How to Change SharePoint Domain in Microsoft 365 Without Downtime

Before starting the rename process, confirm your tenant meets all requirements and add your new domain through Microsoft's specialized tool.

Navigate to the official domain addition tool at https://aka.ms/SPORenameAddDomain. This is different from the standard "Add domain" process in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Click Add custom domain and enter your full new domain name (for example, newtenant.onmicrosoft.com). Select Add domain to proceed.

After adding the domain, verify it appears with a verified status on the Custom domain names page. The verification process typically takes a few minutes.

Also confirm your tenant eligibility by checking your total site count. Run this PowerShell command after connecting (covered in the next step):

Get-SPOSite -Limit All | Measure-Object | Select-Object Count

The count must be 10,000 or fewer total sites.

The domain rename feature requires the latest version of SharePoint Online Management Shell. Older versions may not include the necessary cmdlets.

First, uninstall any existing versions to avoid conflicts. Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

Uninstall-Module Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell -Force -AllVersions

You can also remove old versions through Windows Settings > Apps > Apps & features, searching for "SharePoint Online Management Shell".

Download the latest SharePoint Online Management Shell from the official Microsoft download page. Visit the Microsoft documentation at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/change-your-sharepoint-domain-name and follow the download link for the current 2026 version.

Install the downloaded package with administrator privileges. Accept all default installation options.

Get-Module -ListAvailable -Name Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell

You should see the module listed with the current version number (2026.x.x or later).

Establish a PowerShell connection to your SharePoint Online tenant using your current domain name.

Open PowerShell as Administrator and connect to your SharePoint admin center:

Connect-SPOService -Url "https://tenantname-admin.sharepoint.com"

Replace tenantname with your current tenant name. For example, if your current SharePoint URL is contoso.sharepoint.com, use:

Connect-SPOService -Url "https://contoso-admin.sharepoint.com"

You'll be prompted to sign in with your SharePoint Administrator or Global Administrator credentials. Complete the authentication process.

Get-SPOTenant | Select-Object SharingCapability

This should return your tenant's sharing settings without errors. If you see permission errors, verify you have the correct administrator role assigned.

The domain rename must be scheduled between 24 hours and 30 days in the future. Plan this during low-usage periods like weekends.

Use the Start-SPOTenantRename cmdlet with your new domain name and scheduled time:

Start-SPOTenantRename -DomainName "newtenant" -ScheduledDateTime "2026-04-20T02:00:00"

Replace newtenant with the domain part before .onmicrosoft.com. For example, if your new domain is fabrikam.onmicrosoft.com, use fabrikam.

The ScheduledDateTime parameter uses your local machine's time zone. Format it as YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS (24-hour format).

Before the scheduled time, notify all users that SharePoint sites and OneDrive will be temporarily inaccessible. The duration depends on your site count but can range from hours to days.

Get-SPOTenantRenameStatus

You should see status information including the scheduled date and current state (typically "Scheduled" initially).

Once the scheduled time arrives, the rename process begins automatically. Monitor progress using PowerShell commands to track overall status and individual site progress.

Check the overall tenant rename status regularly:

Get-SPOTenantRenameStatus

This returns information about the current phase, progress percentage, and any errors encountered. The process goes through several phases: Queued, InProgress, and Completed.

For detailed site-by-site progress, check individual sites:

Get-SPOSiteRenameState -Identity "https://oldtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/sitename"

Replace the URL with actual site URLs from your tenant. This shows whether each site has been renamed successfully.

You can also get a list of all sites and their rename status:

Get-SPOSite -Limit All | ForEach-Object { Get-SPOSiteRenameState -Identity $_.Url }

After the rename completes, update your organization's network infrastructure to accommodate the new domain URLs.

Update firewall rules to allow traffic to the new SharePoint domains. Add these URL patterns to your firewall allowlists:

*.newtenant.sharepoint.com
*.newtenant-my.sharepoint.com
*.newtenant-files.sharepoint.com

Replace newtenant with your actual new domain name.

If your organization uses proxy servers, update the proxy configuration to include the new domain patterns. Most enterprise proxies require explicit allowlisting of SharePoint domains.

Update browser trusted sites settings in Group Policy or individual browser configurations. Add the new SharePoint domains to the trusted sites zone:

https://*.newtenant.sharepoint.com
https://*.newtenant-my.sharepoint.com

nslookup newtenant.sharepoint.com

The command should return valid IP addresses for the new domain.

Identify and update all applications, scripts, and integrations that reference the old SharePoint domain URLs.

Search your codebase for hardcoded SharePoint URLs. Common patterns to find include:

grep -r "oldtenant.sharepoint.com" /path/to/your/code/
grep -r "oldtenant-my.sharepoint.com" /path/to/your/code/

Update PowerShell scripts that connect to SharePoint. Change connection URLs from:

# Old URL
Connect-PnPOnline -Url "https://oldtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/sitename"

# New URL
Connect-PnPOnline -Url "https://newtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/sitename"

Update SharePoint Framework (SPFx) solutions and Power Platform applications. Check these common configuration files:

• config/serve.json in SPFx projects
• Power Automate flow connections
• Power Apps data source connections
• Azure AD app registrations with SharePoint redirect URIs

For SharePoint lists and libraries with absolute URL references, use PowerShell to find and update them:

$sites = Get-SPOSite -Limit All
foreach ($site in $sites) {
    Write-Host "Checking site: $($site.Url)"
    # Add your specific URL checking logic here
}

Complete the post-rename verification by checking Office.com integration and updating any eDiscovery configurations.

Office.com URLs may take up to 24 hours to reflect the new domain. Check that SharePoint sites appear correctly in the Office.com app launcher by visiting https://www.office.com and clicking the SharePoint tile.

If your organization uses eDiscovery holds, update the content location URLs. In the Microsoft Purview compliance portal:

1. Navigate to eDiscovery > Core or Advanced eDiscovery
2. Review existing holds and cases
3. Update SharePoint site URLs in hold policies
4. Verify OneDrive locations are updated automatically

Check that Microsoft Teams channels with SharePoint integration work correctly. Test file sharing and document collaboration in Teams channels.

Verify OneDrive sync client functionality. Users may need to reconnect their OneDrive sync clients:

%localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe /reset

After running the reset command, users should sign in again to reestablish sync with the new domain.

• Access SharePoint sites from Office.com
• Upload and download files from OneDrive
• Share documents externally (if enabled)
• Access SharePoint from mobile apps

Run this final PowerShell command to confirm all sites are accessible with the new domain:

Get-SPOSite -Limit All | ForEach-Object { 
    try { 
        Get-SPOSite -Identity $_.Url -ErrorAction Stop
        Write-Host "✓ $($_.Url)" -ForegroundColor Green
    } catch {
        Write-Host "✗ $($_.Url) - Error: $($_.Exception.Message)" -ForegroundColor Red
    }
}