharePoint team sites to new Office 365 Groups

Managing and governing Office 365 at scale

Office 365 Groups has a rich set of tools to implement any governance capabilities your organization might
require. The following section describes the capabilities, recommends best practices, and provides guidance to ask
the right questions to determine the requirements for governance, and how to meet them.
In this section:
Control who can create Office 365 Groups
Group soft delete and restore
Group naming policy
Group expiration policy
Group guest access
Group policies & information protection
Upgrade traditional collaboration tools
Groups reporting
Control who can create Office 365 Groups
Groups can be created by end-users from multiple end-points including Outlook, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, and
other environments.
 TIP
Strongly consider self-service to empower group owners.
Document and communicate how to request a group.
Revisit who can create groups during your cloud journey.
Consider using dynamic membership to configure Security group’s members to control group creation.
Assess which groups scenarios can managed via a dynamic membership and allow self-service for the rest.

There are three primary models of provisioning in Groups: Open, IT-led or Controlled. The following table
describes the advantages of each model.

MODEL ADVANTAGES

Open (default) Users can create their own groups as needed without needing
to wait for, or bother IT.

IT-led Users request a group from IT. IT can guide them in selecting
the best collaboration tools for their needs.

Controlled Group creation restricted to specific people, teams or services.

To learn more, see Manage who can create Office 365 Groups.

Your organization might have specific requirements to implement strict controls on who can create groups. Use the
following table to help make the decision on which provisioning model fits your organization.

Decision points Which provisioning model fits

your organization requirements?
Does your organization require
limiting group creation to
administrators?
Does your organization require
limiting group creation to
security group members?
Does your organization require
some groups to be created
dynamically based on user
attributes, such as department?
 Next steps Document your organization’s
requirements for group and
team creation.
Plan to implement these
requirements as a part of your
groups rollout.
Communicate and publish your
policies to inform users of the
behavior they can expect
Plan to implement dynamic
membership where applicable.

IMPORTANT
Limiting group and team creation can slow users productivity because many Office 365 services require that groups be
created for the service to function. To learn more, see Why control who creates Office 365 Groups?

Resources
Manage who can create Office 365 Groups
Populate groups dynamically based on object attributes
How to change the default setting of Office 365 Groups for Outlook, to public or private
Syncing Security Groups with team membership
Group soft delete and restore
If you've deleted an Office 365 group, by default it's retained for 30 days. This 30-day period is called "soft-delete"
because you can still restore the group. After 30 days, the group and associated content is permanently deleted and
cannot be restored.

TIP
Communicate the restore process to your users.
Train your helpdesk team.
Track upcoming groups that will be deleted using PowerShell script.

Decision points Do you require that certain

assets to be archived for long
term storage?
Do you have certain retention
requirements for your
organization?
 Next steps Communicate and publish the
delete and restore policies to
inform users of the behavior
they can expect
Document your organizations
requirements for monitoring
deleted groups.
Plan to implement these
requirements as part of your
groups rollout.

IMPORTANT
During the "soft-delete" period if a user tries to access the site they will get a 403 forbidden message. After this period if the
user tries to access the site they will get a 404 not found message.

Resources
Restore a deleted Office 365 Group
Restore a deleted Office 365 group in Azure Active Directory
Delete groups using the Remove-UnifiedGroup cmdlet
Group naming policy
A naming policy can help you and your users identify the function of the group, membership, geographic region, or
who created the group. The naming policy can also help categorize groups in the address book. You can use the
policy to block specific words from being used in group names and aliases.

TIP
Use short strings as suffix.
Use attributes with values.
Don’t be too creative, total name length has a maximum of 264 characters.
Upload your organization specific blocked words to restrict usage.

Decision points Does your organization require a

specific naming convention for
groups?
Does your organization require
the naming convention across all
workloads?
Does your organization have
specific words that you want to
prevent users from using?
 Next steps Document your organization’s
requirements for naming groups.
Plan to implement these
requirements as part of your
groups rollout.
Communicate and publish the
naming policies and standards to
inform users.

IMPORTANT
The naming policy is applied to groups that are created across all groups workloads (like Outlook, Microsoft Teams,
SharePoint, Planner, Yammer, etc). It gets applied to both the group name and group alias. It gets applied when a user creates
a group and when group name or alias is edited for an existing group.

Resources
Office 365 Groups naming policy
Enforce a naming policy for Office 365 groups in Azure Active Directory
Azure Active Directory cmdlets for configuring group settings
Preview Features for Group Naming
Group expiration policy
Administrators can specify an expiration period and any group that reaches the end of that period, and is not
renewed, will be deleted. The expiration period begins when the group is created, or on the date it was last renewed.
Group owners will automatically be sent an email before the expiration that allows them to renew the group for
another expiration interval.
Once you set a group to expire:
Owners of the group are notified to renew the group as the expiration nears
Any group that is not renewed is deleted
Any group that is deleted can be restored within 30 days by the group owners or the administrator

TIP
Pilot with specific groups initially.
Choose inactive groups based on the activity report in Microsoft 365 admin center.
Communicate renewal process to group owners.
Onboard your helpdesk team.
Ensure groups have multiple owners and configure email for orphan groups.

Decision points Does your organization require

specifying an expiration date for
teams?
Determine the strategy for
dealing with orphan groups?
 Next steps Document your organization’s
requirements for group
expiration, data retention, and
archiving.
Plan to implement these
requirements as part of your
groups rollout.
Plan to implement a custom job
to report on groups that have
single owners or are ownerless.

IMPORTANT
When you change the expiration policy, the service recalculates the expiration date for each group. It always starts counting
from the date when the group was created, and then applies the new expiration policy.

Resources
Office 365 Group Expiration Policy
Configure the expiration policy for Office 365 groups
Group guest access
Admins can control whether to allow guest access to Office 365 Groups for their whole organization or for
individual Office 365 groups. They can also control who can allow guests to be added to groups.

TIP
Enable guest access at the tenant level. If needed, block for specific groups.
Govern using allow/block guest domains, guest inviter role, access reviews, terms of use.
Track guest user activity via audit logs.

Decision points Do you need to restrict the

ability to add guests to teams on
a per-group basis?
Does your organization require
to present relevant disclaimers
for legal or compliance
requirements?
Does your organization have the
need to reduce administrative
over-head of adding and
removing users?
Does your organization expect
audit controls for guest/external
access?
 Next steps Document requirements for
guest/external access for certain
classified groups including the
retention period and occurrence.
Document organization’s
requirements for which groups
will require terms of use and
access review.
Perform reviews to efficiently
manage group memberships for
both internal and guest users.

Resources
Manage guest access in Office 365 Groups
Guest access in Office 365 groups
Guest access in Office 365 groups – Admin Help
Azure AD access reviews
Azure Active Directory Terms of Use feature
Google Federation
Authorize guest access in Microsoft Teams
Group policies & information protection
Office 365 groups is built on the advanced security and compliance capabilities of Office 365 and supports
classifications, auditing and reporting, compliance content search, e-discovery, Legal Hold, and retention policies.

TIP
Configure classification, usage guidelines, and labels aligned with your organization's needs.
Retention policies can be defined independently of labels.
Audit groups activities: creation, deletion, etc.
Manage group privacy and guest access based on classification.

Decision points Does your organization have

specific usage requirements that
need to be communicated to all
users?
Does your organization require
the classifications of all content?
Does your organization require
content to be retained for a
specific period of time?
Does your organization require
specific data retention policies be
ap-plied to groups?
Does your organization expect
to require the ability to archive
inactive groups to preserve the
content?
Do group creators need the
ability to assign organization-
specific classifications to teams?
 Next steps Document your organization’s
usage guidelines for Groups
Document your organization’s
requirements for classification.
Determine the policies to be
enforced based on the
classification e.g. sensitivity,
retention, guest access
Define the sensitivity labels for
your organization and what
protection settings you want
associated.
Define a label policy to control
which users and groups see
those labels.
Plan to implement these
requirements as a part of your
groups rollout.

Resources
Link to your Office 365 Groups usage guidelines
Create classifications for Office groups in your organization
Configure Group settings
Overview of retention policies
Overview of sensitivity labels
Overview of labels
Search the audit log
Create or remove an in-place legal hold
Create a preservation policy
Run a Content Search in the Office 365 Security & Compliance Center
Bulk create and publish retention labels by using PowerShell
Upgrade traditional collaboration tools
For years organizations have relied on distribution groups to communicate and collaborate with groups of people
both inside and outside the company. Now, however, Office 365 Groups in Outlook offer a more powerful solution
for collaboration. In addition, being able to connect an Office 365 group to an existing SharePoint site is important
if you want to modernize that site.

TIP
Easily upgrade all your eligible distribution lists in seconds via the Exchange admin center, or using PowerShell cmdlets.
Connect existing SharePoint team sites to new Office 365 Groups.

Decision points Does your organization have

distribution lists that are not
eligible for upgrade?
Determine which type of group
is the distribution list best
migrated to?
 Next steps Identify which distribution lists
would be candidates for
upgrading to Office 365 Groups.
Analyze your existing SharePoint
team sites to see which sites are
ready to be group-connected.
Let other teams in your
company know that you
upgraded your distribution
group and what steps you took
to make it successful!

Resources
Upgrade Distribution Lists (DL ) to groups in Outlook:
Why you should upgrade your DL to groups in Outlook
Upgrade with one click via Exchange admin center or via PowerShell scripts
Migrate distribution lists to Office 365 Groups - Admin help
Connect existing SharePoint sites to Office 365 groups:
Analyze and use the scanner data
SharePoint Modernization Scanner (a tool located on GitHub)
Groups reporting
The Office 365 Reports dashboard shows you the activity overview across the Office 365 products in your
organization. It enables you to drill in to individual product level reports to give you more granular insight about
the activities within each product.

TIP
You can use the Groups activity reports to gain insights into the activity of Office 365 Groups in your organization and see
how many Groups are being created and used. -The Office 365 groups report can be viewed for trends over the last 7
days, 30 days, 90 days, or 180 days.
Monitor group activity across group mailbox conversations, group site/files activity, details around group membership
including external member counts.
Monitor regularly to reach out to group owners of active groups to learn uses cases and amplify them internally.
Leverage Power BI content packs for additional insights.

Decision points Does your organization require

regular reports to understand
usage of Office 365 groups?
Does your organization require
reporting on all groups that
have external members?

Next steps Document your organization’s

requirements for regularly review
groups activity reports.

Resources
Office 365 Reports in the admin center
 Office 365 Adoption content pack
Azure AD content pack
Microsoft Graph groups activity API
Office 365 Groups Report (Unified Groups)
Audit activity reports in the Azure Active Directory portal
Microsoft Graph - Use delta query to track changes

Getting started based on your cloud adoption journey

Office 365 Groups provides a rich set of governance capabilities your organization might require. Consider the
following organization profiles as guidance to understand best practices, ask the right questions to determine the
requirements for governance, and how to meet them.
Consider the following organization profiles:
Small Business
Medium-sized Business
Regulated or Enterprise
Small business
Consider an organization that has deployed Office 365 with at least Exchange Online and SharePoint Online
licenses that includes the Business Essentials and Business Premium plans, and the Enterprise E1, E3 and E5 plans
with no Azure Active Director Premium licensing.

STAGE DESCRIPTION

Guidance Consider a self-service provisioning model

Groups in Outlook & SharePoint sites are private by
default.
Groups can be created by upgrading existing
distribution lists (DLs) either one-by-one or in bulk via
PowerShell. See Upgrade distribution lists to Office 365
Groups.
Enable guest access but govern using allow/block guest
domains.
Use group reporting to gain insights on how users are
using groups.
Consider creating an org-wide team Microsoft Teams
as a way for everyone to be a part of a single team for
collaboration.

Next Steps Consider using site designs and site scripts to define
the default design to controls using the actions defined
within the JSON schema reference.
Review groups reporting
Track total groups and inactive/active groups
Track both Exchange and SharePoint storage used
View group activity across group mailbox
conversations, group site/files activity, etc.

Medium-sized business
In addition to the above recommendations consider the following for medium-sized business who has deployed
Office 365 with at least an Enterprise E3/E5 with Azure Active Directory Premium P1 licenses.
 STAGE DESCRIPTION

Guidance Decide on an Open or IT-led provisioning model.

Consider creating certain groups tied to dynamic
memberships rules based on Azure AD attributes like
Department
Define classifications within your organization e.g.,
Highly Confidential, Confidential (default), General.
Define the policies based on classification such as
retention and sensitivity.
SharePoint is the content service for every Office 365
Group. Consider designing and Deploying SharePoint
Online sites for three tiers of protection (baseline,
sensitive, and highly confidential). For more information
about these three tiers of protection, see Secure
SharePoint Online sites and files.
Both public and private groups are listed in the GAL by
default. Deter-mine which groups you want to appear
in the GAL specifically groups created outside of
Microsoft Teams. Use the Set-UnifiedGroup cmdlet's
"HiddenFromAddressListsEnabled" or
“HidefromExchangeC-lients” to hide specific groups

Next Steps Define Usage guidelines to educate your users about

best practices that help keep their groups effective, and
educate them on internal content policies. For example,
understanding classifications, policies and procedures.
Define group lifecycle period that groups must be
renewed or will be deleted - expiry policy.
Consider creating the following custom jobs to
implement policies based on classifications.
Set Privacy to Private.
Disable external membership/sharing.
Emails to notify group members for groups with no
owner.
Enforce ownership policy (min. 2 owners).
Define retention policies for groups based on
classification.
Overview of retention policies.
Using Powershell to identify groups with a classification
and Set-RetentionCompliancePolicy.
Consider using site designs and site scripts to define
the controls using the actions defined within the JSON
schema reference.
Consider building a simple site directory using a site
design and Micro-soft Flow. Whenever a site is created
using this site design, details of the site are captured
and written to a list.

Regulated or Enterprise
In addition to the above recommendations consider the following for highly regulated or large enter-prises such as
government, financial services, or healthcare who has deployed Office 365 with at least an Enterprise E3/E5 with
Azure Active Directory Premium P1/P2 licences.

STAGE DESCRIPTION
 STAGE DESCRIPTION

Guidance Define policies for data governance of the SharePoint

site associated to the group based on classification.
Protect SharePoint Online files with Office 365 labels
and DLP.
Protect SharePoint Online files with Azure Information
Protection.
Group site provisioned in region tied to user’s
Preferred Data Location (multi-geo).
Membership reviews for groups with external members
(access reviews).
Ensure employees or guest users see relevant
disclaimers for legal or compliance requirements before
getting access. (terms of use).
Identify and report on Office 365 groups with a certain
classification that also have external users.
Secret groups where memberships needed to be
hidden must be created using the New-UnifiedGroup
cmdlet (using the HiddenGroup-MembershipEnabled
switch) on Group creation.
Define the sensitivity labels for the organization to
Restrict access to content by using encryption and
publish to specific Office 365 Groups.
Prevent sensitive content from leaving your
organization on devices running Windows using
sensitivity labels with Windows Information Protection.

Next Steps Use site design and site scripts to define the default
actions that occur when a new site is created. For
example, configure external sharing setting or trigger a
Microsoft Flow to call an Azure function to apply
configurations that are not supported natively.
Document requirements to Protect SharePoint Online
files with Office 365 labels and DLP to sites associated
to Office 365 Groups.
Document organization requirements to Secure
SharePoint Online sites and files that are connected to
Office 365 groups.
Document organization requirements to publish
sensitivity labels to specific users or groups to protect
content.

Groups Management Capability Planning Checklist

A number of groups-related controls can be administered through Azure Active Directory. To learn more about
configuring group settings, see Azure Active Directory cmdlets for configuring group settings.
Use the following table to determine which capabilities you will need to deploy your organizations requirements. It
will help you determine which licenses you need so you can plan ahead.

AZURE AD PREMIUM LICENSE

CAPABILITY DETAILS REQUIRED DECISION

Group naming policy Use Prefix-Suffix–based, P1 TBD

Custom Blocked Words.
 AZURE AD PREMIUM LICENSE
CAPABILITY DETAILS REQUIRED DECISION

Group classification Assign classifications to P1 TBD

teams.

Group guest access Allow or prevent guests from No TBD

being added to groups.

Group creation Limit team creation to No TBD

administrators.

Group creation Limit team creation to P1 TBD

security group members.

Group usage guidelines Set a link the Group Usage P1 TBD

Guidelines which will be
visible on all group creation
endpoints.

Hidden membership Hide the members of the No TBD

Office 365 Group from users
who aren't members of the
group

Expiration policy Manage the lifecycle of P1 TBD

Office 365 groups by setting
an expiration policy.

Group activity reports Gain insights into the activity No TBD

of Office 365 Groups in your
organization and see how
many Office 365 Groups are
being created and used.

Retention policy Retain or delete data for a No TBD

specific time period by
setting retention policies for
Office 365 Groups in the
Security & compliance center.
Note: Using this feature
requires licensing of Office
365 Enterprise E3 or above.

Data loss prevention policy Identify sensitive information No TBD

across Office 365 group
connected sites and prevent
the accidental sharing. Note:
Using this feature requires
licensing of Office 365
Enterprise E3 or above.

Archive and restore Archive a team when it’s no No TBD

longer active but you want
to keep it around for
reference or to reactivate in
the future.
 AZURE AD PREMIUM LICENSE
CAPABILITY DETAILS REQUIRED DECISION

Access Reviews Perform reviews to efficiently P2 TBD

manage group memberships
for both internal and guest
users

Terms of Use A simple method that P1 TBD

organizations can use to
present information to end
users. This presentation
ensures users see relevant
disclaimers for legal or
compliance requirements.
 Manage who can create Office 365 Groups
10/10/2019 • 5 minutes to read • Edit Online

Because it's so easy for users to create Office 365 Groups, you aren't inundated with requests to create them on
behalf of other people. Depending on your business, however, you might want to control who has the ability to
create groups.
This article explains how to disable the ability to create groups in all Office 365 services that use groups:
Outlook
SharePoint
Yammer
Microsoft Teams
StaffHub
Planner
PowerBI
Roadmap
You can restrict Office 365 Group creation to the members of a particular security group. To configure this, you
use Windows PowerShell. This article walks you through the needed steps.
The steps in this article won't prevent members of certain roles from creating Groups. Office 365 Global admins
can create Groups via any means, such as the Microsoft 365 admin center, Planner, Teams, Exchange, and
SharePoint Online. Other roles can create Groups via limited means, listed below.
Exchange Administrator: Exchange Admin center, Azure AD
Partner Tier 1 Support: Microsoft 365 Admin center, Exchange Admin center, Azure AD
Partner Tier 2 Support: Microsoft 365 Admin center, Exchange Admin center, Azure AD
Directory Writers: Azure AD
SharePoint Administrator: SharePoint Admin center, Azure AD
Teams Service Administrator: Teams Admin center, Azure AD
User Management Administrator: Microsoft 365 Admin center, Yammer, Azure AD
If you're a member of one of these roles, you can create Office 365 Groups for restricted users, and then assign the
user as the owner of the group. Users that have this role are able to create connected groups in Yammer,
regardless of any PowerShell settings that might prevent creation.

