Create DNS records for Office 365 at any DNS hosting provider

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.

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.

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: Type @ or leave the field empty or type your domain name. Note   Different DNS hosts have different requirements for this field.	MS=msXXXXXXXX Note   This is an example. Use your specific Destination or Points to Address value here, from the table in Office 365. How do I find this?	Set this value to 1 hour or to the equivalent in minutes (60), seconds (3600), etc.

   • If you create an MX record, use these values:

     Record Type	Alias or Host Name	Value	Priority	TTL
     MX	Type either @ or your domain name.	MS=msXXXXXXXX Note   This is an example. Use your specific Destination or Points to Address value here, from the table in Office 365. How do I find this?	For Priority, to avoid conflicts with the MX record used for mail flow, use a lower priority than the priority for any existing MX records. For more information about priority, see What is MX priority?	Set this value to 1 hour or to the equivalent in minutes (60), seconds (3600), etc.

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. Go to the Manage domains page.

2. On the Manage domains page, select the domain that you are verifying and then, in the Action column for that domain, choose Start setup.

   

3. On the Add this TXT record to show you own domain_name page, choose Okay, I've added the record.

   

4. Choose Next.

   

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.

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Add MX record to route email

Add an MX record so email for your domain will come to Office 365.

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Add four CNAME records

Follow the steps below to add the four 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 four 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)	msoid	clientconfig.microsoftonline-p.net	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.

2. When you've finished, save the records.

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, it may result in email errors, as well as delivery and spam classification issues.) If you already have an SPF record for your domain, then add the required Office 365 values to the current record so that you have a single SPF record that includes both sets of values. Need examples? Check out these details and sample SPF records. To validate your SPF record, you can use one of these SPF validation tools.

On your DNS host’s website, create a new TXT record.

1. In the boxes for the new record, type or copy and paste the following values.

   Record Type	Host	TXT Value	TTL
   TXT (Text)	@	v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com -all Note   We recommend copying and pasting this entry, so that all of the spacing stays correct.	1 hour

   Note   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.

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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 Type	Name	Target	Protocol	Service	Priority	Weight	Port	TTL
   SRV (Service)	@ (Or leave blank, if @ is not allowed)	sipdir.online.lync.com	_tls	_sip	100	1	443	1 hour
   SRV (Service)	@ (Or leave blank, if @ is not allowed)	sipfed.online.lync.com	_tcp	_sipfederationtls	100	1	5061	1 hour

   Notes   

   • 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. 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.

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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 and your DNS host isn't listed in Create DNS records for Office 365, 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.

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Still need help?

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