Create and manage mail contacts and mail users

In Microsoft 365, mail contacts and mail users play a crucial role in managing email communication within your organization. Mail contacts are external email addresses that are associated with personal or business email accounts outside your organization’s domain, while mail users are internal users with email addresses within your organization.

Creating Mail Contacts:

To create a mail contact, you can follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center (https://admin.microsoft.com) using your admin credentials.
2. Go to the Exchange admin center by selecting “Admin Centers” and then clicking on “Exchange.”
3. In the Exchange admin center, navigate to the “Recipients” tab, and select “Contacts.”
4. Click on the “+” (New) icon to create a new contact.
5. Fill in the required details such as display name, external email address, and alias.
6. If necessary, you can add additional details like job title or department.
7. Click “Save” to create the mail contact.

Managing Mail Contacts:

Once you have created mail contacts, you can manage them using the Exchange admin center. Here are some common tasks you might need to perform:

1. Editing a Mail Contact: To update the details of a mail contact, select the contact from the list, click on the “Edit” button, make the necessary changes, and then click “Save.”
2. Deleting a Mail Contact: If a mail contact is no longer needed, select the contact from the list, click on the “Delete” button, and confirm the deletion when prompted.
3. Mail Contact Properties: You can view and modify various properties of a mail contact, such as email addresses, organization info, or delivery options, by selecting the contact from the list and clicking on the corresponding “Edit” button.

Creating Mail Users:

To create mail users within your organization, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center.
2. Go to the Exchange admin center.
3. Navigate to the “Recipients” tab and select “Active users.”
4. Click on the “+” (New) icon to create a new user.
5. Fill in the required details like name, display name, and username.
6. Assign an email address by selecting an available domain for your organization.
7. Set a password for the user and choose any additional settings required.
8. Click “Save” to create the mail user.

Managing Mail Users:

After creating mail users, you can perform various management tasks. Here are a few examples:

1. Resetting Passwords: If a user forgets their password or needs to change it, you can reset their password by selecting the user from the list, clicking on the “Reset password” button, and following the prompts.
2. Assigning Licenses: To assign a license to a user, select the user from the list, click on the “Licenses & apps” tab, and choose the appropriate license plan.
3. Modifying Mail User Properties: You can edit various properties of a mail user, such as contact details, mailbox settings, or group memberships, by selecting the user from the list and clicking on the corresponding “Edit” button.

It’s important to note that mail contacts and mail users are managed within the Exchange admin center, which provides a comprehensive set of features to handle email-related tasks effectively.

In conclusion, creating and managing mail contacts and mail users in Microsoft 365 Messaging is a crucial aspect of managing email communication within your organization. By following the steps outlined above, you can easily create and manage these entities, allowing for seamless communication both internally and externally.