How to sign up for Microsoft 365 business email with your custom domain

Open the Microsoft 365 for business plans page. Prices vary by country. The video uses Microsoft 365 Business Basic, which includes web and mobile Office apps, Outlook and a one-month free trial. Pick Business Standard instead if you need the desktop apps.

Click the free trial link for the plan you want.

Enter your email address and click Next. If no Microsoft account exists for it, click Set up account.

Fill in your first name, last name, business phone number, company name, company size and country. Click Next, then Send verification code and enter the code to verify the phone number.

Choose a username and a short name for your organization. Microsoft creates a free subdomain from it, so your first sign-in address looks like name@yourcompany.onmicrosoft.com. Keep it short, because you will use it for admin sign-in.

Create a password, confirm it and click Next.

On Quantity and payment, enter how many users you need (one in the video). Add your payment details and tax information, then click Start trial. Note the username shown on the confirmation page and click Start using Microsoft 365 Business.

In the setup window, click Continue, then Set up custom domain. You can skip this and use the onmicrosoft address, but a custom domain is what gives you professional email addresses.

Enter your domain name and click Use this domain. Click Verify. Because the domain is at GoDaddy, Microsoft asks to connect to your GoDaddy account. Click Connect and sign in if asked.

Once the domain is verified, enter the first name and username for the new mailbox, for example you@yourcompany.com. Click Add users and continue. You can add more users later.

To start routing email through Microsoft 365, the domain needs MX, TXT and CNAME records. You can add them yourself in your registrar's DNS settings, or let Microsoft do it.

In the video, Microsoft offers to sign in to GoDaddy and add the records automatically. Select that option, click Add DNS records, then Connect, then Done.

In the Microsoft 365 admin center, open Users > Active users. You now have two users: the onmicrosoft admin account and the new custom domain account.

If you only bought one license, open the onmicrosoft account, go to Licenses and apps, untick Microsoft 365 Business Basic and click Save. That account stays unlicensed but can still sign in to the admin center.

Select the custom domain user and choose Reset password. Untick the option to create the password automatically, type your own, and click Reset password. Sign in at office.com with the new address to use Outlook and the other apps.