Change a Username and email address in Office 365 Admin Center

If a user’s name changes, such as after marriage, you may need to update their email address or display name. This guide walks you through the steps in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

You must be a Global Administrator to make these changes.

Change a user's email address

Go to Microsoft 365 admin center

Users > Active users

Select the user’s name

Enter the new email prefix and select the domain from the dropdown

Under the Account tab, choose Manage username

Save changes

Set the primary email address

Go to Users > Active users

Select the user

Under the Account tab, choose Manage email aliases

Click Set as Primary next to the email you want to make primary

Confirm the warning and click Save, then Close

Change a user's display name

Go to Users > Active users

Select the user.

Under the Account tab, choose Manage contact information.

Update the Display name field.

Click Save.

Changes may take up to 24 hours to propagate. The user will need to sign in again with their updated username.

Handling Old Email Addresses

The previous primary email is retained as an alias.

Do not delete old addresses, emails sent to them will still route correctly.