Licensing requirements
To manage who creates Groups, the following people need Azure AD Premium licenses or Azure AD Basic EDU
licenses assigned to them:
The admin who configures these group creation settings
The members of the security group who are allowed to create Groups
The following people don't need Azure AD Premium or Azure AD Basic EDU licenses assigned to them:
People who are members of Office 365 groups and who don't have the ability to create other groups.

Step 1: Create a security group for users who need to create Office 365
Groups
Only one security group in your organization can be used to control who is able to create Groups. But, you can
nest other security groups as members of this group. For example, the group named Allow Group Creation is the
designated security group, and the groups named Microsoft Planner Users and Exchange Online Users are
members of that group.
Admins in the roles listed above do not need to be members of this group: they retain thier ability to create
groups.

IMPORTANT
Be sure to use a security group to restrict who can create groups. If you try to use an Office 365 Group, members won't be
able to create a group from SharePoint because it checks for a security group.

1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page.

2. Choose Security as the group type. Remember the name of the group! You'll need it later.
3. Finish setting up the security group, adding people or other security groups who you want to be able to
create Groups in your org.
For detailed instructions, see Create, edit, or delete a security group in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Step 2: Install the preview version of the Azure Active Directory

PowerShell for Graph
These procedures require the preview version of the Azure Active Directory PowerShell for Graph. The GA version
will not work.

IMPORTANT
You cannot install both the preview and GA versions on the same computer at the same time. You can install the module on
Windows 10, Windows Server 2016.

As a best practice, we recommend always staying current: uninstall the old AzureADPreview or old AzureAD
version and get the latest one.
1. In your search bar, type Windows PowerShell.
2. Right-click on Windows PowerShell and select Run as Administrator.
3. Check installed module:

Get-InstalledModule -Name "AzureAD*"

4. To uninstall a previous version of AzureADPreview or AzureAD, run this command:

Uninstall-Module AzureADPreview

or

Uninstall-Module AzureAD

5. To install the latest version of AzureADPreview, run this command:

Install-Module AzureADPreview

At the message about an untrusted repository, type Y. It will take a minute or so for the new module to
install.
Leave the PowerShell window open for Step 3, below.

Step 3: Run PowerShell commands

Copy the script below into a text editor, such as Notepad, or the Windows PowerShell ISE.
Replace <SecurityGroupName> with the name of the security group that you created. For example:
$GroupName = "Group Creators"

Save the file as GroupCreators.ps1.

In the PowerShell window, navigate to the location where you saved the file (type "CD ").
Run the script by typing:
.\GroupCreators.ps1

and sign in with your administrator account when prompted.

 $GroupName = "<SecurityGroupName>"
$AllowGroupCreation = "False"

Connect-AzureAD

$settingsObjectID = (Get-AzureADDirectorySetting | Where-object -Property Displayname -Value "Group.Unified" -

EQ).id
if(!$settingsObjectID)
{
$template = Get-AzureADDirectorySettingTemplate | Where-object {$_.displayname -eq "group.unified"}
$settingsCopy = $template.CreateDirectorySetting()
New-AzureADDirectorySetting -DirectorySetting $settingsCopy
$settingsObjectID = (Get-AzureADDirectorySetting | Where-object -Property Displayname -Value
"Group.Unified" -EQ).id
}

$settingsCopy = Get-AzureADDirectorySetting -Id $settingsObjectID

$settingsCopy["EnableGroupCreation"] = $AllowGroupCreation

if($GroupName)
{
$settingsCopy["GroupCreationAllowedGroupId"] = (Get-AzureADGroup -SearchString $GroupName).objectid
}

Set-AzureADDirectorySetting -Id $settingsObjectID -DirectorySetting $settingsCopy

(Get-AzureADDirectorySetting -Id $settingsObjectID).Values

The last line of the script will display the updated settings:

If in the future you want to change which security group is used, you can rerun the script with the name of the new
security group.
If you want to turn off the group creation restriction and again allow all users to create groups, set $GroupName to
"" and $AllowGroupCreation to "True" and rerun the script.

Step 4: Verify that it works

1. Sign in to Office 365 with a user account of someone who should NOT have the ability to create groups.
That is, they are not a member of the security group you created or an administrator.
2. Select the Planner tile.
3. In Planner, select New Plan in the left navigation to create a plan.
4. You should get a message that plan and group creation is disabled.
Try the same procedure again with a member of the security group.
 NOTE
If members of the security group aren't able to create groups, check that they aren't being blocked through their OWA
mailbox policy.

Related articles
Getting started with Office 365 PowerShell
Set up self-service group management in Azure Active Directory
Set-ExecutionPolicy
Azure Active Directory cmdlets for configuring group settings
 Choose the domain to use when creating Office 365
Groups
8/8/2019 • 3 minutes to read • Edit Online

Some organizations use separate email domains to segment different parts of their businesses. You can specify
which domain should be used when your users create Office 365 groups.
If your organization needs users to create their groups in domains other than the default accepted domain of your
business, you can allow this by configuring email address policies (EAPs) using PowerShell.
Before you can run the PowerShell cmdlets, download and install a module that will let you talk to your Office 365
organization. Check out Connect to Exchange Online using remote PowerShell.

Example scenarios
Let's say your business's main domain is Contoso.com. But your organization's default accepted domain is
service.contoso.com. This means groups will be created in service.contoso.com (for example,
jimsteam@service.contoso.com).
Let's say you also have sub-domains configured in your organization. You want groups to be created in these
domains, too:
students.contoso.com for students
faculty.contoso.com for faculty members
The following two scenarios explain how you would accomplish this.

NOTE
When you have mulitple EAPs, they are evaluated in the order of priority. A value of 1 means the highest priority. Once an
EAP matches, no further EAP is evaluated and addresses that gets stamped on the group are as per the matched EAP. > If
no EAPs match the specified criteria, then the group gets provisioned in the organization's default accepted domain. Check
out Manage accepted domains in Exchange Online for details on how to add an accepted domain.

Scenario 1
The following example shows you how to provision all Office 365 groups in your organization in the
groups.contoso.com domain.

New-EmailAddressPolicy -Name Groups -IncludeUnifiedGroupRecipients -EnabledEmailAddressTemplates

"SMTP:@groups.contoso.com" -Priority 1

Scenario 2
Let's say you want to control what sub-domains Office 365 groups are created in. You want:
Groups created by students (users which have Department set to Students) in the
students.groups.contoso.com domain. Use this command:
 New-EmailAddressPolicy -Name StudentsGroups -IncludeUnifiedGroupRecipients -
EnabledEmailAddressTemplates "SMTP:@students.groups.contoso.com","smtp:@groups.contoso.com" -
ManagedByFilter {Department -eq 'Students'} -Priority 1

Groups created by faculty members (users which have Department set to Faculty or email address
contains faculty.contoso.com )) in the faculty.groups.contoso.com domain. Use this command:

New-EmailAddressPolicy -Name FacultyGroups -IncludeUnifiedGroupRecipients -EnabledEmailAddressTemplates

"SMTP:@faculty.groups.contoso.com","smtp:@groups.contoso.com" -ManagedByFilter {Department -eq
'Faculty' -or EmailAddresses -like "*faculty.contoso.com*"} -Priority 2

All other users in the groups.contoso.com domain. Use this command:

New-EmailAddressPolicy -Name OtherGroups -IncludeUnifiedGroupRecipients -

EnabledPrimarySMTPAddressTemplate "SMTP:@groups.contoso.com" -Priority 3

Change email address policies

To change the priority or email address templates for an existing EAP, use the Set-EmailAddressPolicy cmdlet.

Set-EmailAddressPolicy -Name StudentsGroups -EnabledEmailAddressTemplates

"SMTP:@students.groups.contoso.com","smtp:@groups.contoso.com", "smtp:@students.contoso.com" ManagedByFilter
{Department -eq 'Students'} -Priority 2

Changing an EAP has no impact on the groups that have already been provisioned.

Delete email address policies

To delete an EAP, use the Remove-EmailAddressPolicy cmdlet.

Remove-EmailAddressPolicy -Identity StudentsGroups

Changing an EAP has no impact on the groups that have already been provisioned.

Hybrid requirements
If your organization is configured in a hybrid scenario, check out Configure Office 365 Groups with on-premises
Exchange hybrid to make sure your organization meets the requirements for creating Office 365 groups.

Additional info about using email address policies groups:

There are a few more things to know:
How fast groups are created depends on the number of EAPs configured in your organization.
Admins and users can also modify domains when they create groups.
Group of users is determined using the standard queries (User properties) that are already available. Check
out Filterable properties for the -RecipientFilter parameter for supported filterable pproperties.
If you don't configure any EAPs for groups, then the default accepted domain is selected for group creation.
If you remove an accepted domain, you should update the EAPs first, otherwise, group provisioning will be
 impacted.
A maximum limit of 100 email address policies can be configured for an organization.

See Also
Create an Office 365 group in the admin center
 Office 365 Groups naming policy
8/8/2019 • 12 minutes to read • Edit Online

The information in this topic applies to the public preview release of the groups naming policy feature.
You use a group naming policy to enforce a consistent naming strategy for groups created by users in your
organization. A naming policy can help you and your users identify the function of the group, membership,
geographic region, or who created the group. The naming policy can also help categorize groups in the address
book. You can use the policy to block specific words from being used in group names and aliases.
The naming policy is applied to groups that are created across all groups workloads (like Outlook, Microsoft
Teams, SharePoint, Planner, Yammer, etc). It gets applied to both the group name and group alias. It gets applied
when a user creates a group and when group name or alias is edited for an existing group.

TIP
An Office 365 group naming policy only applies to Office 365 Groups. It doesn't apply to distribution groups created in
Exchange Online. To create a naming policy for distribution groups, see Create a distribution group naming policy.

The group naming policy consists of the following features:

Prefix-Suffix naming policy You can use prefixes or suffixes to define the naming convention of groups
(for example: "GRP_US_My Group_Engineering"). The prefixes/suffixes can either be fixed strings or user
attributes like [Department] that will get substituted based on the user who is creating the group.
Custom Blocked Words You can upload a set of blocked words specific to their organization that would be
blocked in groups created by users. (For example: "CEO, Payroll, HR").

Licensing requirements
Using Azure AD naming policy for Office 365 groups requires that you possess but not necessarily assign an
Azure Active Directory Premium P1 license or Azure AD Basic EDU license for each unique user (including guests)
that is a member of one or more Office 365 groups. This is also required for the administrator that creates the
Groups naming policy.

Prefix-Suffix Naming policy

Prefixes and suffixes can either be fixed strings or user attributes.
Fixed Strings
You can use short strings that can help you differentiate groups in the GAL and Left nav of the group workloads.
Some of the common prefixes suffixes are Keywords like 'Grp_Name' , '#Name', '_Name'
Attributes
You can use attributes that can help identify who created the group like [Department] and where it was created
from like [Country].

Examples Policy = "GRP [GroupName] [Department]"

 User's department = Engineering

Created group name = "GRP My Group Engineering"

Supported Azure Active Directory (Azure AD ) attributes are [Department], [Company], [Office], [StateOrProvince],
[CountryOrRegion], [Title]
Unsupported user attributes are considered as fixed strings. E.g. "[postalCode]"
Extension attributes and custom attributes aren't supported.
It's recommended that you use attributes that have values filled in for all users in your organization and don't use
attributes that have longer values.
Things to look out for:
During policy creation, the total prefixes and suffixes string length is restricted to 53 characters.
Prefixes and suffixes can contain special characters supported in group name and group alias. When the
prefixes and suffixes contain special characters that are not allowed in the group alias, they are removed and
applied to the group alias. So in this case, the prefixes and suffixes applied to group name would be different
from the ones applied to the group alias.
If you are using Yammer Office 365 connected groups, avoid using the following characters in your naming
policy: @, #, [, ], <, and >. If these characters are in the naming policy, regular Yammer users will not be able
to create groups.

Custom Blocked Words

You can enter a comma separated list of blocked words that will be blocked in group names and aliases.
The blocked words check is done on the user entered group name. So if user enters 'darnit' and 'Prefix_' is the
naming policy, 'Prefix_darnit' will fail.
No sub-string searches are carried out; specifically, an exact match between the user entered name and the custom
blocked words is required to trigger a failure. Sub-string search isn't done so that users can use some of the
common words like 'Class' even if 'ass' is a blocked word.
Things to look out for:
The blocked words are case-insensitive.
When a user enters a blocked word, the group client will show an error message with the blocked word.
There are no character restrictions in the blocked words used.
There is an upper limit of 5000 words that can be set as blocked words.

Admin override
Selective administrators are exempted from these policies, across all group workloads and endpoints, so that they
can create groups with these blocked words and with their desired naming conventions. The following are the list
of administrator roles exempted from the group naming policy.
Global admin
Partner Tier 1 Support
 Partner Tier 2 Support
User account admin
Directory writers

Step 1: Install the preview version of the Azure Active Directory

PowerShell for Graph
These procedures require the the preview version of the Azure Active Directory PowerShell for Graph. The GA
version will not work.

IMPORTANT
You cannot install both the preview and GA versions on the same computer at the same time.

As a best practice, we recommend always staying current: uninstall the old AzureADPreview or old AzureAD
version and get the latest one.
1. In your search bar, type Windows PowerShell.
2. Right-click on Windows PowerShell and select Run as Administrator.

3. Check installed module:

Get-InstalledModule -Name "AzureAD*"

4. To uninstall a previous version of AzureADPreview or AzureAD, run this command:

Uninstall-Module AzureADPreview

or

Uninstall-Module AzureAD

5. To install the latest version of AzureADPreview, run this command:

Install-Module AzureADPreview

At the message about an untrusted repository, type Y. It will take a minute or so for the new module to
install.
Leave the PowerShell window open for Step 2, below.

How to set up the Naming Policy in Azure AD PowerShell

1. If you haven't already, open a Windows PowerShell window on your computer (it doesn't matter if it's a
normal Windows PowerShell window, or one you opened by selecting Run as administrator).
2. Run the following commands. Press Enter after each command.

Import-Module AzureADPreview

Connect-AzureAD

In the Sign in to your Account screen that opens, enter your admin account and password to connect you to
your service, and select Sign in.

Follow the steps in Azure Active Directory cmdlets for configuring group settings to configure group settings.
View the current settings
You can view the current naming policy settings by typing the following at the PowerShell prompt:

$Setting = Get-AzureADDirectorySetting -Id (Get-AzureADDirectorySetting | where -Property DisplayName -Value

"Group.Unified" -EQ).id
$Setting.Values

In the output, check the values for CustomBlockedWordsList , EnableMSStandardBlockedWords , and

PrefixSuffixNamingRequirement .

Set the naming policy and custom blocked words

Copy the script below into a text editor, such as Notepad, or the Windows PowerShell ISE.
Replace <WordList> with the list of words that you want to block. For example:
$BlockedWords = "Payroll,CEO,HR"

Replace <PrefixSuffixNaming> with the prefix and suffix information that you want to require. For example:
$PrefixSuffix = "Grp_[Department]_[GroupName]_[CountryOrRegion]"

Save the file as NamingPolicy.ps1.

In the PowerShell window, navigate to the location where you saved the file (type "CD ").
Run the script by typing:
.\NamingPolicy.ps1
and sign in with your administrator account when prompted.

$BlockedWords = "<WordList>"

$PrefixSuffix = "<PrefixSuffixNaming>"

Connect-AzureAD

try
{
$template = Get-AzureADDirectorySettingTemplate | ? {$_.displayname -eq "group.unified"}
$settingsCopy = $template.CreateDirectorySetting()
New-AzureADDirectorySetting -DirectorySetting $settingsCopy
$settingsObjectID = (Get-AzureADDirectorySetting | Where-object -Property Displayname -Value
"Group.Unified" -EQ).id
}
catch
{
$settingsObjectID = (Get-AzureADDirectorySetting | Where-object -Property Displayname -Value
"Group.Unified" -EQ).id
}

$settingsCopy = Get-AzureADDirectorySetting -Id $settingsObjectID

$SettingsCopy["PrefixSuffixNamingRequirement"] = $PrefixSuffix

$SettingsCopy["CustomBlockedWordsList"] = $BlockedWords

Set-AzureADDirectorySetting -Id $settingsObjectID -DirectorySetting $settingsCopy

(Get-AzureADDirectorySetting -Id $settingsObjectID).Values

The last line of the script will display the updated settings:
If in the future you want to change these settings, you can rerun the script with the new information.
If you want to turn off either of the policies, set $BlockedWords or $PrefixSuffix to "" and rerun the script.

Naming policy experiences across Office 365 apps

The Office 365 apps have been updated to show a preview of the naming policy group name (with prefixes and
suffixes) when the user types in the group name and alias. When the user enters blocked words, they'll see an error
message so they can remove the blocked words.

Outlook Web (OWA)

Outlook web shows the naming policy decorated name when the user types a group name or group alias. When
an user enters a custom blocked word, an error message is shown in the UI along with the blocked word so that
the user can remove it. OWA experience snapshots are shown below.
Outlook Desktop
Groups created in Outlook desktop are compliant with naming policy. Outlook desktop app doesn't yet show the
preview of the naming policy and doesn't return the custom blocked word errors, when the user enters the group
name. However, naming policy will be automatically applied on selecting create/edit and users will be presented
with errors if there are custom blocked words in the group name or alias.

Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams shows the naming policy decorated name when the user types a team name. When a user enters
a custom blocked word, an error message is shown along with the blocked word so that the user can remove it.

SharePoint
SharePoint shows the naming policy name when the user types a site name or group email address. When an user
enters a custom blocked word, an error message is shown, along with the blocked word so that the user can
remove it.
Microsoft Stream
Microsoft Stream shows the naming policy decorated name when the user types a group name or group email
alias. When an user enters a custom blocked word, an error message is shown with the blocked word so the user
can remove it.

Outlook iOS and Android App

Groups created in Outlook apps are compliant with naming policy. Outlook mobile shows the naming policy
preview when entering the Group name. When a user enters a custom blocked word, an error message is shown
on creating the group, so the user can remove the blocked word.

Planner
Planner is compliant with naming policy. Planner shows the naming policy preview when entering the Plan name.
When a user enters a custom blocked word, an error message is shown on creating the plan, so the user can
remove the blocked word.
Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement
Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement is compliant with naming policy. Dynamics 365 shows the naming policy
decorated name when the user types a group name or group email alias. When the user enters a custom blocked
word, an error message is shown with the blocked word so the user can remove it.

School Data Sync (SDS)

Groups created through SDS comply with naming policy, but the naming policy isn't applied automatically. SDS
administrators have to append the prefixes and suffixes to class names for which groups need to be created and
then upload to SDS. Groups creation/edit would fail otherwise.

Outlook Customer Manager (OCM)

Outlook Customer Manager is compliant with naming policy. The naming policy gets automatically applied to the
group created in Outlook Customer Manager. If any of the words within "All Sales Team" is defined as a custom
blocked word, the group creation in OCM will be blocked. The user will not be able to create the OCM group and
will be blocked from using the OCM app."

Classroom App
Groups created in classroom app comply with naming policy, but the naming policy isn't applied automatically, and
the naming policy preview isn't shown to the users while entering a classroom group name. So users would have
to enter the decorated classroom group name with prefixes and suffixes. Otherwise the classroom group create or
edit will fail with errors.
Power BI
Groups created in Power BI workspaces comply with the naming policy, but the naming policy isn't applied
automatically. And, the naming policy preview isn't shown to users when they enter a Power BI workspace name.
The recommended name - with the naming policy applied - is shown in the error details on create or edit
workspaces. This means users have to enter the decorated workspace name with prefixes and suffixes. Otherwise
the workspace create or edit will fail with errors.

Yammer
When a user signed in to Yammer with their Azure Active Directory account creates a group or edits a group name,
the group name will comply with naming policy. This applies both to Office 365 connected groups and all other
Yammer groups.
If an Office 365 connected group was created before the naming policy is in place, the group name will not
automatically follow the naming policies. When a user edits the group name, they will be prompted to add the
prefix and suffix.
If the naming policy includes characters that can't be in Yammer group names, only admins will be able to create a
connected group in Yammer.

StaffHub
StaffHub teams do not follow the naming policy, but the underlying Office 365 group does. StaffHub team name
does not apply the prefixes and suffixes and does not check for custom blocked words. But StaffHub does apply the
prefixes and suffixes and removes blocked words from the underlying Office 365 group.

Exchange PowerShell
Exchange PowerShell cmdlets are compliant with naming policy. Users will get appropriate error messages with
suggested prefixes and suffixes and for custom blocked words if naming convention isn't used in the group names
and group alias.

Azure Active Directory PowerShell cmdlets

Azure Active Directory PowerShell cmdlets are compliant with naming policy. Users will get appropriate error
messages with suggested prefixes and suffixes and for custom blocked words if naming convention isn't used in
the group names and group alias.

Exchange Admin Center

The Exchange admin center is compliant with naming policy. On create or edit actions, users will get appropriate
error messages with suggested prefixes and suffixes and for custom blocked words if naming convention isn't used
in the group names and group alias.

Microsoft 365 admin center

The Microsoft 365 admin center is compliant with naming policy. On create or edit actions, naming policy will
automatically get applied. Users will get appropriate errors when they enter custom blocked words. The Microsoft
365 admin center doesn't yet show the preview of the naming policy and doesn't return the custom blocked word
errors, when the user enters the group name.

Azure Active Directory portal

The Azure Active Directory portal is compliant with naming policy. Azure Active Directory portal shows the
naming policy preview when entering the Group name. When a user enters a custom blocked word, an error
message is shown on creating the group, so the user can remove the blocked word.

More articles on naming policy

Enforce a naming policy for Office 365 groups in Azure Active Directory
Azure Active Directory cmdlets for configuring group settings
 Allow members to send as or send on behalf of a
Group
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

A member of an Office 365 Group who has been granted Send as or Send on behalf permissions can now send
email as the group, or on behalf of the group. This topic explains how an admin can set these permissions.
For example, if Megan Bowen is part of the Training Office 365 Group, and has Send as permissions on the
group, if she sends an email as the Group, it will look like the Training group sent the email.
The Send on Behalf permission lets a user send email on behalf of an Office 365 Group. For example, if Alex
Wilber is a part of the Marketing Office 365 Group, and has Send on Behalf permissions and sends an email as
the group, the email looks like it was sent by Alex Wilber on behalf of Marketing.

IMPORTANT
You can configure Send as or Send on behalf for a given user, but not both. If you configure both, it will default to Send
as.

TIP
Check the out the steps in Send email from or on behalf of an Office 365 group to learn how to use Outlook and Outlook on
the Web to send email from a Group.

Allow members to send email as a Group

This section explains how to allow users to send email as a Group in the Exchange admin center (EAC ) in Exchange
Online.
1. In the Exchange admin center, go to Recipients > Groups.
2. Select Edit on Group that you want to allow users to send as.
3. Select group delegation.
4. In the Send As section, select the + sign to add the users that you want to send as the Group.
5. Type to search or pick a user from the list. Select OK and Save.

Allow members to send email on behalf of a Group

This section explains how to allow users to send email on behalf of a Group in the Exchange admin center (EAC ) in
Exchange Online.
1. In the Exchange admin center, go to Recipients > Groups.
2. Select Edit on the Group that you want to allow users to send as.
3. Select group delegation.
4. In the Send on Behalf section, select the + sign to add the users that you want to send as the Group.
5. Type to search or pick a user from the list. Select OK and Save.

Related topics
Learn more about Office 365 Groups
Add-RecipientPermission
Set-UnifiedGroup
 Add or remove members from Office 365 groups
using the admin center
8/8/2019 • 4 minutes to read • Edit Online

In Office 365, Group members typically create their own Groups, add themselves to Groups they want to join, or
are invited by Group owners. If Group ownership changes, or if you determine that a member should be added or
removed, as the admin you can also make that change. What is an Office 365 Group?
Tip: You can also add or remove members using Outlook.

Add a member to a Group in the admin center

Use the new admin center to add a member to a Group
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page. If you're not an admin, you can add or remove
members using Outlook.
2. Select a group name.
3. In the details pane, on the Members tab, select View all and manage members, and then select Add
members.
4. Search for or select the name of the member you want to add.
5. Select Save.
Use the old admin center to add a member to a Group
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page. If you're not an admin, you can add or remove
members using Outlook.
2. Select a group name.
3. In the details pane, next to Members, select Edit, and then select Add members.
4. Search for or select the name of the member you want to add.
5. Select Save.

Remove a member from a Group in the admin center

NOTE
When you remove a member from a private group, it takes 5 minutes for the person to be blocked from the group (after
membership changes are fully replicated among domain controllers).

Use the new admin center to remove a member from a Group

The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page.
2. Select a group name.
3. In the details pane, on the Members tab, select View all and manage members.
4. Next to the member you want to remove, select the X.
5. Select Save to remove the member.
Use the old admin center to remove a member from a Group
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page.
2. Select a group name.
3. In the details pane, next to Members, select Edit.
4. Next to the member you want to remove, select the X.
5. Select Save to remove the member.

Manage Group owner status

By default, the person who created the group is the group owner. Often a group will have multiple owners for
backup support or other reasons. Members can be promoted to owner status and owners can be demoted to
member status.
Promote a member to owner status in the admin center
Use the new admin center to promote a member to owner status
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page.
2. Select a group name.
3. In the details pane, on the Members tab, select View all and manage owners.
4. Search for a member, or select Add owners.
5. Select the check box next to the name of the member you want to add.
6. Select Save, and then Close.
Use the old admin center to promote a member to owner status
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page.
2. Select a group name.
3. In the details pane, next to Owners, select Edit.
4. Search for a member, or select Add owners.
5. Select the check box next to the name of the member you want to add.
6. Select Save, and then Close.
Remove owner status in the admin center
Use the new admin center to remove owner status
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page.
2. Select a group name.
3. In the details pane, on the Members tab, select View all and manage owners.
4. Select the X next to the owner's name.
5. Select Save.
Use the old admin center to remove owner status
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page.
2. Select a group name.
3. In the details pane, next to Owners, select Edit.
4. Select the X next to the owner's name.
5. Select Save.

More on managing membership

Manage groups dynamically in Azure Active Directory: see the section "How can I manage the membership
of a group dynamically?"
To add hundreds or thousands of users to groups, use the Add-UnifiedGroupLinks.
Assign a new owner to an orphaned group

Articles about managing groups

Upgrade distribution lists to Office 365 Groups in Outlook
Why you should upgrade your distribution lists to groups in Outlook
Manage Office 365 Groups with PowerShell: this article introduces you to key cmdlets and provides
examples
Create a Distribution Group Naming Policy
 Office 365 Group Expiration Policy
8/19/2019 • 3 minutes to read • Edit Online

With the increase in usage of Office 365 Groups, administrators and users need a way to clean up unused groups.
Expiration policies can help remove inactive groups from the system and make things cleaner.
When a group expires, all of its associated services (the mailbox, Planner, SharePoint site, etc.) are also deleted.
When a group expires it is "soft-deleted" which means it can still be recovered for up to 30 days.
Administrators can specify an expiration period and any group that reaches the end of that period, and is not
renewed, will be deleted. The expiration period begins when the group is created, or on the date it was last
renewed. Group owners will automatically be sent an email before the expiration that allows them to renew the
group for another expiration interval.

IMPORTANT
When you change the expiration policy, the service recalculates the expiration date for each group. It always starts counting
from the date when the group was created, and then applies the new expiration policy.

It's important to know that expiration is turned off by default. Administrators will have to enable it for their tenant
if they want to use it.

NOTE
Group expiration is an Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) Premium feature. You must have a subscription to Azure AD
Premium in order to have this feature available. The administrator who configures the settings, and the members of the
affected groups, need to have Azure AD Premium licenses assigned to them. For more information see Getting started with
Azure Active Directory Premium.

Who can configure and use the Office 365 Groups expiration policy?
ROLE WHAT THEY CAN DO

Office 365 global admin (in Azure, the Company Create, read, update, or delete the Office 365 groups
administrator), User administrator expiration policy settings.

User Renew or restore an Office 365 Group that they own

How to set the expiration policy

As noted above, expiry is turned off by default. An administrator will have to enable the expiration policy and set
the properties for it to take effect. To enable it go to Azure Active Directory (AAD ) > Groups > Expiration.
Here you can set the default group lifetime and specify how far in advance you want the first and second expiration
notifications to go to the group owner.
The group lifetime is specified in days and can be set to 180, 365 or to a custom value that you specify. The custom
value has to be at least 30 days.
If the group does not have an owner the expiration emails will go to a specified administrator.
You can set the policy for all of your groups, only selected groups, or turn it off completely by selecting None.
Note that currently you can't have different policies for different groups.

How expiry works with the retention policy

If you have setup retention policy in Security and Compliance center for groups, expiration policy works
seamlessly with retention policy. When a group expires, the group's conversations in mail box and files in the
group site are retained in the retention container for the specific number of days defined in the retention policy.
Users will not see the group, or its content, after expiration however.

How and when a Group owner learns if their Groups are going to
expire
Group owners will only be notified via email. If the group was created via Planner, SharePoint, or any other app,
the expiration notifications will always come via email. If the group was created via Teams, the group owner will
receive a notification to renew through the activity section. It's not recommended that you enable expiration on a
group if your group owner doesn't have a valid email address.
30 days before the group expires, the group owners (or the email addresses that you specified for groups that
don't have an owner) will receive an email allowing them to easily renew the group. If they don't renew it, they'll
receive another renewal email 15 days before expiration. If they still haven't renewed it, they will receive one more
email notification the day before expiration.
If for some reason none of the owners or admins renew the group before it expires, the admin can still restore the
group for up to 30 days after expiration. For details see: Restore a deleted Office 365 Group.

Related topics
Overview of retention policies
Assign a new owner to an orphaned group
Configure Office 365 groups expiration
 Restore a deleted Office 365 Group
8/8/2019 • 5 minutes to read • Edit Online

If you're a user who wants to restore an Office 365 group, ask the person in your business who has admin
permissions to do these steps for you. In a large business, this is the internal help desk / technical support.
If you've deleted a group, by default it's retained for 30 days. This 30-day period is called "soft-delete" because you
can still restore the group. After 30 days, the group and associated content is permanently deleted and cannot be
restored.
During the "soft-delete" period if a user tries to access the site they will get a 404 forbidden message. After this
period if the user tries to access the site they will get a 404 not found message.
When a group is restored, the following content is restored:
Azure Active Directory (AD ) Office 365 Groups object, properties and members
Group SMTP address
Exchange Online shared inbox and calendar
SharePoint Online team site and files
OneNote notebook
Planner
Teams
Yammer group and group content (If the Office 365 group was created from Yammer)
You can also Permanently delete an Office 365 group if you can't wait the 30 days for the retention period to expire
for the content to be permanently deleted.

NOTE
The owner of the deleted Office 365 group is also able to restore the group. To restore an office 365 group using owner
permission without administrator permission, see Restore an Office 365 Group using PowerShell.

Restore an Office 365 Group using the Exchange admin center

You must have Office 365 global administrator or Exchange administrator permissions.
1. Go to the Exchange admin center.
2. In the Exchange admin center, select recipients, and then choose groups. You can view whether the group
is Active or soft Deleted. If the group has been permanently deleted, it won't be listed at all.
3. To view the exact time when the group was soft deleted, select the group and view the info in the right pane.
4. Select the group you want to restore, and then select the restore icon.
5. Select refresh to update the information on the page. Your group will show as Active. Any forms and form
data associated with your group will also be restored.

Restore an Office 365 Group using PowerShell

You must have Office 365 global administrator permission, or need to be an owner of the deleted Office 365
group.

IMPORTANT
If you use Remove-MsolGroup in PowerShell to delete a group, this will delete the group permanently. When using
PowerShell to delete groups, it's best practice to use Remove-AzureADMSGroup to soft-delete the Office 365 group. That
way you can restore it if needed.

Install the preview version of the Azure Active Directory PowerShell for Graph

IMPORTANT
You cannot install both the preview and GA versions on the same computer at the same time .

As a best practice, we recommend always staying current: uninstall the old AzureADPreview or old AzureAD
version and get the latest one.
1. In your search bar, type Windows PowerShell.
2. Right-click on Windows PowerShell and select Run as Administrator.
3. Check installed module:

Get-InstalledModule -Name "AzureAD*"

3. To uninstall a previous version of AzureADPreview or AzureAD, run this command:

Uninstall-Module AzureADPreview

or

Uninstall-Module AzureAD

4. To install the latest version of AzureADPreview, run this command:

Install-Module AzureADPreview

At the message about an untrusted repository, type Y. It will take a minute or so for the new module to install.
Restore the deleted group
1. Did you install the AzureADPreview module, as instructed in the above section "Install the preview version
of the Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell"? Not having the most current preview
version is the #1 reason these steps don't work for people.
2. If you haven't already, open a Windows PowerShell window on your computer (it doesn't matter if it's a
normal Windows PowerShell window, or one you opened by selecting Run as administrator).
3. Run the following commands. Press Enter after each command.

Import-Module AzureADPreview

Connect-AzureAD

On the Sign in to your Account screen that opens, enter your admin account and password to connect you to
your service, and select Sign in.
4. Run this command to display all soft-deleted Office 365 groups in your organization that are still within the 30
day retention period:

Get-AzureADMSDeletedGroup

5. Take note of the object ID of the group, or groups, you want to restore. If you don't see the group you're
looking for on this list then it has likely been purged permanently.
Cau t i on

If a new group has been created with the same alias or SMTP address as your deleted group, you will have
to delete that new group before you'll be able to restore your deleted group.
6. To restore that group run this command:

Restore-AzureADMSDeletedDirectoryObject -Id <objectId>

7. This process usually takes just a few minutes but in a few rare cases it can take as long as 24 hours to
completely restore. To verify that the group has been successfully restored, run this command in PowerShell:

Get-AzureADGroup -ObjectId <objectId>

Once the restore has successfully completed, the group should reappear on the navigation pane in Outlook and
Outlook on the web. All restored content, including SharePoint and Planner, should be available to the group
members again.

Permanently delete an Office 365 group

Sometimes you may want to permanently purge a group without waiting the 30 days for the soft-delete to expire.
To do that, start PowerShell and run this command to get the object ID of the group:

Get-AzureADMSDeletedGroup

Take note of the object ID of the group, or groups, you want to permanently delete.
Cau t i on
Purging the group removes the group and its data forever.
To purge the group run this command in PowerShell:

Remove-AzureADMSDeletedDirectoryObject -Id <objectId>

To confirm that the group has been successfully purged, run the Get-AzureADMSDeletedGroup cmdlet again to
confirm that the group no longer appears on the list of soft-deleted groups. In some cases it may take as long as
24 hours for the group and all of its data to be permanently deleted.

Got questions about Office 365 Groups?

Visit the Microsoft Tech Community to post questions and participate in conversations about Office 365 Groups.

Related articles
Manage Office 365 Groups with PowerShell
Delete groups using the Remove-UnifiedGroup cmdlet
Manage your group-connected team site settings
Delete a group in Outlook
 Manage guest access in Office 365 Groups
8/8/2019 • 9 minutes to read • Edit Online

By default, guest access is turned on for your organization. When it's turned on, everyone in your organization can
add guest users to an Office 365 Group. The guests will have access to all Group features.
Admins can control whether to allow guest access to Groups for their whole organization or for individual groups.
They can also control who can allow guests to be added to groups.

