Microsoft has finally allowed Microsoft 365 users to send email as a proxy (alias) address, after years of development. What is the significance of this story? Well, this function has always existed in Gmail Suite and other business email systems, and some companies have a strict requirement for it and have been forced to use non-Microsoft solutions as a result.
What are the benefits of using a proxy address (alias)? One use case is when a company has several domains (for example, contoso.com, acme.com, and so on) and you want to send and receive email from all of them in a single mailbox.
Prior to Microsoft 365's alias implementation, you could only receive email as the alias, so you couldn't send from an alias and have the FROM address be the alias. Today, April 29, 2021, all changed.
The function, however, is not supported by default and must be turned on via PowerShell by a Microsoft 365 administrator. All users should be able to submit emails from their assigned aliases once the company has enabled it.
Using PowerShell to allow Send as Alias.: You need to have the ExchangeOnlineManagement PowerShell module installed.
In Microsoft 365, sending as an Alias
1.Use the Microsoft 365 Outlook web application to log in.
2.Create a new message and then press the three dots next to the word Discard.
3.Choose a display from the drop-down menu.
4.Enter your alias/proxy address in the new From sector.
5.Write an email as you would usually and send it to a test address.
6.In the destination account, check the From address to make sure it's from the account alias, not the user's primary email address.
Microsoft has finally enabled Microsoft 365 customers to send email from an alias/proxy address via the Outlook web application, after years of waiting. To use PowerShell to unlock the function, you'll need to be a Microsoft 365 administrator. The functionality has not yet found its way into the MacOS new Outlook client as of the writing of this blog post.
