Add another email alias for a Microsoft 365 business subscription user
A primary email address in Microsoft 365 is usually the email address a user was assigned when their account was created. When the user sends email to someone else, their primary email address is what typically appears in the From field in email apps. They can also have more than one email address associated with their Microsoft 365 for business account. These additional addresses are called aliases. You can create up to 400 aliases for a user. No additional fees or licenses are required. This article is for Microsoft 365 administrators who have business subscriptions. It's not for home users.
For example, Jenna at your organization has the email address jenna@contosoco.com, but she also wants to receive email at jen@contosoco.com because some people refer to her by that name. You can create aliases for her so that email sent to both email addresses go to Jenna's inbox.
If you want multiple people to manage email sent to a single email address like info@contoso.com or sales@contoso.com, create a shared mailbox. Learn more at Create a shared mailbox.
Note
This article is for Microsoft 365 administrators who have business subscriptions. It's not for home users.
Tip
If you need help with the steps in this topic, consider working with a Microsoft small business specialist. With Business Assist, you and your employees get around-the-clock access to small business specialists as you grow your business, from onboarding to everyday use.
Before you begin
You must be a member of the user administrator role to add email aliases to a user. For more info, see About admin roles in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
Add email aliases to a user
In the admin center, go to the Users > Active users page.
On the Active Users page, select the user > Manage email aliases. You won't see this option if the person doesn't have a license assigned to them.
Under Aliases, add the new name in the Username field, select a domain and choose Add.
Tip
The email alias must end with a domain from the drop-down list. To add another domain name to the list, see Add a domain to Microsoft 365.
When you're done, choose Save changes.
Wait 24 hours for the new aliases to update in Microsoft 365.
The user will now have a primary address and an alias. For example, all mail sent to jenna@contoso.com, and her alias, jen@contoso.com, will go to Jenna's inbox. When the user replies, the From address will depend on her Outlook client. Outlook on the web will use the alias at which the email was received. Outlook desktop will use her primary email alias.
Sending email from the proxy address easily
Your users can now send from their aliases when using Outlook on the web. When the Set-OrganizationConfig -SendFromAliasEnabled $true cmdlet is set, users within the organization will get access to a list of checkboxes where each entry corresponds to an alias in their Outlook settings. Selecting an alias will make it appear in the From dropdown in the Compose form.
Troubleshooting
Did you get "A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name EmailAddresses" message?
If you get this error message it means that it's taking a bit longer to finish setting up your tenant, or your custom domain if you recently added one. The setup process can take up to 4 hours to complete. Wait a while so the setup process has time to finish, and then try again. If the problem persists, call Support and they will do a full sync for you.
Did you get "This user is synchronized with your local Active Directory. Some details can be edited only through your local Active Directory" message?
If you get this error message, it means that you need to add the alias in your on-premises Active Directory. Open Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC) and select the user account you would like to edit. Select Properties > Attribute Editor > proxyAddresses (if not visible, under ADUC's View menu, enable Advanced Features). Next, add the required alias, which should start with the all-lowercase prefix "smtp:" (for example, smtp:jsmith@contoso.com). Lastly, wait for the changes to sync to Microsoft Entra ID.
Did you purchase your subscription from GoDaddy or another Partner?
If you purchased your subscription from GoDaddy or another Partner, to set the new alias as the primary, you can't set the new alias in the Microsoft 365 admin center. You must go to the GoDaddy/partner management console.
Related content
Send email from a different address (article)
Change a user name and email address (article)