Manage guest access in the admin center

View guest users
In the admin center, go to the Users > Guest users page.
Use the new admin center to add existing guests to an Office 365 Group
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new
admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft
365 admin center.
If the guest already exists in your directory (see above), you can add them to your groups from the Office Admin
Center or the Exchange Admin Center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page.
2. Select the group you want to add the guest to, and select View all and manage members on the
Members tab.
3. Select Add members, and choose the name of the guest you want to add.
4. Select Save.
Use the old admin center to add existing guests to an Office 365 Group
If the guest already exists in your directory (see above), you can add them to your groups from the Office Admin
Center or the Exchange Admin Center.
1. In the admin center, go to the Groups > Groups page.
2. Select the group you want to add the guest to, and select Edit in the Members section.
3. Select Add members, and choose the name of the guest you want to add.
4. Select Save.
Invite guests
You can't invite guests from the Office Admin Center or the Exchange Admin Center at this time. To invite guests
centrally you might consider using the Azure Active Directory B2B collaboration preview. For more information,
see About the Azure AD B2B collaboration preview.
Edit guest information
Currently you can't add or edit guests from the Office Admin Center or the Exchange Admin Center. To edit guest
accounts (such as their display name or profile photo) go to your Azure Active Directory portal. For more
information, see Understanding Office 365 identity and Azure Active Directory.
Manage guest access to Office 365 Groups
Turn on or off guest access to group files and OneNote
By default, guests can access group files and the group OneNote notebook. To turn off guess access, you need to
turn off the SharePoint external sharing setting at the organization level. For the steps, see Turn external sharing
on or off for SharePoint Online, "Manage external sharing for Office 365 Group site collections."
However, even if the SharePoint external sharing setting is turned off, the files from SharePoint sites can still be
shared with new guest users based on SharePoint settings. To learn more, see Manage external sharing for your
SharePoint Online environment.
Turn on or off the Sharing option
By default, the Sharing option in your organization is turned on. This option allows guests to be added to your
organization. To turn it off:
1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Security & privacy page.
2. Next to Sharing, select Edit.
3. Set the On / Off toggle for Let users add new guests to the organization.
Manage who can add guest users
1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Services & add-ins page.
2. Select Office 365 Groups.
3. On the Office 365 Groups page, choose whether you want to let people outside your organization access
group resources or let group owners add people outside your organization to groups.

Use PowerShell to control guest access

Install the preview version of the Azure Active Directory PowerShell for
Graph
These procedures require the preview version of the Azure Active Directory PowerShell for Graph. The GA
version will not work.

IMPORTANT
You cannot install both the preview and GA versions on the same computer at the same time.

As a best practice, we recommend always staying current: uninstall the old AzureADPreview or old AzureAD
version and get the latest one.
1. In your search bar, type Windows PowerShell.
2. Right-click on Windows PowerShell and select Run as Administrator.
3. Check installed module:

Get-InstalledModule -Name "AzureAD*"

4. To uninstall a previous version of AzureADPreview or AzureAD, run this command:

Uninstall-Module AzureADPreview

or

Uninstall-Module AzureAD

5. To install the latest version of AzureADPreview, run this command:

Install-Module AzureADPreview

At the message about an untrusted repository, type Y. It will take a minute or so for the new module to
install.
Leave the PowerShell window open for Step 3, below.
Configure guest Access
Copy the script below into a text editor, such as Notepad, or the Windows PowerShell ISE.
Update the script as follows:
To let group members outside the organization access group content, set $AllowGuestsToAccessGroups = "True" ,
otherwise set $AllowGuestsToAccessGroups = "False" .
To let group owners add people outside the organization to groups, set $AllowToAddGuests = "True" , otherwise, set
$AllowToAddGuests = "False" .

Save the file as ExternalGroupAccess.ps1.

In the PowerShell window, navigate to the location where you saved the file (type "CD ").
Run the script by typing:
.\ExternalGroupAccess.ps1

and sign in with your administrator account when prompted.

 $AllowGuestsToAccessGroups = "True"

$AllowToAddGuests = "True"

Connect-AzureAD

try
{
$template = Get-AzureADDirectorySettingTemplate | ? {$_.displayname -eq "group.unified"}
$settingsCopy = $template.CreateDirectorySetting()
New-AzureADDirectorySetting -DirectorySetting $settingsCopy
$settingsObjectID = (Get-AzureADDirectorySetting | Where-object -Property Displayname -Value
"Group.Unified" -EQ).id
}
catch
{
$settingsObjectID = (Get-AzureADDirectorySetting | Where-object -Property Displayname -Value
"Group.Unified" -EQ).id
}

$settingsCopy = Get-AzureADDirectorySetting -Id $settingsObjectID

$settingsCopy["AllowGuestsToAccessGroups"] = $AllowGuestsToAccessGroups

$settingsCopy["AllowToAddGuests"] = $AllowToAddGuests

Set-AzureADDirectorySetting -Id $settingsObjectID -DirectorySetting $settingsCopy

(Get-AzureADDirectorySetting -Id $settingsObjectID).Values

The last line of the script will display the updated settings:
Allow or block guest users from a specific group

NOTE
You must have global admin rights to run these commands.

1. Did you install the AzureADPreview module, as instructed in the above section "Install the preview
version of the Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell"? Not having the most current
preview version is the #1 reason these steps don't work for people.
2. If you haven't already, open a Windows PowerShell window on your computer (it doesn't matter if it's a
normal Windows PowerShell window, or one you opened by selecting Run as administrator).
3. Run the following commands. Press Enter after each command.

Import-Module AzureADPreview

Connect-AzureAD

On the Sign in to your Account screen that opens, enter your admin account and password to connect you to
your service, and select Sign in.
4. Run this command.
$template = Get-AzureADDirectorySettingTemplate | ? {$_.displayname -eq "group.unified.guest"}

5. Run this command.

$settingsCopy = $template.CreateDirectorySetting()

6. Run this command. Set to False to block guest access to a specific group. Set to True to allow guest access
to a specific group.
$settingsCopy["AllowToAddGuests"]=$False

7. Run this command.

$groupID= (Get-AzureADGroup -SearchString "YourGroupName").ObjectId

Where you would replace YourGroupName with something like Human Resources.
8. Run this command.
New-AzureADObjectSetting -TargetType Groups -TargetObjectId $groupID -DirectorySetting $settingsCopy

It takes 2-3 minutes to be synced.

9. To verify your settings, run this command:
Get-AzureADObjectSetting -TargetObjectId $groupID -TargetType Groups | fl Values

The verification looks like this:

Allow/block guest access based on their domain

You can allow or block guest users who are using a specific domain. For example, if your business (Contoso) has a
partnership with another business (Fabrikam), you can add Fabrikam to your Allow list so your users can add
those guests to their groups.
For more information, see Allow/Block guest access to Office 365 groups

FAQ
Who can add guest users to a group?
An Office 365 Group owner can add guest users if this option has been enabled for your organization.
Global admins can add guest users to any groups in the organization.
How can a global admin add a new guest user to the organization?
Owners of an Office 365 group and global admins who are owners of the group can add guest users to
groups through Outlook on Web.
Sharing a file with a guest from a SharePoint site or an Office 365 group. See Share group files.
Adding guests to your organization through Azure active directory B2B collaboration. Azure active
directory B2B collaboration allows a company administrator to invite and authorize a set of external users
by uploading a comma-separated values (CSV ) file of no more than 2000 lines to the B2B collaboration
portal. For more details, check out Azure Active Directory B2B collaboration.
Can global admin block guests in groups and still allow guests to access SharePoint sites?
Yes, global admins can use Azure active directory Powershell cmdlets to disable "AllowGuestAccessToGroups"
property on Company object, assuming external sharing is turned On for SharePoint sites.
How long until the guest user settings take effect in the Office 365 organization?
The guest settings are set in Azure active directory. It takes 2 to 24 hours for the changes to be effective across
your organization.
Can I share a group document library with an external user who isn't a member of the group?
No. You can only share Office 365 Group document library with guests who have been invited to join the group.
But individual group files can be still shared with guests users through file sharing from SharePoint Online.
Can I manage SharePoint Online external user settings for the Group connected team site?
Yes, read Manage your group-connected team site for more details.
Is there a way to block individual guest users?
No, individual guest users can't be blocked.
Can I make guest objects visible in the global address list?
Guest objects are not visible in the Exchange Global Address List by default because guest objects can be created
by end-user action (e.g. invitation to access a shared document). As a rule, the contents of the Global Address List
are controlled by administrators, and many organizations do not want objects created by end-user action to
become visible without administrator control.
Use the steps listed below to make the guest objects visible in the global address list. This should be used when
administrators responsible for end-to-end lifecycle of external users have access to both Azure Active Directory
and Exchange Online cmdlets.
For example, if a guest object for meganb@contoso.com exists in Azure Active Directory, then Azure Active
Directory PowerShell can be used to make meganb@contoso.com visible in the global address List.
1. Set-AzureADUser -ObjectId <<ObjectIDGuid>> -ShowInAddressList $true

Set-AzureADUser -ObjectId <<ObjectIDGuid>> -GivenName 'Megan' -Surname 'Bowen' -TelephoneNumber "555-

2. 555-5555"

3. Set-AzureADUser -ObjectId <<ObjectIDGuid>> -DisplayName "Megan Bowen"

In a hybrid Office 365 organization, do guest users who are members of an Office 365 Group sync back to on-
premises Exchange servers?
No. Guest users who are members of a group aren't synched back to on-premises along with the group.
Can mail contacts be added to groups?
Yes, you can. External mail contacts are contacts listed in your company's global address list. An example of this
type of contact is a vendor company who regularly provides services to your organization.
Can I add guest users to my Office 365 Connected Yammer Groups?
Office 365 Connected Yammer Groups do not currently support guest access, but you can create non-connected,
external groups in your Yammer network. See Create and manage external groups in Yammer for instructions.
Is an additional Office 365 license required for guest access?
No. Guest access is included with all Office 365 Business Premium and Office 365 Enterprise subscriptions.
I just migrated my distribution lists to Office 365 groups. Can I add guests to those?
Yes. The guests won't receive a welcome email message, but they will have all the privileges of any other guest
member. If you've not yet migrated your distribution lists, see Migrate distribution lists to Office 365 Groups for
instructions. Distribution lists that contain guests can't be migrated.

See Also
Manage Group membership in the Microsoft 365 admin center
Allow/Deny guest access to Office 365 groups based on their domain
Azure Active Directory access reviews
 Office 365 operated by 21Vianet
8/8/2019 • 13 minutes to read • Edit Online

Office 365 operated by 21Vianet is designed to meet the needs for secure, reliable and scalable cloud services in
China. This service is powered by technology that Microsoft has licensed to 21Vianet.
Microsoft does not operate the service itself. 21Vianet operates, provides and manages delivery of the service.
21Vianet is the largest carrier-neutral Internet data center services provider in China, providing hosting, managed
network services, and cloud computing infrastructure services. By licensing Microsoft technologies, 21Vianet
operates local Office 365 datacenters to provide you the ability to use Office 365 services while keeping your data
within China. 21Vianet also provides your subscription and billing services, as well as support.

NOTE
These services are subject to Chinese laws.

Follow us on WeChat
Scan this QR code to follow us on WeChat and get the latest updates for Office 365 operated by 21Vianet.

About services in Office 365 operated by 21Vianet

The sections below highlight some of the differences you will find in each service. Ultimately our goal is to achieve
parity with global services. However, due to the unique nature of the China services - operated by a partner from
datacenters inside China - there are some features that have not yet been enabled. Customers will see the services
come closer to full feature parity over time. For a more detailed look at services available for each Office 365 plan
operated by 21Vianet, see the Office 365 Service Description.
If you would like to learn how to get started with general Office 365 services, see Get started.

Office 365 Suite

 Custom domains Administrators can create and/or use custom domains
registered through Chinese-specific domain providers. If you
don't have a custom domain, you can How to buy a domain
name from a domain name registrar. If you already have one,
Find your domain registrar or DNS hosting provider.
Additionally, if you create a public website using the Office 365
SharePoint Online service, China Internet compliance policy
requires that you get an Internet Content Provider (ICP)
number. Note: Automatic validation for disallowed words in
custom domain names is not available.

Subscriptions, billing, and technical support Provided by 21Vianet. For information on how to contact
support, see Contact Office 365 for business support.

Self-service password reset Available for admins only. For more information, see Change
or reset your password in Office 365 operated by 21Vianet.

Security, privacy, compliance, and details on levels of support Provided by 21Vianet.

Office Desktop Setup Office desktop setup is not available for Office 2010 and Office
2007. However, administrators can Configure current Office
desktop applications to work with Office 365.

Mobile and device support* Coming soon are the following mobile features:
Mobile Device Management (MDM)
Blackberry Business Cloud Services (BBCS) is not available, but
you can use Exchange ActiveSync devices or an offering from
Research in Motion (RIM, the BlackBerry wireless email
solution) to run Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES).
For more information on mobile support, see Set up and
manage mobile access for your users.

Office Lens Not available.

Microsoft Planner Coming soon.

Microsoft Teams Not available.

Sway Coming soon.

Help in multiple languages Help is available in Simplified Chinese and English only.

Community-provided help Community-provided help is not available yet, but you can
select the Help button ( ? ) in the upper right corner of your
portal to see help articles.

*Optional services provided directly by Microsoft, and subject to Microsoft's Terms of Service and privacy
statements.

SharePoint Online
Sharing a document, library, or site by email with someone This feature is available, but off by default as using it could
outside of your organization make files shared accessible outside of your country.
Administrators do have the ability to turn it on, but will get a
warning message indicating that it could make files shared
accessible outside of your country. Users who attempt to
share with someone outside of the organization will also
receive a warning. For more information, see Share SharePoint
files or folders in Office 365.

Access Services Access 2013 is supported, but adding new Access apps may
not be available as this feature will be retired from Office 365
and SharePoint Online. Creation of new Access-based web
apps and Access web databases in Office 365 and SharePoint
Online will stop starting in June 2017 and any remaining web
apps and web databases by April 2018. Additionally, Access
2010 functionality is not supported, and attempting to use an
Access 2010 database will result in errors and possible data
loss.

Microsoft PowerApps Coming soon.

Information Rights Management (IRM) The ability to set IRM capabilities to SharePoint for your
organization is coming soon.

Ability to translate text or pages Available, but off by default. Tenant admins can turn this
ability on, but the translation cloud service may be located
outside your country. If you do not want users to send
content to a translation cloud service, you may keep these
features disabled.

Public website ICP registration China Internet compliance policy requires that you get an
Internet Content Provider (ICP) number for your public
website.

Public website features Public websites are available only if you purchased Office 365
before March 9, 2015. However, Bing maps, external sharing,
and comments are not available in a public web site as these
features may send data outside of your country.

Newsfeed and Yammer (enterprise social networks) Newsfeed (the social hub where you'll see updates from the
people, documents, sites, and tags you're following) is
available. Yammer is unavailable.

Autohosted apps You can deploy a provider-hosted app that uses SharePoint
and SQL Azure. For more information, see Create a basic
provider hosted app for SharePoint. Coming soon is the ability
for developers to deploy an app that uses an autohosted web
site.

InfoPath Not available.

 SharePoint Store The Office and SharePoint App Stores are optional services
operated by Microsoft Corporation or its affiliate from any of
Microsoft's worldwide facilities. The apps available in the Store
are provided by various app publishers, and are subject to the
app publisher's terms and conditions and privacy statement.
Your use of any of these apps may result in your data being
transferred to, stored, or processed in any country where the
app publisher, its affiliates or service providers maintain
facilities. Please carefully review the app publisher's terms and
conditions and privacy statements before downloading and
using such apps.

Office 365 Developer Site: Publish to SharePoint Store using Learn about the requirements for submitting apps for
the Seller Dashboard* SharePoint for distribution to users of Office 365 operated by
21Vianet.

*Optional services provided directly by Microsoft, and subject to Microsoft's Terms of Service and privacy
statements.

Outlook Web App

Blackberry Business Cloud Services (BBCS) Not available, but you can use Exchange ActiveSync devices or
an offering from Research in Motion (RIM, the BlackBerry
wireless email solution) to run Blackberry Enterprise Server
(BES).

Information Rights Management Coming soon.

Free/Busy information Free/Busy information between on-premises and Exchange

Online mailboxes is available.

Sharing your calendar Calendar sharing between on-premises and Exchange Online
mailboxes is available.

Sharing contacts Coming soon.

Message tracking Coming soon.

Apps Coming soon.

Places feature This feature shows maps of addresses in email; because it may
allow data outside of your country, it is not available.

Connected Accounts Connecting to other accounts such as Hotmail (Outlook.com)

is coming soon.

