← Back
Limiting onmicrosoft domain usage for sending emails
MC1143991 · build prod-20251231-200323
Category
preventOrFixIssue
Severity
normal
Major change
False
Last modified
2025-08-29 00:28:07
Summary source
Azure OpenAI (gpt-4.1)
Action by (Graph)
Action by (AI)
Services
Exchange Online
Tags
Feature update, Admin impact
Master tags
Security
Roadmap IDs

One-line summary

Outbound email from onmicrosoft.com domains will be throttled to 100 external messages per org per day starting mid-Oct 2025; use custom domains to avoid limits.

Similar updates

More like this
MC787382 (Updated) Exchange Online to introduce External Recipient Rate Limit
(Updated) Exchange Online to introduce External Recipient Rate Limit Exchange Online will enforce a 2,000 external recipient rate limit per 24 hours for cloud mailboxes, starting April 1, 2026 for new/trial tenants and October 1, 2026 for existing tenants. Please refer to the ACS email documentation (Prepare an email communication resource for.
MC1176301 Action Required – Domain Setup for Custom HTML Templates in Teams Events Email Notifications
Action Required – Domain Setup for Custom HTML Templates in Teams Events Email Notifications From November 17, 2025, Teams Events custom HTML email templates require authenticated, customer-owned sending domains; Microsoft will stop sending these from its default address. [Introduction] To improve the security and reliability of event email.
MC1113112 (Updated) Microsoft Exchange Online | Releasing Multi-Geo In-Region Routing
(Updated) Microsoft Exchange Online | Releasing Multi-Geo In-Region Routing Multi-Geo In-Region Routing lets admins control inbound email routing by geo-region for accepted domains; feature rolls out from October to December 2025 and requires Multi-Geo licenses. Updated October 30, 2025: We have updated the timeline. [Introduction] Multi-Geo.
MC1191923 Microsoft Purview | Data lifecycle management – Auto archive for Exchange Online
Microsoft Purview | Data lifecycle management – Auto archive for Exchange Online Exchange Online will auto-archive mailbox items when usage exceeds 96% of quota, starting January 2026, to prevent mail flow disruptions; enabled by default for all tenants. [Introduction] We’re introducing Auto Archiving for Exchange Online to help prevent mail.
MC1022524 Product transitions to the cloud.microsoft domain – February 2025
Product transitions to the cloud.microsoft domain – February 2025 Microsoft is transitioning SaaS products to the cloud.microsoft domain; previous domains will redirect soon. The cloud.microsoft domain was provisioned in early 2023 to provide a unified, trusted, and dedicated DNS domain space to host Microsoft’s first-party authenticated SaaS.
MC1066944 Product transitions to the cloud.microsoft domain – April 2025
...microsoft domain – April 2025 Microsoft Forms and other apps are now available at cloud.microsoft; previous domains will redirectThe cloud.microsoft domain was provisioned in early 2023 to provide a unified, trusted, and dedicated DNS domain space to host Microsoft’s first-party authenticated SaaS products and experiences. [How this will.

Details

Summary
Microsoft will throttle outbound emails sent from default onmicrosoft.com domains starting mid-October 2025, limiting to 100 messages per organization per 24 hours. This encourages use of custom domains. Internal emails remain unaffected. Admins should switch to custom domains and update related configurations accordingly.

Body (from Message Center)

Introduction

To improve email deliverability and reduce abuse, Microsoft is introducing outbound email throttling for default MOERA domains (e.g., contoso.onmicrosoft.com). These domains are intended for initial tenant setup and testing—not for regular email traffic. This change encourages organizations to adopt custom domains with independent reputations.

When this will happen

General Availability (Worldwide): Rollout begins mid-October 2025 and will complete by early June 2026. Rollout timing will vary based on organization seat counts. For detailed rollout information, refer to Limiting Onmicrosoft Domain Usage for Sending Emails.

How this affects your organization

Organizations sending outbound email from onmicrosoft.com domains will be subject to throttling limits:

  • Outbound email to external recipients will be capped at 100 messages per organization per 24-hour rolling window.
  • Once the limit is reached, senders will receive non-delivery reports (NDRs) with error code 550 5.7.236.
  • Internal and inbound email traffic will not be affected.

This change is on by default and does not require admin enablement.

What you can do to prepare

Take the following actions:

  • Use Message Trace in the Exchange Admin Center to identify mailboxes using MOERA domains.
  • Purchase and configure a custom domain for your organization.
  • Set the custom domain as the default domain in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
  • Update user mailboxes to use the custom domain as their primary SMTP address.
  • Review and update authentication credentials for devices and apps using MOERA-based usernames.
  • Ensure apps like Bookings and Microsoft notifications are configured to use your custom domain.

Learn more: Limiting Onmicrosoft Domain Usage for Sending Emails

Compliance considerations

Compliance AreaExplanation
Does the change modify, interrupt, or disable any of the following capabilities (Purview)? Applications relying on MOERA-based usernames (e.g., Bookings, Microsoft notifications) may require reconfiguration to maintain functionality.
Does the change alter how admins can monitor, report on, or demonstrate compliance activities? Admins must use Message Trace in the Exchange Admin Center to identify MOERA usage and monitor throttling impact.
Does the change include an admin control and, can it be controlled through Entra ID group membership? Admins can configure custom domains and update SMTP addresses; however, Entra ID group control is not explicitly mentioned.

Raw JSON (for debugging)

Expand/collapse the full payload below.
Show/hide raw
{
  "snapshot_item": {
    "action_required_by": null,
    "ai_action_required_by": null,
    "ai_actions": [
      "Identify mailboxes using MOERA domains",
      "Purchase and configure a custom domain",
      "Set custom domain as default",
      "Update user SMTP addresses",
      "Reconfigure apps using MOERA-based usernames"
    ],
    "ai_master_tags": [
      "Security"
    ],
    "ai_model": "gpt-4.1",
    "ai_summary": "Outbound email from onmicrosoft.com domains will be throttled to 100 external messages per org per day starting mid-Oct 2025; use custom domains to avoid limits.",
    "ai_topics": [
      "Exchange",
      "Outlook",
      "Microsoft 365"
    ],
    "category": "preventOrFixIssue",
    "details_map": {
      "Summary": "Microsoft will throttle outbound emails sent from default onmicrosoft.com domains starting mid-October 2025, limiting to 100 messages per organization per 24 hours. This encourages use of custom domains. Internal emails remain unaffected. Admins should switch to custom domains and update related configurations accordingly."
    },
    "id": "MC1143991",
    "importance": 5,
    "is_major_change": false,
    "last_modified": "2025-08-29T00:28:07Z",
    "ms_products": [
      "Exchange"
    ],
    "platforms": null,
    "roadmap_ids": [],
    "services": [
      "Exchange Online"
    ],
    "severity": "normal",
    "tags": [
      "Feature update",
      "Admin impact"
    ],
    "title": "Limiting onmicrosoft domain usage for sending emails"
  }
}