When I got to my new school this year and they were handing out our @nwfsc.edu email addresses, I noticed that they had stopped using Microsoft Exchange and started using Microsoft’s new service Outlook.com. Outlook is basically the consumer-friendly version of Microsoft Exchange that doesn’t cost any money, which is probably why my school chose to use it instead. Regardless, setting up my email address on my Android phone and in Apple Mail was a breeze and it got me wondering if I would be able to move my custom domain email over to Outlook.com instead of using my web host’s servers.
As I was curious, I started doing some research and found Amit Agarwal’s tutorial about how to set up Outlook with a custom domain, similar to the way that Google Apps works. After completing the tutorial I found that I really like Microsoft’s service and so I decided I would share with you how to properly set up a custom email with Outlook (and add some details that Amit left off).
1. Sign Up For a Windows Live Account
As I am a Mac and Apple user, I have never made a Hotmail, Windows Live, Xbox Live, or any such Microsoft account. If you are like me and do not have a Live account, you can visit www.live.com to sign up for one. It doesn’t matter if the email you create is @hotmail.com or @live.com as we will be setting up a custom one anyway.
2. Add Your Domain Name
Now that you have a Windows Live account, you should visit domains.live.com and add your domain name that you want to set the email address up with. In my case, I want my email to be ian@ianeberle.com, so I would add the domain ianeberle.com.
3. Add MX and TXT Records
On the next screen you should see a list of DNS records you need to add on your domain registrar. This looks complex, but it is very simple and if you get stuck at any time during this process, you can always call your domain registrar and they will be able to help you.
You will need to add an MX record to handle your mail:
- It usually looks like this: abc.pamx1.hotmail.com
- Make sure that this is the only MX record on your DNS settings. You will want to delete any current MX record before adding this one.
- It usually looks like this: v=msv1 t=abc
- It usually looks like this: v=spf1 include:hotmail.com ~all
4. Set Up a CNAME Record
One of the coolest things about Outlook is the ability to access your mail at a subdomain. In my case, I am able to access my mail at mail.ianeberle.com instead of Outlook.com. This makes the experience more personal.
On the left side of the Windows Live Admin Center (the same place where you got the MX and TXT records), there should be a menu. Navigate to Custom Address, choose “Add” type the word “mail” (just as I have typed it but without the quotes).
You will now need to set up a CNAME record on your domain registrar with the name being “mail” and the host being “go.domains.live.com”.
5. Create Your Email Address
After you have completed creating all of the DNS records, navigate to “Member Accounts” using the menu on the left of the Windows Live Admin Center. This is where you will create the email address that you want to use. In my case, I have set up ian@ianeberle.com. Please note that the “Account Name” field is the information found before the @ sign. So in my case it would just be “ian”.
6. Wait 30-60 Minutes
Updating DNS records on a domain normally takes about 30 minutes, but depending on how much traffic your registrar gets, it could take up to 48 hours. I know that tasks like this take forever with my GoDaddy-registered domains but were instant when I used FatCow’s registrar.
7. Log On and Test
After about 30 minutes (average), you should be able to log on to your email by accessing Outlook.com or mail.yourdomain.com and signing in with the account that you created (mine was ian@ianeberle.com).
If your mail is still not going through the Windows Live servers, I suggest that you wait at least 24 hours before contacting Microsoft and/or your domain registrar support team.
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Wonderful blog!
Thanks iherb, I plan on adding more video posts soon.
Also i have another question:
A lot of tutorials, including this one say it doesn’t matter if the email you create is @hotmail.com or @live.com as we will be setting up a custom one anyway.
BUT
if you use a current live account it seems you will only be able to sign in using this account name, not your custom one. so if i have nobosy@live.com and nobosy@nobosy.com then i can only sign in with the@live.com
is this correct?
Hi, great tutorial, although i was never given a page with DNS or MX records. do you know how i can access these?
other sites point towards https://domains.live.com/default.aspx but on this page there is no option to view the records.
thanks
Hi, is it possible if i want to set 2 administrator for an email domain? It means that i need to prove ownership of the domain for 2 people.. Is it possible?
Thanks man….it worked….:)
Very good article .I have one question is their any mailing list/group mail function on this service ?
Thanks
Ramesh
Hi,
For a custom domain, I set the DNS entry CNAME mail to the recommended value : go.domains.live.com The function is correct but when I type mail.mydomain.com the screen is the Hotmail login screen and not the Outlook.com login screen. What the problem ?