Exchange
New with Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 5 (CU5), full-featured hybrid deployments between on-premises
Exchange 2013 organizations and Office 365 services are now supported. Leveraging new improvements in the
Hybrid Configuration wizard, Exchange 2013 CU5 supports the following hybrid features between your on-
premises and Exchange Online organizations:
 Secure mail routing between on-premises and Exchange Online organizations.
Mail routing with a shared domain namespace. For example, both on-premises and Exchange Online
organizations use the @contoso.com SMTP domain.
A unified global address list (GAL ), also called a "shared address book."
Free/busy and calendar sharing between on-premises and Exchange Online organizations.
Centralized control of inbound and outbound mail flow. You can configure all inbound and outbound Exchange
Online messages to be routed through the on-premises Exchange organization.
A single Office Outlook Web App URL for both the on-premises and Exchange Online organizations.
The ability to move existing on-premises mailboxes to the Exchange Online organization. Exchange Online
mailboxes can also be moved back to the on-premises organization if needed.
Centralized mailbox management using the on-premises Exchange admin center (EAC ).
MailTips, HD photo support for Outlook contacts, and multi-mailbox search between on-premises and
Exchange Online organizations.
Cloud-based message archiving for on-premises Exchange mailboxes.
For organizations running older or mixed versions of Exchange Server, some hybrid features aren't fully supported
for Office 365 tenants hosted by 21Vianet. Use the following table to learn more about hybrid feature support in
different Exchange deployment scenarios:

ON-PREMISES EXCHANGE EXCHANGE HYBRID SERVER HYBRID CONFIGURATION

VERSION VERSION WIZARD SUPPORTED? SUPPORTED HYBRID FEATURES

2016 N/A Yes All

2013 CU5 N/A Yes All

2013 SP1 2013 CU5 Yes All

2013 SP1 2013 SP1 Yes All

Mixed 2013 SP1/2010 SP3 2013 CU5 Yes All, except In-place
eDiscovery/Archiving, OWA
access (see table below)

Mixed 2013 SP1/2010 SP3 2013 SP1 Yes Only manually configured
free/busy

2010 SP3 2010 SP3 No None

2007 2013 CU5 Yes Only free/busy

2007 2013 SP1 or 2010 SP3No N/A Not supported

2003 2013 SP1/CU5 N/A Not supported

2003 2010 SP3 No None

IMPORTANT
Delegate calendar access, when a user or set of users is provided access to another user's calendar, isn't supported in hybrid
deployments with Office 365 tenants hosted by 21Vianet.
Additionally, some Exchange messaging policy and compliance features aren't fully supported in hybrid
deployments with Office 365 tenants hosted by 21Vianet. These features include:
Messaging Records Management (MRM )
In-Place eDiscovery
In-Place Hold
In-Place Archiving
Mailbox auditing
Accessing online archives with Outlook Web App (OWA)
Use the following table to learn more about feature support in different Exchange deployment scenarios:

ON-PREMISES
EXCHANGE MRM (SPLIT OWA ACCESS IN-PLACE MAILBOX IN-PLACE
VERSION ARCHIVE) (SPLIT ARCHIVE) EDISCOVERY AUDITING HOLD/ARCHIVING

All 2013 CU5 Supported Not supported Supported Supported Supported

All 2010 SP3 Not supported Not supported Supported1 Supported Supported

At least one pre- Supported2 Not supported Not supported Supported Supported
2013 CU5 server

1 Separate searches are required foron-premises and Exchange Online mailboxes.

2 MRM move-to-archive policies can be used for mailboxes located on an Exchange 2013 CU5 or greater server.
To learn more about configuring a hybrid deployment with Office 365 tenants hosted by 21Vianet, see the
following topics:
Hybrid Deployment Prerequisites
Certificate Requirements for Hybrid Deployments
Create a Hybrid Deployment with the Hybrid Configuration Wizard

IMPORTANT
The Exchange Server Deployment Assistant is a free web-based tool that helps you configure a hybrid deployment between
your on-premises organization and Office 365, or to migrate completely to Office 365. The tool asks you a small set of simple
questions and then, based on your answers, creates a customized checklist with instructions to configure your hybrid
deployment. We strongly recommend using the Deployment Assistant to configure a hybrid deployment. > For organizations
not wishing to upgrade to or add Exchange 2013 CU5 servers, Exchange 2013 SP1 organizations can configure shared
calendar free/busy sharing between their on-premises and Exchange Online organizations. To configure this hybrid
deployment feature, see Configuring Exchange hybrid deployment features with Office 365 operated by 21Vianet.

Coexistence and Free/Busy Sharing Sharing calendar free/busy information between two or more
on-premises Exchange organizations or sharing between two
21Vianet Office 365 tenants isn't supported. This feature is
coming soon!
 Calendar sharing Exchange 2013 SP1 and greater supports manually
configuring Internet calendar sharing with other on-premises
Exchange or Exchange Online organizations. For more details
about configuring this feature manually, see Enable Internet
Calendar Publishing.

Sharing Exchange contact data on Apple mobile devices to the This setting/feature is enabled by default. Administrators
Apple iCloud. should turn this feature off to help prevent users from sharing
Exchange data outside of your organization.

Exchange Hosted Email Encryption Not available.

Office 365 Message Encryption Coming soon.

Office

Open an Office application from the File > Open in… button Available. The ability to do so while roaming is coming soon.

Save to OneDrive for Business while signed in with a Microsoft To keep your data within your country, you cannot save a
account document to your organization site (OneDrive for Business)
when you are signed in to Office with a Microsoft account.

Ability to translate text or pages This feature is available, but off by default. Administrators do
have the ability to turn it on, but will get a warning message
indicating that it could make data accessible outside of your
country.

Office client

Manage account (from within the Office client) This feature, and others like it that are intended to go to your
Office 365 portal, currently point to the worldwide Office 365
portal, and you cannot sign in with your Office 365 operated
by 21Vianet account. This is a known issue that is being fixed.
In the meantime, you can use the URL
https://portal.partner.microsoftonline.cn/ to sign into your
account and manage settings from there. For more
information, see Manage your Office 365 Pro Plus account for
Office 365 operated by 21Vianet.

OneNote

Insert and playback online video Not available.

Research pane integration to Bing services Not available.

Accessibility checker Not available.

Class notebook Not available.

 Forms Not available.

Immersive reader Not available.

Insert online picture Not available.

Meeting details Not available.

Researcher Not available.

Stickers Not available.

Live Search (ability to search in online notebooks that are not Not available.
opened in the client)

Integration with Mac and iOS platform smart look up service Not available.

Share notebook experience and sharing notification Not available.

Skype for Business

Domain providers to support Skype for Business You will need to register your domain with a Chinese-specific
domain provider that supports SRV records. For more
information on how to register domains, see Find your domain
registrar or DNS hosting provider.

Dial-in conferencing (the ability to add telephone access to You may see options in Skype for Business and in the Skype
meetings for users who can't get to a computer) for Business Admin Center for Dial-in conferencing and
providers, but these features are not yet available. They are
coming soon.

Skype for Business desktop help You can find help for Skype for Business desktop here.
However, desktop help is not available from the product
unless you are using Office Click-To-Run.

Lync 2010 Not available.

Ability to join a meeting from your calendar when you're using Coming soon. In the meantime, you can open Skype for
a Samsung-based device with Google Chrome Business, go to the Meetings view, and join the meeting from
there.

Desk Phone Devices like Polycom, Ares, and Tanjay Not available.

Syndication partners Not available.

Voice features, such as voice mail, ability to make and receive Not available. These features require syndication partners.
calls from PSTN numbers, call transferring, call forwarding

Archiving, or ability to tag a user and archive that user's emails Not available.
and IMs in Exchange
 Skype for Business Web client (LWA) browser support for Not available, but you can use an older version of Firefox.
Firefox 29

Unified Contact Store (UCS) The ability for users to keep all of their Skype for Business
contact information in Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 is
disabled.

Conferencing devices: Not available.

Polycom CX5100 Unified Conference Station
Logitech ConferenceCam CC3000e
Polycom CX7000
Polycom CX3000
Logitech BCC950 ConferenceCam
Polycom CX5000 HD

Data Subject Requests for GDPR

GDPR grants individuals (or, data subjects) certain rights in connection with the processing of their personal data,
including the right to correct inaccurate data, erase data or restrict its processing, receive their data and fulfill a
request to transmit their data to another controller. The Tenant Administrator role for Office 365 operated by
21Vianet can request data on behalf of a data subject in the following ways:
Using the Azure Active Directory Admin Center, a Tenant Administrator can permanently delete a data
subject from Azure Active Directory and related services.
System generated logs for Microsoft services operated by 21Vianet can be exported by Tenant
Administrators using the Data Log Export.
For details and instructions, see Data Subject Requests (DSR ) for GDPR.
 Buy or try subscriptions for Office 365 operated by
21Vianet
9/24/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

NOTE
This article applies to Office 365 operated by 21Vianet in China.

Buy or try Office 365

You can buy a subscription right away, or you can try Office 365 for up to 30 days. If you like it, you can buy your
trial subscription and keep the domain, data, and configuration you set up in your trial.
1. Go to Compare Office 365 for business plans and select the name of the plan you want to buy. Then, select
Buy now.
2. Create an account by filling out the Just a few details page.
3. Follow the instructions to set up your 30-day trial or to complete your purchase.

Buy your trial subscription

1. Sign in to Office 365 with your work or school account.
2. If you're not already on the start page, select Office 365 in the top-left hand corner.

3. At the top right-hand corner of the page, under the navigation bar, select Purchase.

4. On the Purchase subscriptions page, you'll see the different plans that you can buy. The plan that you've
been trying is identified by the In Trial banner.

IMPORTANT
If you purchase a different plan from your trial plan, you have to reassign your licenses from your trial plan to your
new plan (before your 90-day grace period ends after your trial plan expires) in order to retain your data, accounts,
and configuration. Otherwise, you will lose your data, accounts, and configuration.

5. Select the subscription that you want to purchase and then select Buy now.
6. Follow the steps to check out.
Add subscriptions or add-ons to an existing Office 365 account
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Purchase services page.
2. Select the service(s) that you'd like to purchase, select Buy, and then select Check out now.
3. Follow the instructions to complete your purchase.

Payment options
You can pay for your subscription by:
Invoice
Online payment using Alipay or China UnionPay
Proof of payment will be provided in the form of Fapiaos. You can submit your Fapiao request to our Fapiao
system about three (3) days after you have paid. For more information, see Apply for a Fapiao for Office 365
operated by 21Vianet.

NOTE
International credit cards are not accepted.
 View your bill or get a Fapiao in Office 365 operated
by 21Vianet
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

You can view your billing statement or invoice for information about your Office 365 operated by 21Vianet
subscription charges. You can also obtain a Fapiao (your final proof of purchase). You can submit your Fapiao
request to our Fapiao management system about three days after you have paid.

Find your billing statement or request a Fapiao

1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Bills & payments page.
2. Find the invoice you want, select to view, or choose to download the PDF.
To request a Fapiao, select Get Fapiaos.

NOTE
You need a registered account to access the fapiao management system. If you haven't already set up an account,
see Apply for a Fapiao for Office 365 operated by 21Vianet.
 Apply for a Fapiao for Office 365 operated by
21Vianet
8/8/2019 • 3 minutes to read • Edit Online

You can submit your Fapiao request to the 21Vianet Fapiao management system about three days after you have
paid. After you submit your Fapiao request, it will be processed in two days.

Step 1: Apply for a Fapiao

There are two ways to apply for a Fapiao:
1. After making a payment in the Office 365 operated by 21Vianet website, you'll receive an order
confirmation email that contains your order number and a link to the Fapiao management system. You can
use the link in the email to create an account in the 21Vianet Fapiao information management system.
Or
2. You can apply for a Fapiao from the admin center.

Step 2: Register with the 21Vianet Fapiao management system

NOTE
You can use the same email name and password as your Office 365 account, or you can use something different.
1. Go to the 21Vianet Fapiao information management system.
2. In the registration form, enter your order number, email address, and password, then select Registration.

3. After your registration is complete, the system will send an activation email message to your email address.
Open the email message and select the link to activate your account.

Step 3: Submit your bill for a Fapiao

1. Log in to the Fapiao management system.
2. Select the billing record, then select Apply bill.

NOTE
The payment system is on a third-party platform and takes three days to synchronize the order and payment record.

3. Select the Fapiao type, enter the required information, then select Next.
 NOTE
For a normal VAT Fapiao, you only need to enter the buyer's name.
If necessary, you can apply for a Fapiao with different a title. However, you can only apply one Fapiao title for one
bill in the system. If you want to split the Fapiao into different amounts or titles, please submit your request in the
admin center.
The next time you apply for a Fapiao, the system automatically presents the previous Fapiao information.
If you need a purchase certificate or a refund, the payer name and the Fapiao title must match.

4. Select a shipping method and enter the mailing information. You can choose Yunda or SF (freight collect).
You can also go to the 21Vianet Shanghai branch to get the Fapiao. select Next.

21Vianet Shanghai branch company address:

Shanghai, Pudong New Area Keyuan Road No. 88, German Center, building 3, 657
Contact information:
Zhu qin qin 021-28986102
5. Verify that the information is correct, then select Confirm.
Step 4: Check application progress
Your application is automatically transmitted to the 21Vianet Service Center, and will be completed in two working
days.
After you submit the application, you can check the progress at any time. We will update the status of your
application with remarks like Issued or Mailed out.

When Fapiao is out of use, the system will display a notice, and will indicate the expected time to issue the Fapiao.

FAQs
What services can I get from online support?
You can check the progress of your Fapiao request, and find out why you haven't received the Fapiao.
If you want to change the Fapiao title, please send the Fapiao back to us and we will reissue the Fapiao. You can
submit the request through the admin center.

How do I change my login email address and password?

1. Log in to the Fapiao management system, then select Change email address.
2. If you forgot your login password, you can use your login email address to reset the password. The Fapiao
management system will send a new password to your email address. You can use the new password to
login.

3. If you forgot your login email address, please contact 21Vianet customer service at (86) 400-089-0365.
How do I find my order ID?
1. In the admin center, go to the Billing > Bills & payments page.
2. Find the invoice you want, select to view, or choose to download the PDF.
What if I enter the wrong email address when I register?
If you enter the wrong email address when you register, you won't receive the activation email. The registration
link in the email will automatically expire after 24 hours. You can return to the registration page and register again
with the correct email address.
What if I don't receive an activation email?
If you don't receive an account activation email within 24 hours after you register, go to the 21Vianet Fapiao
information management system, enter your email address, then select Resend the activation email. The system
will resend the account activation email to your registered email address.

If you still don't receive an activation email, please contact 21Vianet customer service at (86) 400-089-0365.
 Parity between Azure Information Protection for
Office 365 operated by 21Vianet and commercial
offerings
8/8/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

While our goal is to deliver all commercial features and functionality to customers in China with our Azure
Information Protection for Office 365 operated by 21Vianet offer, there is some missing functionality that we'd like
to highlight.
These are the existing gaps between Azure Information Protection for Office 365 operated by 21Vianet and our
commercial offerings as of July 2019:
Information Rights Management (IRM ) is supported only for Office 365 ProPlus (build 11731.10000 or
higher). Office 2010, Office 2013, and other Office 2016 versions are not supported.
Migration from Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS ) to Azure Information Protection is
currently not available.
Sharing of protected emails to users in the commercial cloud is supported.
Sharing of documents and email attachments to users in the commercial cloud is currently not available.
This includes Office 365 operated by 21Vianet users in the commercial cloud, non-Office 365 operated by
21Vianet users in the commercial cloud, and users with an RMS for Individuals license.
IRM with SharePoint (IRM -protected sites and libraries) is currently not available.
The Rights Management Connector is currently not available.
The Mobile Device Extension for AD RMS is currently not available.

Configuring Azure Information Protection for customers in China

Enable Rights Management for the tenant
For the encryption to work correctly, the RMS must be enabled for the tenant.
Check if the RMS is enabled:
1. Launch PowerShell as an administrator.
2. If the AIPService module is not installed, run Install-Module AipService .
3. Import the module using Import-Module AipService .
4. Connect to the service using Connect-AipService -environmentname azurechinacloud .
5. Run (Get-AipServiceConfiguration).FunctionalState and check if the state is Enabled .
If the functional state is Disabled , run Enable-AipService .
DNS configuration for encryption (Windows)
For encryption to work correctly, Office client applications must connect to the China instance of the service and
bootstrap from there. To redirect client applications to the right service instance, the tenant admin must configure a
DNS SRV record with information about the Azure RMS URL. Without the DNS SRV record, the client application
will attempt to connect to the public cloud instance by default and will fail.
Also, the assumption is that users will log in with a username based off the tenant-owned domain (for example,
joe@contoso.cn ), and not the onmschina username (for example, joe@contoso.onmschina.cn ). The domain name
from the username is used for DNS redirection to the correct service instance.
Get the RMS ID:
1. Launch PowerShell as an administrator.
2. If the AIPService module is not installed, run Install-Module AipService .
3. Connect to the service using Connect-AipService -environmentname azurechinacloud .
4. Run (Get-AipServiceConfiguration).RightsManagementServiceId to get the RMS ID.
Log in to your DNS provider, navigate to the DNS settings for the domain, and then add a new SRV record.
Service = _rmsredir
Protocol = _http
Name = _tcp
Target = [GUID].rms.aadrm.cn (where GUID is the RMS ID )
Priority, Weight, Seconds, TTL = default values
Associate the custom domain with the tenant in the Azure portal. This will add an entry in DNS, which
might take several minutes to get verified after you add the value to the DNS settings.
Log in to the Microsoft 365 admin center with the corresponding global admin credentials and add the
domain (for example, contoso.cn ) for user creation. In the verification process, additional DNS changes
might be required. Once verification is done, users can be created.
DNS configuration for encryption (Mac, iOS, Android)
Log in to your DNS provider, navigate to the DNS settings for the domain, and then add a new SRV record.
Service = _rmsdisco
Protocol = _http
Name = _tcp
Target = api.aadrm.cn
Port = 80
Priority, Weight, Seconds, TTL = default values
 About the new Microsoft 365 admin center
8/8/2019 • 5 minutes to read • Edit Online

The new Microsoft 365 admin center is built for IT teams as a simplified way to manage your
Microsoft 365 and Office 365 services. The admin center provides a tailored experience based
on the unique needs of your role or organization, improves efficiency for everyday tasks, and
provides actionable insights that help you make data-driven decisions to deliver a better
experience for your users.
The Microsoft 365 admin center is the common entry point for all Microsoft 365 admins and
can be accessed at https://admin.microsoft.com. Specialist workspaces, like Security or Device
management, allow for more granular control. For more information about how the admin
centers will work together, see What about the specific types of IT roles and other workspaces
like Security, Device Management, or Exchange? later in this article.
As new features become available in the Microsoft 365 admin center, you'll be able to opt in to
the new admin center and share your feedback with Microsoft so that we can continue to
improve the admin experience. If you opt in, there will be no impact to your users, and you can
switch back to the old admin center at any time. What's new in the NEW Microsoft 365 admin
center.

NOTE
Targeted release admins will have first access to new features. New features will then roll out to all
admins. This means that you may not see the new admin center, or it may look different than what is
described in help articles. To be among the first to see new features, see Participate in the new admin
center, below.

