News

Microsoft 365 Apps and Services Switching to 'Cloud.Microsoft' Domain Name

• By Kurt Mackie
• 04/26/2023

Microsoft on Wednesday announced that user-facing Microsoft 365 apps and services are getting consolidated into a new domain-name pattern, namely "cloud.microsoft."

Users and organizations will access Microsoft 365 applications and services using this domain-name pattern. For example, Microsoft Outlook users have access via https://outlook.cloud.microsoft and Microsoft Teams users get access via https://teams.cloud.microsoft, etc.

The plan is for "only net-new services" to follow this domain-name approach, with other apps and services transitioning "at a slower pace." Microsoft indicated that "no customer action will be needed to continue to use Microsoft 365 workloads the same way you do today."

The changes are already showing up for IT pros, and end users are already getting redirected to the new domain name, the announcement suggested:

Admins seeking to update their allow lists will find that *.cloud.microsoft has already been added to the official list of Office 365 URLs and IP address ranges, and end users will find that existing links and bookmarks will eventually redirect them automatically to the new domain.

IT departments will get at least 30 days advance notice before Microsoft makes a domain name change that would require a "customer network configuration," the announcement promised.

Microsoft argued that the domain-name change will benefit IT pros by simplifying "endpoint allow-list management."

The "cloud" part of the new domain-name approach was needed "to realize the full benefits of a unified domain," Microsoft explained. It establishes "a clean security boundary for our compliant authenticated experiences" for Microsoft's "user-facing products," while also simplifying matters for IT departments.

The "microsoft.com" domain "will continue to be used for non-product experiences such as marketing, support and e-commerce," the announcement added.

Microsoft's gritty details on managing Microsoft 365 endpoints can be found in this document. IT pros are supposed to track such URL changes as part of their change management practices. The URL changes, if any, get published monthly.

Here's the document's characterization:

Changes to the Microsoft 365 IP addresses and URLs are usually published near the last day of each month. Sometimes a change will be published outside of that schedule due to operational, support, or security requirements.

IT pros can track the URL changes via the "Microsoft 365 IP Address and URL Web Service," which has an RSS feed. Microsoft also suggested using Power Automate to track the URL changes, pointing to this old article on creating a Microsoft Flow to do that task.

The announcement was just focused on the domain-name change for Microsoft 365 apps and services, but other Microsoft workloads could get a similar treatment, Microsoft's FAQ suggested. Azure services might be next, but Microsoft went mum on such prospects.

Microsoft is planning to answer questions via text chats about the changeover to the "cloud.microsoft" domain for Microsoft 365 apps and services in this May 24 Ask Microsoft Anything session.