Unified cloud.microsoft domain for Microsoft 365 apps
Microsoft is unifying user-facing Microsoft 365 apps and services to a single and consistent domain: cloud.microsoft.
The growth of Microsoft cloud services led to the expansion of the domain space they occupy, resulting in hundreds of domains. This fragmentation is a challenge for end user navigation, administrative simplicity, and the development of cross-app experiences. To solve this problem and to make it easier for customers, end users and app developers to interface with Microsoft 365 apps and services, Microsoft has designated a special domain - cloud.microsoft, to be used by Microsoft SaaS products going forward.
The .microsoft top-level domain is exclusive to Microsoft. The new domain doesn’t have traditional suffixes such as .com or .net in the end. This is by design. cloud.microsoft resides under the .microsoft top-level domain, for which Microsoft is a registry operator and the sole registrant. This domain allows for extra security, privacy, and protection against spoofing when you interact with apps within that domain. You can trust that any website or app that ends with cloud.microsoft is an official Microsoft product or service.
Benefits of a unified domain
Consolidating authenticated user-facing Microsoft 365 experiences to a single domain benefits customer in several ways. For end users, it streamlines the overall experience by reducing sign-ins, redirects, and delays when navigating across apps. For admins, it reduces the complexity of allowlists that are required to connect to Microsoft 365 services and help your organization stay secure and productive. For all our customers – and our developers – this change helps align for better and tighter integration across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem by streamlining development and improving performance of cross-app experiences.
'Dot brand' top-level domains like .microsoft enhance security, trustworthiness, and integrity. Microsoft has exclusive rights to the .microsoft top-level domain, enabling enhanced security protocols and governance controls to be applied across the entire domain hierarchy, starting from the top level. All experiences on the .microsoft domain are guaranteed to be legitimate and authentic, as Microsoft is the registry operator and sole registrant.
Security considerations
To ensure that customers and users can treat everything under the *.cloud.microsoft domain as fully trusted, the entire domain hierarchy is isolated, purpose built, and dedicated to hosting only secure and compliant Microsoft product experiences. The domain is managed to the highest standards of domain security and reputation, and is kept free of scenarios such as third-party websites, IaaS/PaaS resources (such as file and blob storage), and hosting of active content, code or scripts that may affect the trust and integrity of products and applications residing in the domain.
Requirements for admins
Since 2023, *.cloud.microsoft and other domains related to the domain unification initiative are part of the Microsoft 365 network guidance on domains and service endpoints. Customers who use the Microsoft 365 web service API to automate network settings have been getting the network settings since then. Customers who manually update endpoints should ensure that *.cloud.microsoft and other required domains are included in their allow-list to prevent connectivity and service incidents for their users.
Microsoft product and service URLs
| Service | URL |
|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 | m365.cloud.microsoft |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot Business Chat | m365.cloud.microsoft/chat |
| Microsoft Excel | excel.cloud.microsoft |
| Microsoft PowerPoint | powerpoint.cloud.microsoft |
| Microsoft Word | word.cloud.microsoft |
| Microsoft 365 Service Health Status Page | status.cloud.microsoft |
| Microsoft Admin Center | admin.cloud.microsoft |
| Microsoft Loop | loop.cloud.microsoft |
| Microsoft Mesh | mesh.cloud.microsoft |
| Microsoft OneNote | onenote.cloud.microsoft |
| Microsoft Planner | planner.cloud.microsoft |
| Microsoft Setup | setup.cloud.microsoft |
| Microsoft Sway | sway.cloud.microsoft |
| Microsoft Viva Engage | engage.cloud.microsoft |
| Microsoft Viva Goals | goals.cloud.microsoft |
| Microsoft Viva Home | viva.cloud.microsoft |
| Microsoft Viva Insights | insights.cloud.microsoft |
| Microsoft Viva Learning | learning.cloud.microsoft |
| Microsoft Viva Pulse | pulse.cloud.microsoft |
The above list provides examples of individual URLs for applications that users can use through the web browser. It does not represent the full set of endpoints required for functionality of these applications and should not be used to granularly control access through network allow-lists and other network settings. To configure network settings, customers should follow Microsoft official network guidance.