Participate in the new admin center

We would love for you to participate in the new Microsoft 365 admin center so you can prepare
for change and give us feedback.
Turn on Targeted release
1. Sign in at admin.microsoft.com, go to the navigation pane and select Settings >
Organization profile.
2. Go to the Release preferences card, and then select Edit.
3. Select either Targeted release for everyone or Targeted release for selected users. If
you choose Targeted release for selected users, make sure that you add your admin
account (and any other admins in your org who want to participate) to the list of selected
users.
Switch to the new admin center and back again
When the new Microsoft 365 admin center is available to you, you can opt in by selecting
the Try the new admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. If you sign
out of the admin center, we'll remember your selection and you'll sign back in to the new
admin center.
 Switch back to the old admin center from the Home page by turning the toggle to Off.

While in the new admin center, you can give Microsoft feedback about your experience by
selecting Give feedback right next to the Need help? button at the bottom of every page. Tell
us what you like and what we could do better. In addition, you may get pop-up surveys from
time-to-time asking about your overall impressions or a particular experience that's newly
released. You can also give feedback at the end of this article by selecting Was this information
helpful?
If you want to be an early adopter in the new admin center, you'll need to turn on Targeted
release, and then when the new admin center is available you can switch to it to check it out and
provide feedback.

NOTE
Access to the new admin center will be rolled out to all Microsoft 365 admins. Admins who are in the
Targeted release group in their organization will get the new admin center first. Being in Targeted release
does not guarantee you will see the toggle immediately, but you will get it sooner than those in
Standard release.

Frequently asked questions

Don't see your questions answered here? Go to Was this information helpful? at the bottom
of this page and ask your question.

Can I do everything in the new admin center that I can do in

the old admin center?
Yes. The new admin center is fully functional and has all the capabilities of the old admin center.

Which Microsoft 365 plans are available to trial or buy?

Microsoft 365 is a complete, intelligent solution that includes Office 365, Windows 10, and
Enterprise Mobility + Security that empowers everyone to be creative and work together,
securely. The following Microsoft 365 subscriptions are available in the admin center for you to
try or buy now:
Microsoft 365 Business
Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3
Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5
For more information, see Try or buy a Microsoft 365 subscription.

I found a bug or I want to request a feature enhancement.

How do I let Microsoft know?
We love to hear from you! Reporting bugs and sharing feedback helps us make the Microsoft
365 admin center better. To give feedback, select the Feedback button on the bottom of the
page and use the form to send us your thoughts. Select the checkbox and confirm your email
address if you want someone from the Microsoft 365 admin center team to follow up on your
comments. We can't promise to follow up on every piece of feedback, but we're going to try!
You can also give feedback from outside of the admin center on our UserVoice forum. You can
use this page to make feature suggestions that can be voted on by other forum users: UserVoice
forum for the new admin center.

What about the specific types of IT roles and other

workspaces like Security, Device Management, or
Exchange?
The Microsoft 365 admin center is the common entry point for all teams and roles managing
Microsoft 365. The experience, information, and controls are tailored and customizable for each
admin and role. Additionally, specialist workspaces allow for deep, granular control. These
specialist workspaces include SharePoint, Teams & Skype, Exchange, Security, Compliance,
Device Management, and Azure Active Directory. You can find the specialist workspaces from
the navigation pane in the Microsoft 365 admin center at https://admin.microsoft.com.
Updating all of the admin centers to have a coherent experience will take awhile, but you can
learn more about the admin centers we've already started to makeover:
Get started with the new SharePoint Admin Center
Manage Teams during the transition to the new Microsoft Teams & Skype for Business
Admin Center
Overview of Microsoft 365 Device Management
Introducing the Microsoft 365 Security and Compliance Center
 What's new in the Microsoft 365 admin center
10/1/2019 • 21 minutes to read • Edit Online

We're continuously adding new features to the Microsoft 365 admin center, fixing issues we learn about, and
making changes based on your feedback. Take a look below to see what's available for you today. Some features
get rolled out at different speeds to our customers. If you aren't seeing a feature yet, try adding yourself to
targeted release.

TIP
Interested in what we're currently working on and plan to release soon? Check out What's next for the Microsoft 365 admin
center.

And if you're interested in what's new in other admin centers:

What's new in the Microsoft 365 compliance center
What's new in the SharePoint admin center

September 2019
We are ramping up for some exciting feature releases at Ignite 2019, so we're only announcing a few new features
that were released in September. But stay tuned for next month's article, it'll be published on the first day of Ignite!
Featured Feedback Fix – The option to convert the deleted user’s mailbox to a shared mailbox is back!
We heard your feedback loud and clear and we brought back the ability to give someone else access to a deleted
user’s mailbox by converting it to a shared mailbox. Adding this back to the delete user wizard lets you decide
what to do with the data:
Email: Give someone else access to the deleted user's mailbox by converting it to a shared mailbox.
Files: Save their OneDrive files and give someone else access.
Permissions: Remove permissions if others had access to this mailbox.
Aliases: Remove email aliases so they are available to use for another user right away.
Initial setup
There's been an update to another of our initial setup wizards: Microsoft 365 for business. The steps have been
streamlined and we've moved two of the set up tasks into the Setup page:
Secure Windows 10 computers - set up policies to better protect your Windows 10 devices from viruses,
malware, and attacks by hackers.
Automatically install Office - When you turn this on and users have connected their PCs to Microsoft 365
Business, their computers will automatically update to the latest Office apps - and stay up to date.

August 2019
Add user template
Templates allow you to easily add many users by saving and reusing the shared settings for these users. You can
save values for roles, licenses assigned, contact information, location, and more. When you use the template to
create a new user, they will automatically get the saved value for these settings. Go to Users > Active users, and
then select User templates to try it out.
Billing
We've got some updates for billing and subscriptions this month:
 Device-based subscriptions: You can assign or unassign Office 365 ProPlus for Education (device) licenses
to devices in the Microsoft 365 admin center. Office 365 ProPlus for Education (device) is an add-on license
that will lets you to assign a license to a device. Go to Billing > Products & services to find and purchase the
license.
User-based license management: We've updated how you assign licenses in Users > Active users to the new
style. For more information, see:
Assign licenses to users
Unassign licenses from users
Setup page updates
Setup now has categories and sections, including a Recommended for you section where we intelligently
suggest your next step in turning on features and setting up your organization. We've also added a new feature to
set up:
Office Advanced Threat Protection - If your org is licensed to use Office ATP and you haven't configured it
or turned it on yet, you'll see this page. Go to Setup to try it out.
Report an outage
If you are impacted by an issue that is not showing up on your Service health dashboard, the Report an Outage
feature will provide you with a quick and easy way to let us know. Go to Health > Service health.

July 2019
Message center
The Message center has been updated to the new design and it looks amazing!

You can now view Messages by status. Just select one of the tabs: All active messages, High importance,
Unread messages, and Dismissed messages.
You can also filter by category Data privacy, Plan for change, Prevent or fix issues, and Stay informed
message categories.
Select a message from the list and you have a few options in the command bar: Dismiss, Mark as read or
Mark as unread, or Share the message.
And when you open a message, you have even more options:
Copy a link of the message to your clipboard to save it for later or to share it with colleagues.
Mark messages as Read or Unread.
 Give feedback about a message by selecting Like or Dislike, a feedback pane opens asking you to
provide specific feedback on what you liked or didn't like about this message.
Navigation pane intelligence
The navigation pane now remembers your last actions and shows you the pane in the last state that you left it in. It
will also make frequently used items visible by default.
Initial setup & the Setup page
We've got some exciting changes to help you get your organization set up. First off, let's discuss the difference
between setup and the Setup page. Setup refers to the initial setup wizard that you used to onboard to
Microsoft's online services. That usually includes three specific steps: Connect a domain, Add users, and
Download the Office apps. The Setup page is the page in the admin center that has recommended set up tasks
to ensure that you're getting the most out of your subscriptions - like turning on features you've purchased
licenses for.
Setup - The initial setup wizard has been updated for Office 365 for Business subscriptions. This new design
will help new organizations get through the wizard faster and with greater success.
Setup page - The Setup page helps you finish setting up and securing the services that come with your
subscriptions. You can also see any dismissed recommendations on the Setup page. To see if it's available for
your subscriptions yet, go to the Microsoft 365 admin center > Setup.
Billing & subscriptions
Software product type - You can now view software products purchased through a Cloud Service Provider
(CSP ). To see your downloads and keys, go to Billing > Products & services > Software tab.
You can view Modern Azure products and services from the Microsoft 365 admin center, whether you
purchased them from Microsoft or a third-party provider. Examples of Modern Azure products included:
Azure Reserved Virtual Instances
Azure Support Plans
Azure Hybrid Use Benefits (AHUB )
Manage Applications
Device Services
Azure Subscriptions
Simplify multi-factor authentication
Admins have access to sensitive information in your organization. Require all admins to use multi-factor
authentication when signing in. The new wizard helps you get it done with just one step. To try it out, go to Setup
> Strengthen sign-in security.
Users
The Deleted users and Guest users pages were updated to the new style.
Guest users: You add guest users by inviting them to view or share files from SharePoint or OneDrive. You can
view guest users from Users > Guest users.
Deleted users: On the updated Deleted users page, you can do all the actions that you could in the older
admin center, but now you add and remove columns. And we have a lot of column options to choose from. In
fact, it's the same columns that you can choose on the Active users page.

June 2019
Featured feedback request - Dark mode
Viewing the admin center in dark mode is in preview! You can test it out on the Home page only right now. On the
Home page, the Dark mode button is in the command bar next to the What's new link.
Roles management
At the end of June we started rolling out new way to manage admin roles. When it's available for you, go to Roles
> Roles. Until then, take a look - it's awesome!

This new experience makes it easier to see who has admin permissions and to assign roles that grant the right
level of access to your admins. And we also added more roles from Azure AD so that you don't waste time going
to multiple admin centers. What else can you do here?
Export a list of all admins in your org who are assigned Azure Active Directory roles in Microsoft 365.
View all admins assigned to a specific role, add or remove admins from a specific role, search for roles by name
and keyword, and learn more about what each role allows a user to do.
Quickly search for a specific role and create filters.
Payment method
We've updated how you pay for your subscriptions. Go to Billing > Bills & payments > Payment methods.
You can see your payment methods in a list view. Select any item in the list to remove it, edit it, and easily see
which subscription that payment method is associated with.

May 2019
May's featured fix - Case sensitivity
Now when you search for shared mailboxes, contacts, resources, and mailbox permissions, your search terms don't
have to be case-sensitive.
User and group management This month, we updated Block user, Reset password, Contacts list view,
Groups list view, and the Groups details pages to the new admin center style.
With the new Groups list view, you get richer data about your groups, and you can customize the way you see
your data -- and the groups list remembers how you want to see your data. For example, you can now filter on
Groups with Teams to see if your groups are part of a Team and you can add the Teams status column.
The groups list also brings with it all the improvements we made to the list experience in user management,
including quick actions and the contextual command bar.
Recommendations
You might see a new recommendation pop-up in your admin center - we just added 4 new ones. Of course, you'll
only see recommendations if we think it will benefit your organization. But don't wait until we show you the
recommendation - you can add it from the card library.
Password expiry - We recommend that passwords get set to Never expire. And if your org has a different
 setting, you might just see this recommendation.
Too many global admins - Because having too many global admins is a security threat, if you have more than
4 global admins, you'll see this recommendation. We suggest giving users only the access they need to get their
job done.
Intune device protection - If your licenses include Intune and we detect that you either haven't finished
setting up Intune or enrolled your devices, we'll recommend that you create an Intune policy to protect your
organization's files when users access them from their mobile devices.
Get monthly Office feature updates - We've gotten feedback from our very small customers that when they
get monthly Office feature updates, their users are happier. So, if you're a very small business and you're
currently get your Office feature updates every six months, you'll see this recommendation.
Settings
As for settings, there have been quite a few changes. Mostly, just updating the existing settings to the new admin
center style. As we're moving forward and add new settings that you've never seen before, we'll start mentioning
them here. And we've got one-whole setting to announce: Modern authentication. Yes, there is a new setting to
turn on Modern authentication! To check it out, go to Settings > Services & add-ins > Modern
authentication.

April 2019
Things are looking great for the admin center. We've been reading your feedback and suggestions, answering
most of them, and really taking all you have to say to heart. Of course, we're still doing the work to make sure
everything is up to parity with the old admin center. And please remember - as we roll out new features, you might
not get it right away.
Featured feature - Add users
For April, we're featuring the Add user wizard that walks you through...wait for it...adding users. It's a step-by-step
to add the user's basic info like email and display name, assigning a license and a role, adding their contact
information, and then reviewing the user's account before you commit. Why did we make this change? We
heard your feedback that you didn't like the nearly infinite scroll to add users in the previous experience.

There are two ways you can check it out:

1. From the Home page, select Add user from the User management card. The wizard opens right there, so
 you don't have to navigate from any work you're doing on the Home page.
2. Go to Users > Active users, and then select Add user from the command bar.

We've made a few more changes to user management, here's a quick list:
The Manage roles pane has been updated to the new style and is accessible. We've also updated the Block
user and Delete user panes to the new style.
Manage product licenses changed position in the command bar.
Changing a user's photo is now easier. In Active users select a user, and then Change photo under their
picture.
But wait! There's more...
There's a new setup banner on the Home page that you'll see if you haven't finished the set up steps, like
adding a domain, adding users, and downloading the Office apps.
The Group list and details pane have been updated to the new style. Go to Groups > Groups to view the
changes.
Speaking of groups, we've also added a Microsoft Teams tab to the groups details pane where you can
turn any Office 365 group into a Team. To "teamify" a group select any Office 365 group from the list,
select the Microsoft Teams tab, and then Create Team. If the group is already a Team, you'll get a link
to manage it from the Teams admin center.
Finally, you can add the Teams status to the groups list. On the column header, select Choose
columns > Teams status > Save.
New limited admin roles - We've release some new admin roles so that you can give users only the access
they need.
Kaizala admin: Users in this role have permission to perform all management tasks within Microsoft
Kaizala, including create and manage users in Kaizala directory, manage Kaizala groups, manage action
cards and connectors, and create service requests.
Search admin: Users in this role have full access to all Microsoft Search management features in the
Microsoft 365 admin center. Search admins can delegate the Search admin and Search editor roles to
users, and create and manage content, like bookmarks, Q&A items, and locations. Additionally, these
users can view the message center, monitor service health, and create service requests.
Search editor: Users in this role can create, manage, and delete content for Microsoft Search in the
Microsoft 365 admin center, including bookmarks, Q&A items, and locations.
There's a bonanza of Billing changes this month...
You can now update the CVV for existing credit cards without having to delete it and add it again. You
can update the CVV by going to Bills > Payment methods.
We've made it easier to locate your Invoices and understand any billing issues your account may be
having. And now you can see your Bills in the web browser instead of having to download the PDF. Go
to Bills > Invoices.
On the Products & services page, we now aggregate your subscription information if you've got
multiple subscriptions of the same type.

March 2019 - We've officially released the admin center!

Well, if you missed the exciting news, we've officially release the new and improved Microsoft 365 admin center!
Here's the blog post where we announced it: The new Microsoft 365 admin center available today. For March,
we'll rely on the blog post for you to check out the features released - plus, you can also read the post for the
features that are getting released in the near future, which we're not allowed to do in core content.
We do have one change to the Billing & subscriptions area that we'd like to mention. I mean, y'all didn't think we
were done with improving it, did you? Because we're not! In fact, this month we added added the ability to manage
your partner relationships to Billing > Billing accounts. From here you can review your partner relationships
across Advisor, CSP, and Indirect resellers. You can also accept new partner relationship requests, including
delegated admin permissions.
As always, your feedback is important to us, so keep it coming! On any page in the admin center, you can give
feedback by selecting Give feedback in the bottom-right, next to Need help?

February 2019 - Billing & Subscriptions Edition

This month, we're going to focus on all the improvements we've made to the areas affectionately referred to as
"Billing and subscriptions". In the past, you probably didn't refer to those things affectionately, but we think you
will now...
Payment methods - We heard your feedback that updating your payment method was difficult and we've
made a lot of changes around it. Go to Billing > Payment methods. You can easily see your payment
methods, like your Visa card, and which subscription it is associated with. In your list of payment methods,
select the More menu (3 little dots next to the expiration date), and then select View subscriptions. You can
also edit and delete your payment methods using the More menu.
Billing account - Targeted release customers will see the new Billing account page first and then we'll roll it
out to world-wide. When it's available for you, go to Billing > Billing account. What can you do on the new
billing account page? I'm glad you asked:
Update the address and other contact information in your organizational profile directly from this page.
You don't have to go to Settings > Organization profile, unless you want to.
And we're making life easier for Direct or Volume licensing customers, you can accept and review
customer agreements from Billing accounts. You can also connect with other orgs allowing you to link
the orgs together to share licenses and resources.
We've also done a few smaller enhancements and bug fixes:
Reactivate a subscription with an Invoice payment
Edit the service usage address for your subscriptions
And on the Inventory details page, we've added some notification enhancements, we link you to the
actual page where you can do the work, and there are more actions on the inventory details card. Go to
Billing > Bills > View details on any invoice.
January 2019 - Happy New Year!
Still adding in Services & add-ins - We've updated more of the Settings > Services & add-ins pages. Try
Integrated Apps or Reports to see the latest.
Searching for improvements? Look no further than the Search box in the command bar. It's been updated
to let you search for tasks. For example, try "password reset" or "add a user".
Featured Feedback Fix - Licenses and apps
We re-combined Licenses and apps in the user details pane based on your feedback. We initially separated the
two features to provide space for the details of all license and all app possibilities. We heard from you that
separating licenses and apps into two panes added confusion. We listened, and brought licenses and apps back
together into one tab. Now you can make sure that an app is turned off in all licenses assigned to a user in one
pane. Milk and cookies. Licenses and apps. We get it now.
Check it out: Users > Active users > Edit or Add user > Licenses and Apps.

