What do I need on hand before I get started with changing my email address in Office 365?

To get started using your domain with your email address in Office 365, follow the steps in the domains setup wizard. The wizard walks you through adding your domain to your Office 365 subscription, switching your user ID (which is also your email address) to use your domain name, and setting up your users' email addresses with your domain.

You'll need to round up some info before you get started. Here's a list:

• Your custom domain. This is the domain you'll be adding to Office 365. It looks something like fourthcoffee.com. If you don't have a domain, no problem—you can learn how to buy a domain name.

• Your domain name registrar logon and password. This is (typically) where you bought your domain; for example, HiChina.

• Your DNS hosting provider logon and password. This is where your DNS records are managed. It's often the same as your domain name registrar, but sometimes it's a different company. For example, if you host your website with another company, you might also manage your DNS records with that company.

  If you don't know where your domain is registered or where the DNS for your domain is managed, you can track down that information online.

• A list of people to add to Office 365. Unless you're the only person in your company, you'll probably want to add other people to Office 365 so they can use the service, too.

If you already have a website with your domain name, for example, www.fourthcoffee.com, you'll need some additional information. (If you don't know what it is, we can help you track down the info later.) Here's what you'll need, if you already have a website:

• Your website hosting provider . This is where your website is hosted. This might be the same company as your DNS hosting provider or your domain name registrar, but could be a different one.

• Your website's static IP address. We'll need this to set things up so people can still get to your website after you switch your domain over to Office 365. If your web hosting provider doesn't have a static IP address for your website, you'll use a fully qualified domain name for your website instead.

• Your website's fully qualified domain name (if needed). This is another way that a company that hosts your website might identify your website location rather than using a static IP address. You don't need both an IP address and a fully qualified domain name—just the one your web hosting provider has given you.

How long will it take to get your domain added and your user emails set up?

The process typically takes about an hour of hands-on time, and another hour or so (up to 5 hours) for DNS system updates to finish switching email over to Office 365. Be aware that it can take longer for the DNS system to finish updating; up to 72 hours. But that isn't typical.

If you don't have time to complete all the steps now, don't worry. We'll save your spot—you can return to the step where you left off when it works for you.

When you're done, everyone in your organization will be set up with their Office 365 email addresses.

Tips:  If you, or other people in your organization, want to move email from a previous system to Office 365, you can use Outlook to move your email messages and calendaring:

• Export mailbox items to Outlook PST files for each mailbox.

• Import mailbox items from PST files to Office 365.