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Microsoft 365 Business

Microsoft 365 Business plans with Exchange Online host mail and calendars for work accounts on your company’s domain. People can open their own mail and shared mailboxes in Outlook.

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Which Microsoft service actually hosts your inbox?

Exchange Online stores and delivers the company’s mail. Outlook is an app you use to open it. Choose a Microsoft 365 plan that includes Exchange Online, such as Business Basic, and assign a license to each person who needs a work mailbox.

Business Basic includes web and mobile versions of Outlook and other Office apps. Microsoft also sells Exchange Online separately. Check the plan’s email entitlement if you already pay for Microsoft apps. Set up your app’s automated receipts or reset messages as their own sending workflow, with its own way to detect failures.

How can two people answer mail sent to support@?

Use a shared mailbox if the team needs one inbox and can open it from their own licensed accounts. An alias is another address for one mailbox. It delivers incoming mail there, and the mailbox’s primary address is its default reply address.

Give each teammate the access they need and confirm who can send as the shared address. Keep direct sign-in blocked for the shared mailbox. By default, shared-mailbox replies are saved in the sender’s own Sent Items. Turn on the relevant shared Sent Items copies if the team needs one visible reply history.

When does the company domain start delivering to Microsoft?

Verify control of the domain in the Microsoft 365 admin center and set up the addresses that should receive mail. New outside mail starts following the Microsoft route when sending systems recognize the changed MX records. These are the DNS entries that tell other mail services where to deliver a message.

Microsoft can ask a supported DNS provider to make changes automatically. Review the proposed records and complete the recipient list before starting a live switch. Keep the old provider open while routing changes, then check both hosts and copy any late messages before you close it.

Can you test the inbox before pointing your domain at it?

Use a licensed mailbox in an already-approved Microsoft test setup. Its initial onmicrosoft.com address can receive mail without your company’s domain. Confirm that the mailbox, forwarding and automatic replies stay within the test setup. Use an outside test inbox you control. Leave the company’s DNS and real users alone. If those test addresses aren’t available, rehearse on paper.

  1. Check the address from outside
    Send a fictional message from the outside test inbox to the exact Microsoft test address. Check where it lands. Use no real customer information.
  2. Check the reply you actually see
    Reply to the outside test inbox and read the From address. If you have an approved shared test mailbox, check that its authorized teammate can see the incoming message and the sent copy when shared Sent Items are configured.
  3. Record the result
    Note which address accepted the message and where each copy appeared. If a reply is missing, check the outside inbox’s spam folder and compare the addresses and time with any bounce.

Which mailboxes affect the bill?

Microsoft prices Business Basic by licensed user. Its US page on November 11, 2026 listed US$7 per user per month paid yearly, or US$8.40 per user per month with a monthly subscription. It also listed Business Basic without Teams at US$5.40 per user per month paid yearly.

A shared mailbox can hold up to 50 GB without its own license. Everyone who opens it still needs a licensed Exchange Online mailbox. More storage or features such as archiving can require extra licensing. Check the plan variant, term and renewal before counting seats.

How do you move mail and prove the copy is usable?

Microsoft’s IMAP migration copies mail folders from a compatible old service. Plan separately for contacts, calendars, tasks and shared-mailbox permissions. Check Microsoft’s item-count and message-size limits for large mailboxes. Copy one sample mailbox and check an older attachment and a sent reply in Outlook before moving the rest.

For a move away, Microsoft documents an Outlook data-file export using supported desktop clients. In classic Outlook with Cached Exchange Mode on, a .pst export contains only items in the local cache, which covers the last 12 months by default. Record mail routing, aliases, rules and shared-mailbox access while you can still see them. Open the imported mail at the new service and check for the older messages, folders and attachments you expect before ending old access.