December 2018
Services & add-ins - In October we updated Settings > Services & add-ins with our new design style, but
all of the settings pages were still in the classic style. This month, we've started updating the actual settings to
the new design. Check out Bookings to see the new look.
User management - Manage username, alias, primary email address.
We've added two Home cards to the library. You can read their full descriptions in the library.
Intune Device enrollment
Domains
Recommendations - You might see a new recommendation pop-up in your admin center. Of course, you'll
only see recommendations if we think it will benefit your organization. But don't wait until we show you the
recommendation - you can add it from the card library.
Protect sensitive info - We recommend creating a data loss prevention (DLP ) policy to detect when
items containing sensitive info are shared with people outside your organization.

November 2018
The Search box is back! And we moved it slightly. It's still at the top of the Home page, but it's now on the
right-side of the page near the Add card button.

We've added cards for the dashboard. Just go to the admin center and select Add card to see the new
cards:
Office 365 Active users report - Monitor the usage of the Office 365 services you've purchased.
Office 365 software - Install or deploy Office 365 ProPlus software and see how many licensed users
have activated it.
Azure Active Directory - Gives you quick access to common Azure AD tasks like self-serve password
resets, customizing sign-in, and adding apps.
The Export users quick task has been added to command bar on the Active users page.
 Purchase services has additional enhancements for November. And they are ALL good! To get there, go to
Billing > Purchase services.

1. At the top of the page, you can pivot between Business and Education plans. That will help you find
what you're looking for.
2. We added a search box so you don't have to scroll endlessly to find what you're looking for.
3. Finally, we logically sorted the plans you can purchase into sections that you can expand and
collapse. Don't need purchase any of the Office apps and services? Collapse that section and focus
on Microsoft 365 plans.

October 2018
There's a new way to buy subscriptions in the Microsoft 365 admin center. Go to Purchase services to see
the completely redesigned shopping experience that makes it easy to search, compare plans, and other
great new features that helps make purchasing a subscription easier.
 The Services and add-ins page has been updated to the new look and feel, but everything else works
exactly the same. Of course, you should check out the command bar to see what new things you can do, like
filtering and changing the list to compact view. In the navigation pane, go to Settings > Services & add-
ins to check it out.

September 2018
Home improvements The Home page has been completely re-done and we can't wait for you to try it out
and see what you think. This is your personal Home page and you won't affect the Home pages of other
admins in your organization.
 You can add, remove, and move home page cards around the Home page. Select + Add card in the
top right corner to see which cards are available in the card library, and then drag them anywhere on
the Home page. Don't like where it landed? Drag it to where you want it. You don't even have to save
any more.
Take organization to the next level by grouping cards into sections. We've created two default
sections for you: Basics and Devices and updates. Very soon, you'll be able to add, remove, and
rename sections to design a Home page that works for you.
Most of the cards are informative and actionable, which means that you'll be provided with just-in-
time information to help you do your daily tasks faster and smarter.
The navigation pane has been re-organized and you can customize it for your quick tasks. Just select
Edit from the bottom of the navigation pane to start customizing.

Billing You'll probably notice some of the biggest changes to the Microsoft 365 admin center in the Billing
section. You can manage subscriptions and apps you've bought from Microsoft or another vendor, including
new experiences for inventory management, order history, payment methods, and invoicing.
Subscription management has been redesigned to give you a new inventory management
experience for more product types including apps, software, and add-ins. It's now called Products &
services to better reflect the support for new product types being added. You can now choose to
have a card or table view of the products and services, and you can search and filter to quickly find
what you're looking for.
 It's now easier than ever to assign a product license to your users. Select your purchased product
and then you can assign the product. You can also see which users have already been assigned a
particular product.

Switch plans is now called ** Upgrades ** and finally the subscription upgrades happen behind the
scenes so you don't have to watch the upgrade complete. Lastly, there is no longer a license
limitation on upgrades.
User management We've made a lot of changes to user management to help you get your work done
faster. We've updated the ** Active users ** page and the user's details pane. Here's some of the more
awesome changes:
There's a new design and new layout to the Active users page. Don't like the way the list looks?
Select Change view (next to Filter) and you can change the list from Normal list to Compact list.
Compact list is especially helpful if you've got a lot of users in your organization.
The command bar (where Search lives) is dynamic and the list of actions will change depending on
the number of users you've selected: no users, one user, or multiple users. You'll also see how many
users you have selected next to Search.

You can perform quick tasks like resetting passwords for single or multiple users directly from the list
view.
The User's details and settings are now organized by the following tabs: Account, Devices,
Licenses, Apps, Mail, and OneDrive. Previously, many of these settings were located across
multiple screens.
 Stay on top of Office 365 changes
9/24/2019 • 2 minutes to read • Edit Online

With Office 365, you receive new product updates and features as they become available instead of scheduled
updates that are months or years apart. As a result, you and your users will routinely experience new and
improved ways to do your job rather than a costly and time-consuming company-wide upgrade. The challenge
with such a model is keeping up with the changes and updates. Here are a few ways that you can stay on top of the
Office 365 updates in your organization.

Stay on top of Office 365 changes

Feature Description How to use

Message center Learn about official service Sign in to the admin center or admin
announcements and feature changes. mobile app. Select Health > Message
You can read these messages in the center. Select a message to read or
Microsoft 365 admin center, the admin share.
mobile app, or receive a weekly digest Change the services you see messages
in email. Share these messages with about or opt-in to the weekly digest by
others in your organization when you choosing Edit preferences in the new
see a message someone else should act admin center or Edit Message center
on. You can also use the Service preferences in the old admin center.
Communications API to retrieve This is also where you can opt-out of
messages. the weekly digest.
Overview of the Office 365 Message
Center

Targeted release Sign up for Targeted release for yourself Sign in to the admin center or admin
and a select group of individuals at your mobile app. Selece Settings >
organization. Get the latest Office 365 Organization profile > Release
updates before everyone else and then preferences. Learn more about
inform or train your users on the new Targeted release.
experience.

Roadmap Visit the Microsoft 365 Roadmap to Visit the Microsoft 365 Roadmap
learn about features that have been frequently and learn about planned
launched, are rolling out, are in updates and releases.
development, have been cancelled, or
previously released. The roadmap is the
official site for Office 365 updates and
changes.

Blogs and Community Visit Office Blogs, Microsoft Visit Office Blogs. Visit Microsoft
Community, and Microsoft Tech Community. Visit Microsoft Tech
Community to learn more details about Community.
changes in Office 365 and share
experiences with other users.

NOTE
You need to be a global administrator to make changes to release preferences.
 Set up the Standard or Targeted release options in
Office 365
8/8/2019 • 4 minutes to read • Edit Online

With Office 365, you receive new product updates and features as they become available instead of doing costly
updates every few years. You can manage how your organization receives these updates. For example, you can
sign up for an early release so that your organization receives updates first. You can designate that only certain
individuals receive the updates. Or, you can remain on the default release schedule and receive the updates later.
This article explain the different release options and how you can use them for your organization.

IMPORTANT
The Office 365 updates described in this article apply to Office 365, SharePoint Online, and Exchange Online. They do not
apply to Skype for Business and related services. These release options are targeted, best effort ways to release changes to
Office 365 but cannot be guaranteed at all times or for all updates.

How it works - release validation

Any new release is first tested and validated by the feature team, then by the entire Office 365 feature team,
followed by all of Microsoft. After internal testing and validation, the next step is a Targeted release (formerly
known as First release) to customers who opt in. At each release ring, Microsoft collects feedback and further
validates quality by monitoring key usage metrics. This series of progressive validation is in place to make sure the
worldwide-release is as robust as possible. The releases are pictured in the following figure.

For significant updates, Office customers are initially notified by the Microsoft 365 Roadmap. As an update gets
closer to rolling out, it is communicated through your Office 365 Message Center.

NOTE
You need an Office 365 or Azure AD account to access your Message Center through the Admin Center. Office 365 home
plan users do not have an admin center.

Standard release
This is the default option where you and your users receive the latest updates when they're released broadly to all
customers.
A good practice is to leave the majority of users in Standard release and IT Pros and power users in Targeted
release to evaluate new features and prepare teams to support business users and executives.

NOTE
If you switch from targeted release back to standard release track, your users may lose access to features that haven't
reached standard release yet.

Targeted release
With this option, you and your users can be the first to see the latest updates and help shape the product by
providing early feedback. You can choose to have individuals or the entire organization receive updates early.

IMPORTANT
Large or complex updates may take longer than others so that no users are adversely affected. There is no guarantee on the
exact timeline of a release.

Targeted release for entire organization

If you Set up the release option in the admin center for this option, all your users will get the Targeted release
experience. For organizations with more than 300 users, we recommend using a test subscription for this option.
For test subscription information, please reach out to your Microsoft contact.
Targeted release for selected users
If you Set up the release option in the admin center for this option, you can define specific users, usually power
users, to receive early access to features and functionality.

Benefits of Targeted release

Targeted release allows admins, change managers, or anyone else responsible for Office 365 updates to prepare
for the upcoming changes by letting them:
Test and validate new updates before they are released to all the users in the organization.
Prepare user notification and documentation before updates are released worldwide.
Prepare internal help-desk for upcoming changes.
Go through compliance and security reviews.
Use feature controls, where applicable, to control the release of updates to end users.

Set up the release option in the admin center

You can change how your organization receives Office 365 updates by following these steps. You have to be a
global admin in Office 365 to opt in.

IMPORTANT
It can take up to 24 hours for the below changes to take effect in Office 365. If you opt out of targeted release after
enabling it, your users may lose access to features that haven't reached the scheduled release yet.

1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Organization profile page.

2. Next to Release preferences, select Edit.
3. To disable targeted release, select Standard release, then select Next, and say Yes to the confirmation.
Skip to the last step.
4. To enable targeted release for all users in your organization, select Targeted release for everyone, then
select Next, and say Yes to the confirmation. Skip to the last step.
5. To enable targeted release for some people in your organization, select Targeted release for selected
users, then select Next, and say Yes to the confirmation.
6. Select Add people to add users individually. Search for their names and select + to Add.
7. When you're done adding users, select Save and then Close.

To add users in bulk

1. Next to Release preferences, select Actions > + Bulk add people for first release under the Standard
release heading.
2. Select Browse to select a file containing each person's email address.
3. Select Next and then Close.

Get the Targeted release version of Office

To install a targeted release build of Office, follow these steps. This gives you early access to the new features of
Office 2016 for Windows desktops.

Learn more
Discover how to manage messages in your Office 365 Message Center to get notifications about upcoming Office
365 updates and releases.
 Message center in Office 365
9/25/2019 • 10 minutes to read • Edit Online

To keep track of upcoming feature releases or issues, go to Message center. That's where we post official
announcements about new and changed features to enable you to take a proactive approach to change
management. Each post gives you a high-level overview of a planned change and how it may affect your users,
and links out to more detailed information to help you prepare.
To open the Message center:
In the admin center, go to Health > Message center.
In the admin center, go to Health > Message center.
In the admin center, go to Health > Message center.
You can also use the Microsoft 365 Admin app on your mobile device to view Message center, which is a great way
to stay current with push notifications.
Frequently asked questions
QUESTION ANSWER

Who can view posts in Message center? Most users who have been assigned any admin role in Office
365 can view Message center posts. Here's a list of which
admin roles don't have access the Message center. You can
also assign the Message center reader role to users who
should be able to read and share Message center posts
without having any other admin privileges.

Additonally, you can assign the Message Center Privacy

reader role to people who should see notifications about data
breaches. See About admin roles to learn more about what
each admin role can do.

Most Message center posts can be shared through email with

non-admin users who may need to take action. This option is
not available for data privacy posts that the Message Center
Privacy reader views.

Is this the only way Microsoft will communicate changes No, there are many ways that we communicate changes in
about Office 365? Office 365. Message center is the primary way that we
communicate the timing of individual changes. See Stay on
top of Office 365 changes for information about additional
resources.

How can I see posts in my language? Message center posts are written in English-only due to the
timeliness of the information we are posting, but you can
control whether, by default, posts are shown in English or are
automatically machine-translated to your preferred language.
And, no matter which default view you choose, you can select
to machine-translate posts to any language we support. See
Language translation for Message center posts for more
details.
 QUESTION ANSWER

Can I preview changes or features before they are rolled-out Sometimes. Some changes and new features can be previewed
to my organization? by opting in to the Targeted release program. To opt-in, in the
admin center, go to Settings > Organization profile >
Release preferences. You can choose Targeted release for
your entire organization, or just for selected users. See
Standard or Targeted release options in Office 365 for more
information about the program.

Can I find out the exact date a change will be available to my Unfortunately, we can't tell you the exact date a change will be
organization? made to your organization. In our Message center post, we
will give as much information as we can on the timing of the
release, based on our confidence level. We understand you
want us to be more specific on timing of releases, and we're
working on improvements to get better with that level of
detail.

Are these messages specific to my organization? We do our best to make sure that you only see Message
center posts that affect your organization. The Microsoft 365
Roadmap includes all of the features we are currently working
on and rolling out, but not all of these features apply to every
Office 365 organization. For example, if a feature is rolling out
only to educational institutions, we will target the Message
center post ONLY to those organizations.

Can I get message center posts emailed instead? Yes! You can select to have a weekly digest emailed to you
and up to two email addresses. If you need to have the digest
go to more than two more people, you can send to an Office
365 group or distribution list. The emailed weekly digest is
turned on by default. If you aren't getting your weekly digests,
check your spam folder. See the Set preferences section of
this article for more information on how to set up the weekly
digest.

How do I stop getting the Message center digest? Go to Message center in the admin center and select Edit
preferences in the new admin center or Edit Message
center preferences in the old admin center. Turn off the
option to Send a weekly email digest of my messages. If
you also no longer want to receive email about major
updates, turn off Send me emails for major updates.

How can I ensure Data Privacy notifications are received by As a global admin you will receive data privacy messages for
the right contacts in my organization? your organization. Additionally, you can assign the Message
Center Privacy reader role to people who should see data
privacy messages. Other admin roles with access to Message
Center cannot view data privacy messages.

You can use Message center preferences to control whether

you receive email notifications specifically for data privacy
messages and to control the visibility of these messages in the
Message Center. Note that data privacy messages are not
included in the weekly digest.

Messages
Message center presents a view of all active messages in a table format, by default showing the most recent
message at the top of the list. Here's a quick overview of the information you'll see in each column:
COLUMN DESCRIPTION

Checkbox Selecting the checkbox in the title row will select all messages
currently displayed. Selecting the checkbox next to a single
message will open that message for reading. Holding CTRL
while you select multiple boxes lets you perform bulk
operations on those messages, such as dismissing the
messages or marking them as read or unread.

Act by Most of the time, there won't be anything in this column.

We'll only have dates here if we're making a change that
requires you to take an action by a certain deadline. Since we
rarely use the Act by column, if you see something here, you
should pay extra attention to it.

Category Messages are identified by one of the three following

categories:

Prevent or fix issues: These messages inform you of known

issues impacting your organization and may require that you
take action to avoid disruptions in service. Prevent or fix
issues are different than Service health messages because they
prompt you to be proactive to avoid issues.

Plan for change: These messages inform you of changes to

Office 365 that may require you to act to avoid disruptions in
service. For example, we'll let you know about changes to
system requirements or about features that are being
removed. We try to provide at least 30 days' notice of any
change that requires an admin to act to keep the service
running normally.

Stay informed: This is where we tell you about new or

updated features that we are turning on in your organization.
The features are usually announced first in the Microsoft 365
Roadmap.

Stay informed messages may also let you know about

planned maintenance in accordance with our Service Level
Agreement. Planned maintenance may result in down time,
where you or your users can't access Office 365, a specific
feature, or a service such as email or OneDrive for Business.

Message title Message titles are a brief description of an upcoming change.

They are sometimes long and Message center can't display
the full title. Hover your cursor over the message title and the
entire title will display in a pop-up box.

Published Date that the message was published. If we make a change to

an existing message, it also changes the published date.

Message ID Microsoft tracks our Message center posts by message ID.

You can reference this ID if you want to give feedback or if
you call Support about a particular message.

(No label) Selecting the X in this column will dismiss the message and
remove it from view. Don't worry, you can get it back by
viewing dismissed messages. In that view, selecting Refresh (
) will restore the message to the active messages view.
Head over to Manage messages in Message center to get more information on the things you can do with
messages.
Major updates
Major updates can be reviewed by selecting High importance at the top of the Message center.
Major updates are communicated at least 30 days in advance when an action is required.
Major updates are defined as:
Changes to daily productivity such as inbox, meetings, delegations, sharing and access
Changes to the themes, web parts, and other components that may affect customized features
Increases or decreases to visible capacity such as storage, number of rules, items or durations
Changes to product branding that may:
Cause end user confusion,
Result in changes to help desk processes and reference material, or
Change a URL
A new service or application
Changes requiring an admin action (exclusive of prevent or fix issues)
Changes to where your data is stored
When you open a major update post to read it, you'll see a the header "Major update," as well as the current roll-
out status and a description of how it affects you.
Set preferences
If administration is distributed across your organization, you may not want or need to see posts about all Office
365 services. Each admin can:
Set preferences that control which messages are displayed in Message center.
Filter messages
Opt-in to receive a weekly digest of messages in email, to make sure you never miss an important post.
Use the new admin center to set your Message center preferences
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
1. Select Edit preferences at the top of Message center.
2. Make sure that the check box is selected for each service that you want to monitor. Clear the check boxes for
the services you want to filter out of your Message center view.
3. Digest emails are turned on by default and are sent to your primary email address. To specify other email
addresses to which the weekly email summary is sent, verify that Send a weekly e-mail digest of my
messages is selected. To stop receiving the weekly digest, clear the check box.

Email notification for major updates is a separate control. If you want to receive email notices about major
updates, verify that Send me e-mails for major updates is selected. Clear the check box to stop getting
email about major updates.

You can select or deselect your primary email address, but you can't change it. You can enter other email
 addresses where you want to have the digest sent. Enter the email address for an Office 365 group or a
distribution list if more than two people should get the digest email.
4. Select Save to keep your changes.
Use the old admin center to set your Message center preferences
1. Select Edit Message center preferences at the top of Message center.
2. Make sure that the toggle is set to On for each service that you want to monitor. Use the toggle to change
the setting to Off for the services you want to filter out of your Message center view.
3. Digest emails are turned on by default and are sent to your primary email address. To specify other email
addresses to which the weekly email summary is sent, verify that Send a weekly email digest of my
messages, is On. To stop receiving the weekly digest, change the setting to Off.