Thanks for your answers.
Xavier
Hi, Ian, I did everything you said, and it worked! My question: After all of these, how to do to change that first Windows Live Account set at Step (1) to another account within my new Domain. I tried but I was not able to.
Honestly, I have no idea. I no longer use Outlook.com as my email provider, so I’m no longer familiar with the advanced system backend. I would suggest contacting Microsoft’s support to get the best answer possible 🙂
i tried to setup but i can send mail from my account to another email from the newly created custom domain adress but fail to receive .with following error report
Technical details of permanent failure:
Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the recipient domain. We recommend contacting the other email provider for further information about the cause of this error. The error that the other server returned was: 550 550 #5.1.0 Address rejected. (state 13).
—– Original message —–
DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed;
d=gmail.com; s=20120113;
h=mime-version:date:message-id:subject:from:to:content-type;
bh=RxUN8k5QrmByiXMr9DwdEZd6nAf6Xp/RDgO3hiz0V4w=;
b=O2W96s07ulxjGhVDgVYmCh7ING+DOLoUtzXX264cGV0MyHPs5OirouJ+7YxTl1rhFa
nR664NhxFmhdgYwgxrDKDu/E53ckcLY6ad7zv450hAJetUnou+U4BR0HYfv1gld1Wky6
rlO73573d4sICk00gFB8p4ClrGpPGFsWo3u91f+NtoFPG1WnlZzQ8cTi/OeXPPwUYh6V
zOD1hitpkh2IVu3IQyFtAARYN6VLRyWgKAYXIUNo7uRnTFsb83IUtIX7UY8vIWiGg4bI
YdqztOxbRMQhrvrHNvf19NO5s0sNyt8l8vDmjN8zO2A5smvdO5rBS3RvI6k9NchjGFmX
TUmg==
MIME-Version: 1.0
Received: by 10.50.195.196 with SMTP id ig4mr1412225igc.33.1357734821294; Wed,
09 Jan 2013 04:33:41 -0800 (PST)
Received: by 10.42.131.67 with HTTP; Wed, 9 Jan 2013 04:33:41 -0800 (PST)
Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2013 13:33:41 +0100
Message-ID:
Thanks. I don’t know why this isn’t in their help file. I tried Office360 and it wasn’t for me, though I really like outlook.com!
In my experience, Microsoft does not include much of anything in any help files. Even their forums are weak. Also, my school just switched from Outlook.com to Office 365 and I hate it. Outlook was so much nicer!
Hey Ian! Fantastic article, however I think I may have gone awry, whenever I go to outlook.com or mail.’mydomain’.com and I log in, it doesn’t take me to the nice outlook.com UI, it takes me to the old hotmail UI. What have I done wrong? Thanks in advance man!
I would suggest searching for this on Google. I have never heard of it and thought it was an opt-in to go back to the Hotmail interface.
Thanks lottttt, you saved my money…!!!!!
That’s the idea! Thanks for stopping by.
I thought of using Outlook, but I was afraid that I would not be able to go through the set up procedures. Now as I’ve learnt from your post that Outlook is faster for uploading attachments, I have no doubts left. Thank you for these clear and concise instructions. I will try them out.
Thanks and I’m glad I could help. Did you get it set up?
How to configure windows live custom domain emails in outlook? Actually I need the SMTP settings so I can use with PHP/Swift Mailers.
Microsoft has not yet released this feature. However, Google Apps has SMTP settings, so you can opt to use that if you’d like.
currently, I use google apps because it is what was available at the time.
I might look into this, but I am happy with my e-mail at the moment.
It’s worth nothing that if you also use a third party DNS provider instead of a self hosted server, outsourcing your email like this will allow for your email to remain online if your server goes offline.
Honestly, I would stay with Google Apps since Outlook doesn’t offer IMAP or even POP forwarding yet. But when they add that functionality, it will definitely give Google a run for their money.
Looks like Outlook is a much cleaner than Gmail and simpler.
I’m going to move my google apps domain to outlook. Let me check it out
I agree! In my opinion, it also seems like Outlook is faster when you are uploading attachments and things like that.
Hey Ian, Thanks for making me aware of configuration of Custom Domain With Outlook.com.
You’re very welcome! Microsoft said they are adding support for IMAP forwarding soon, just in case you were wondering after you set it up!