How to add Microsoft 365 mail DNS records

Applies to: All plans.

Before you start: You need access to your client area at my.maxinodes.com, and your domain must already point at the Maxinodes nameservers (ns1.maxinodes.com and ns2.maxinodes.com) so that we manage its DNS. You also need to be signed in to the Microsoft 365 admin centre, because the exact record values are unique to your tenant and only Microsoft can show them.

To make Microsoft 365 send and receive mail for your domain, you add a handful of DNS records — MX, SPF, autodiscover and DKIM — in your client area DNS manager. Microsoft generates the exact values; you copy them across. These records point at Microsoft, not at our hosting server.

Your mailboxes live in Microsoft 365, not on the Maxinodes server — there is no cPanel webmail. These records simply connect your domain to your Microsoft 365 tenant. On Managed plans we configure all of this for you as part of guided email setup and free migration.

Step 1 — Get your values from Microsoft 365

1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin centre with an admin account.
2. Open the area for setting up or verifying your domain (look for the option that lists the DNS records Microsoft needs).
3. Keep this page open. You will copy the MX, SPF (TXT), autodiscover (CNAME) and two DKIM (CNAME) values from here.

The values below are the standard templates so you know what to expect. Always copy the real values from the admin centre — your tenant name and DKIM targets are unique to your account.

Note: DMARC is optional but recommended. It is a separate TXT record at _dmarc — see How to set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC correctly.

Step 2 — Open your client area DNS manager

1. Go to my.maxinodes.com and select Login.
2. Open Domains from the top menu (or open the relevant service under Services -> My Services).
3. Find the DNS management option for your domain and open it.

Result: You see the current DNS records for your domain. Add the new records here — not in the cPanel zone editor, which does not control your live DNS.

Step 3 — Add the MX record

1. Choose to add a new record and select type MX.
2. Set the name (host) to @ (the root domain).
3. Set the value to your <yourtenant>.mail.protection.outlook.com hostname from the admin centre.
4. Set the priority to 0.
5. Save the record.

If you previously sent mail elsewhere, remove any old MX records for the domain so only the Microsoft 365 MX remains.

Step 4 — Add the SPF (TXT) record

1. Add a new record of type TXT.
2. Set the name to @.
3. Set the value to v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com -all.
4. Save the record.

One SPF record only. A domain may have just one SPF TXT record. If you also send from another service, merge the include: parts into this single record rather than adding a second SPF line.

Step 5 — Add the autodiscover (CNAME) record

1. Add a new record of type CNAME.
2. Set the name to autodiscover.
3. Set the value to autodiscover.outlook.com.
4. Save the record.

This lets Outlook, Apple Mail and mobile apps configure themselves automatically when someone signs in.

Step 6 — Add the two DKIM (CNAME) records

1. Add a new record of type CNAME.
2. Set the name to selector1._domainkey.
3. Set the value to the selector1 target shown in the M365 admin centre.
4. Save it, then repeat for selector2._domainkey using the selector2 target.
5. Back in the admin centre, enable DKIM signing for your domain once both records exist.

Result: All your Microsoft 365 records are in place. Within minutes to a few hours, validation in the M365 admin centre should turn green and mail will start flowing.

Troubleshooting this task

• Microsoft still shows the records as missing. DNS changes are not instant — allow time to propagate (usually minutes, up to a few hours) before re-checking in the admin centre.
• DKIM will not enable. Both selector1._domainkey and selector2._domainkey CNAMEs must exist and match the admin centre exactly before Microsoft lets you turn DKIM on.
• Mail is not arriving. Confirm the MX value matches your tenant hostname and that no old MX record is still present. A typo in the MX or SPF value is the usual cause.
• I edited records in cPanel and nothing changed. DNS is managed in the client area, not cPanel. Add the records in the client area DNS manager instead.
• My domain still is not using our DNS. The domain must point at ns1.maxinodes.com and ns2.maxinodes.com at your registrar for these records to take effect.

Related articles

• The DNS records your email needs (MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
• How to manage DNS records in your client area
• How to set up your first Microsoft 365 mailbox
• How to set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC correctly