Email notification for major updates is a separate control. If you want to receive email notices about major
updates, verify that Send me emails for major updates is On. Change the setting to Off to stop getting
email about major updates.

You can select or deselect your primary email address, but you can't change it. You can enter other email
addresses where you want to have the digest sent. Enter the email address for an Office 365 group or a
distribution list if more than two people should get the digest email.
4. Select Save to keep your changes.
We use machine translation to automatically display messages in your preferred language. Read Language
translation for Message center posts for more information on how to set your language.

NOTE
The weekly digest and any posts that are emailed are sent in English-only. Recipients can use Translator for Outlook to read
the message in their preferred language.

Admin roles that don't have access to the Message center

Compliance administrator
Conditional access administrator
Customer lockBox access approver
Device administrators
Directory readers
Directory synchronization accounts
Directory writers
Intune service administrator
Privileged role administrator
Reports reader
 Try or buy a Microsoft 365 subscription
8/8/2019 • 3 minutes to read • Edit Online

Microsoft 365 is a complete solution that combines Office 365 and Windows 10 with advanced security and device
management. If you already have a subscription and you want to trial or buy a Microsoft 365 subscription, the best
way to do it is through the admin center. The following Microsoft 365 subscriptions are available in the admin
center for you to try or buy now:
Microsoft 365 Business
Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3
Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5
When you add a subscription through the admin center, the new subscription is associated with the same
organization (domain namespace) as your existing subscription. This makes it easier to move users in your
organization between subscriptions, or to assign them a license for the additional subscription they need.

Try or buy a Microsoft 365 subscription

Use the new admin center to try or buy a subscription
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin
center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin
center.
1. Sign in to the admin center at https://admin.microsoft.com, and then go to Billing > Purchase services.
2. On the Purchase services page, the subscriptions that are available to your organization are listed. Choose
the Microsoft 365 plan that you want to try or buy.
3. On the next page, select Get free trial, which gives you 25 user licenses for a one-month term, or you can
Buy.

NOTE
If you start a free trial, skip to step 8.

4. If you buy, enter the number of user licenses you need and choose whether to pay each month or for the
whole year, then select Check out now.
5. Your cart opens. Review the pricing information and select Next.
6. Provide your payment information, then select Place order.
7. On the confirmation page, select Go to admin home. You're all set!
8. Choose to receive a text or a call, enter your phone number, then choose Text me or Call me.
9. Enter the verification code, then select Start your free trial.
10. On the Check out page, select Try now.
11. On the order receipt page, select continue.
Not using the new admin center yet?
 If you have new admin center turned off, watch the following video to sign up for a trial Microsoft 365
subscription.

Use the old admin center to try or buy a subscription

1. Sign in to the admin center at https://admin.microsoft.com, and then go to Billing > Purchase services.
1. Sign in to the admin center at https://portal.office.de, and then go to Billing > Purchase services.
1. Sign in to the admin center at https://portal.partner.microsoftonline.cn, and then go to Billing > Purchase
services.
2. On the Purchase services page, the subscriptions that are available to your organization are listed.
3. Select the ellipses under the Microsoft 365 plan that you want to try or buy, and then select Start free trial,
which gives you 25 user licenses for a one-month term, or you can select Buy now.

NOTE
If you start a free trial, skip to step 8.

4. If you buy, enter the number of user licenses you need and choose whether to pay each month or for the
whole year, then select Check out now.
5. Your cart opens. Review the pricing information and select Next.
6. Provide your payment information, then select Place order.
7. On the confirmation page, select Go to admin home. You're all set!
8. Choose to receive a text or a call, enter your phone number, then choose Text me or Call me.
9. Enter the verification code, then select Start your free trial.
10. On the Check out page, select Try now.
11. On the order receipt page, select continue.

Next steps
After you get the new subscription, you have to assign a license to the users who will use that subscription. To learn
how, see Assign licenses to users in Office 365 for business.
 What's next for the Microsoft 365 admin center
9/16/2019 • 3 minutes to read • Edit Online

Welcome to What's next for the Microsoft 365 admin center! We’ve heard that you would like to know more
about what’s coming to the Microsoft 365 admin center, so we are providing you a handy view - specific to your
admin experience. You can also use the Microsoft 365 Roadmap and the Message Center to stay informed.

WARNING
The information contained in this article pertains only to the Microsoft 365 admin center and is not a promise of future
functionality nor do we promise that the feature will be released in the time frame we've indicated. In addition, this
information is not a complete list of all features being released. This article might be discontinued or deleted at any time.

How to use this article

We're looking forward to hearing from you and we'd like to use this article as a conversation starter between us -
the admin and the engineering team. Every item listed in the "In the works" section has a link to our Office
UserVoice website, where we want you to vote for items that you're excited about, ask questions, and give us
feedback.

Released
For the list of features we've released for the Microsoft 365 admin center, see What's new in the Microsoft 365
admin center.

In the works
Here's a list of features that will most-likely be released soon.
Role -based permissions
We're making it easier to see the roles that are assigned to a user and to see which users are assigned to a role:
To see the roles assigned to a user, go to Users > Active users > select a user > Manage roles.
To see the users assigned to a role, go to Roles > Roles > select a role > Assigned admins. And if you're not
getting enough information from this view, you can go back to the Roles list page and export the list of admins
and the roles assigned to them. Exporting the CSV file is great for auditing.
You can also select a role as a favorite, so that you can sort and filter your most-used roles.
Give feedback for role-based permissions
Keyboard shortcuts
You'll be able to perform some of the most common admin center tasks with just your keyboard. Here's an
example of some of the keyboard shortcuts that are coming:
Shift+A+G: add group
Shift+A+U: add user
Shift+A+C: add contact
Shift+R+P: reset password
Shift+?: View the full list of supported shortcuts
Over time we will be adding to the supported keyboard shortcuts and improving this feature. Which shortcuts
would you like to see next?
Give feedback for keyboard shortcuts
Cloud Shell
Similar to the Azure Cloud Shell, we're adding a cloud-connected PowerShell app that will automatically sign you
in, and pre-load the Exchange Online PowerShell module.
Give feedback for cloud shell
Report an incident
If you're in the admin center and you notice that a service isn't working before we do, you can Report an incident
to Microsoft from Service health.
Give feedback for incident reporting
Deleted groups
Currently, you can only restore deleted Office 365 groups from the Exchange admin center. You’ll soon be able to
view, restore, and manage deleted groups from this admin center.
Give feedback for deleted groups
Settings redesign
Settings is being reorganized to have the Services & add-ins, Security & privacy, and Organization profile
settings on a single list page and these settings will be searchable from the list view.
Give feedback for settings redesign
Bulk management of groups
Adding the ability to manage multiple groups at once.
Give feedback for groups bulk management
Microsoft Teams management
Moving the some of the administrative features for Microsoft Teams management into the Microsoft 365 admin
center.
Give feedback for Teams management
Simplify billing experience
Designing ways to simplify the billing experience, including reducing the number of pages under the billing node.
Give feedback for simple billing
Password writeback support
Hybrid customers will have the ability to reset their on-premises user passwords in the cloud. These passwords will
sync back down the the on-premises accounts.
Give feedback for password writeback
Register admin account recovery information
Make sure you don’t get locked out of your account by providing a recovery email and phone number.
Give feedback for account recovery

Would you like to know more?

In addition to this and the What's new in the Microsoft 365 admin center article, we've got more ways for you to
stay on top of changes coming to Microsoft 365 and Office 365 services.
Stay on top of changes
Microsoft 365 Roadmap
Learn more about targeted release
Join the Office Insiders program
Join the Windows Insiders program
 Contact support for business products - Admin
Help
10/8/2019 • 12 minutes to read • Edit Online

Online support
Phone support
In-store support
Save time by starting your service request online. We'll help you find a solution or connect you to an
expert who will contact you by email or phone. Learn about initial support response times.
Use the new admin center to start a service request
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the
new admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the
new Microsoft 365 admin center.
1. Go to the admin center at https://admin.microsoft.com. If you get a message that says you don't
have permission to access this page or perform this action, then you aren't an admin. Who has
admin permissions in my business?
2. Select the Need help? button.
3. In the Need help? pane, tell us what you need help with, and then press Enter.
4. If the results don't help, select Contact support.
5. Enter a description if you like, confirm your contact number and email address, select your
preferred contact method, and then select Contact me. The expected wait time is indicated in the
Need help? pane.
Use the old admin center to start a service request
1. Go to the admin center at https://admin.microsoft.com. If you get a message that says you don't
have permission to access this page or perform this action, then you aren't an admin. Who has
admin permissions in my business?
2. Select the Need help? button.
3. In the Need help? pane, tell us what you need help with, then select Get help.
4. If the results don't help, select New service request by phone. Confirm your contact number,
and then select Call me. The expected wait time for a call back is indicated in the Need help?
pane.
With every subscription of Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, 21Vianet support provides technical, pre-
sales, billing and subscription support. Support is available both online through the Office 365 operated
by 21Vianet portal, and by telephone for both paid and trial subscriptions.
Authorized administrators can use the Office 365 operated by 21Vianet portal to submit service
requests online and access support telephone numbers. For instructions, see Contact support.
The 21Vianet Office 365 technical support team troubleshoots only those issues that are related to
Office 365 operated by 21Vianet. Issues that originate in customer networks fall outside of the Office
365 support boundaries, and in these cases, customers must work with their networking team for
assistance.
Community and self-service support options
Self-service support is available for all Office 365 operated by 21Vianet users, and includes
troubleshooting tools and videos, help articles and videos, as well as forums and wikis in the Office 365
community. For more self-help resources, see Learn about Office 365 operated by 21Vianet.
Pre -sales support
Pre-sales support for Office 365 operated by 21Vianet provides assistance on subscription features and
benefits, plan comparisons, pricing and licensing, and helps to identify the right solution to meet your
business needs. In addition, pre-sales support can help you find a Partner, and purchase and sign up for
a trial. You can call during local business hours, Monday through Friday. Pre-sales support can be
accessed using the same phone number as with technical support. For instructions, see Contact support.
Billing and subscription management support
Assistance for billing and subscription management issues is available online or by telephone during
China business hours (Beijing Time), Monday through Friday. Billing and subscription management
support can be accessed using the same phone number and online service request process as with
technical support. The support telephone number can be found on the Office 365 operated by 21Vianet
portal. For instructions, see Contact support.
Here are some examples of billing and subscription management issues:
Signing up for a trial or purchasing a subscription
Converting from a trial subscription to a paid subscription
Understanding the bill
Renewing a subscription
Adding or removing licenses
Canceling a paid subscription
Technical support
Technical support for Office 365 operated by 21Vianet subscriptions provides assistance with basic
installation, setup, and general technical usage. Some examples of these issues are listed in the following
table.

SUPPORT CATEGORY EXAMPLES

Installation and setup Exchange Online

Office 365 mailbox migration
Recipient configuration (mailbox permissions,
configuring mail forwarding, configuring shared
mailbox)
Autodiscover configuration
SharePoint Online
Permissions and user groups
Configuration of external users
Skype for Business Online
Installation and creating contacts
Office 365 ProPlus
Installation and setup
 SUPPORT CATEGORY EXAMPLES

Configuration Service configuration issues

Single sign-on (SSO)
Active Directory synchronization

NOTE
You can learn how to contact technical support here: Contact support. Technical support does not include
troubleshooting third-party services or add-ins. Learn about finding answers from other customers in the
Community.

Technical support case handling

21Vianet assigns a severity level to a case when it is opened, based on an assessment of the issue type
and customer impact. Examples of issue types and severity levels are shown in the following table.

OPERATIONS AND SUPPORT

SEVERITY LEVEL DESCRIPTION EXAMPLES

Sev A (Critical) One or more services aren't Widespread problems

accessible or are unusable. sending or receiving mail.
Production, operations, or SharePoint site down.
deployment deadlines are severely All users can't send instant
affected, or there will be a severe messages, join or schedule
impact on production or Skype for Business Meetings,
profitability. Multiple users or or make Skype for Business
services are affected. calls.

Sev B (High) The service is usable but in an Send button in Outlook is

impaired fashion. The situation has garbled.
moderate business impact and can Setting is impossible from
be dealt with during business hours. EAC (Exchange admin
A single user, customer, or service is center) but possible in
partially affected. Windows PowerShell.

Sev C (Non-critical) The situation has minimal business How to set user password
impact. The issue is important but that never expires.
does not have a significant current User can't delete contact
service or productivity impact for information in Exchange
the customer. A single user is Online.
experiencing partial disruption, but
an acceptable workaround exists.

Technical support initial response times

Initial response time is based on the severity levels described above. 21Vianet customer service team
follow up with investigation and customer communication in reasonable rhythm according to severity
levels. 21Vianet also expect customer to collaborate at reasonable level accordingly.

21VIANET CUSTOMER SUPPORT TEAM

SECURITY LEVEL 1 INITIAL RESPONSE CUSTOMER RESPONSIBILITY
 21VIANET CUSTOMER SUPPORT TEAM
SECURITY LEVEL INITIAL RESPONSE CUSTOMER RESPONSIBILITY

Sev A 2 (Critical) Initial Response: 1 hour or less; Provide solid business impact
Follow up: continues effort until statement (see the severity A
problem resolution. description and examples above);
Allocate resource to ensure
continues collaboration with
21Vianet customer support agent
for the joint investigation and
necessary communication; Provide
accurate contact information and
ensure reliable communication
throughout the service request
lifecycle.

Sev B (High) Initial Response: 1 business day or Provide accurate contact

less. information and ensure reliable
communication throughout the
service request lifecycle.

Sev C (Medium) Initial Response: 3 business day or Provide accurate contact

less. information and ensure reliable
communication throughout the
service request lifecycle.

1 If the customer cannot provide required resource or make response for collaboration with 21Vianet
customer support agent investigation in reasonable time, 21Vianet support team may lower down the
severity level of a service request.
2 SeverityA is only available to customers who had signed an advanced online service agreement with
21Vianet through a sales account manager. Severity A is available only for technical support. For billing
and subscription management support, the highest severity level is B.
Technical support working hours
Severity A: 24*7 continuous service
Severity B/C: 9:00 ~24:00 (Beijing Time) a day, 365 days.
Contact support

NOTE
Assisted support options are for admins of Office 365 subscribed organizations only. If you use Office 365 but
you're not an admin, you can still get support in the community forums, or by contacting your admin.

Open an online request

Save time by starting your service request online. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, choose Support >
New service request.
Call support
Call support. If you encounter any problem with online request, phone support is available at (86) 400-
089-0365.
Shared support responsibilities
21Vianet understands that receiving timely technical support from qualified professionals is a key aspect
of cloud services. Equally important is the critical role that the customer's IT department plays in the
support of its users.
Administrator roles and responsibilities
People with administrator roles are the only ones in the customer's organization authorized to access the
Admin section of the Office 365 operated by 21Vianet portal and to communicate directly with 21Vianet
about Office 365 service requests.
With Office 365 you can designate several types of administrators who serve different functions. This
service description uses the generic title administrator to refer to all categories of administrators. For
more information about the types of administrator roles, see Assign admin roles in Office 365 for
business.
The administrator is:
Responsible for service administration and account maintenance.
The primary contact that sets up and supports each service user.
Authorized to submit service requests to 21Vianet.
The administrator's role is to:
Provide user account setup and configuration to allow users access to the services.
Address client connectivity, client software, and mobility installation issues.
Address service availability issues within the customer's organizational span of control.
Use self-service support resources to resolve support issues.
The administrator is expected to provide initial assistance for the customer's users. However, if the
administrator is unable to resolve issues with the help of self-service support resources, he or she should
Contact support.
21Vianet support role
21Vianet's support role is to:
Troubleshoot and provide technical guidance for customer issues and escalations.
Gather and validate information related to specific service requests.
Provide issue coordination and resolution management.
Maintain communication with the administrators to help ensure that issues are addressed on an
ongoing basis.
Provide assistance with licensing, invoicing, and subscription inquiries.
Provide assistance with purchasing and trial inquiries.
Continually gather customer feedback on how to improve the service through surveys.
Feature availability
To view feature availability across Office 365 plans, see Office 365 Service Description
Follow us on WeChat
Scan this QR code to follow us on WeChat and get the latest updates for Office 365 operated by
21Vianet.
This article applies to customers of Office 365 Germany, which has domains ending onmicrosoft.de. For
more information, see Learn about Office 365 Germany.
As an admin for Office 365 Germany, you get free access to our knowledgeable support agents for help
resolving technical issues, as well as for pre-sales, account, and billing support. You can also contact us
on behalf of Office 365 Germany users in your organization.

NOTE
All of the support options below are for Microsoft Cloud Germany. For more information about how Microsoft
uses the data that you provide when you contact Microsoft Office 365 support, please see the privacy statement.

Get assisted support

Assisted support options are for admins of Office 365 Germany subscribed organizations only. If you
use Office 365 Germany at work or school, but you're not an admin, you can still get support in the
community forums, or by contacting your admin or IT department.
Open an online request. Save time by starting your service request online. In the admin center,
choose Support > New service request. We'll help you find a solution or connect you to an
expert who will contact you by email or phone.
Call support. We're here to talk. Admins, have your account details ready when you call support.

REGION PHONE NUMBER HOURS

Germany 0800 589 2330 Billing Support: German: Mon-Fri 9-

5 Berlin English: Mon-Fri 9-5 Berlin
Technical Support: German: 24
hours a day, 7 days a week English:
24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Alternative Phone Number: 069 380
789 305 (Local call charges apply)

All other markets within the +49 69 380 789 305 Billing Support: German: Mon-Fri 9-
European Economic Area 5 Berlin(UTC+1) English: Mon-Fri 9-
5 Berlin (UTC +1) Technical Support:
German: 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week English: 24 hours a day, 7
days a week Telephone support is
available via international call to
Germany. International call charges
apply. Call charges can be avoided
by submitting a support ticket
through the admin center.
Let our community help
You can also search the Office 365 for business community forums to find known issues and trending
topics, or to post a new question. The community forums are monitored by trained Microsoft support
agents who can help resolve your issue.