How to host your custom domain name mailbox on Outlook.com for free

It's possible to host your personal domain name mailbox on Outlook.com free of charge, here's how. For this example, the email address to host is email address removed for privacy reasons

1. Temporarily forward email for email address removed for privacy reasons to an existing mailbox
2. Get a free Microsoft Account using email address removed for privacy reasons as your email address
3. Change the DNS MX record for example.com to outlook-com.olc.protection.outlook.com.
4. In Outlook.com settings, change Email > Sync email > Default from address to email address removed for privacy reasons

That's it. Incoming emails for email address removed for privacy reasons will start appearing in your new Outlook.com mailbox, and you can reply to them too. No Microsoft 365 or Exchange Online account necessary.