Plus addressing support in Exchange Online was released in September 2020 as an opt-in feature. This was due to preexisting usage of plus signs (+) for email addresses in the service. At the same time, we made plus addressing on by default for new customers.
Updated January 13, 2022: Based on initial feedback, there are several scenarios where organizations do not wish to have plus addressing enabled. For those organizations, a new setting will be added to disable it before the change takes place in 2022. The setting is due to be ready in March 2022 and a new Message center post will be published then informing customers of its readiness. No changes to plus addressing will be made until then. Thank you for your feedback.
Updated August 12, 2021: Based on initial feedback, there are several scenarios where organizations do not wish to have plus addressing enabled. For those organizations, a new setting will be added to disable it before the change takes place in 2022.
Affected Workloads
- Exchange Online
With the successful introduction of the feature, we are now making plus addressing an always-on feature and removing the opt-in setting. Due to legacy mailboxes with email addresses containing plus signs (+), we are announcing a long notice period to allow customers to transition away from these mailboxes or addresses. This includes mailboxes on-premises.
Key Points
- Timing: Starting in January 2022, plus addressing will be turned on for all customers and the setting will be removed.
- Action: Retire any email addresses that contain plus signs (+) for hosted and on-premises mailboxes to avoid email delivery disruptions.
How this will affect your organization
If you don’t stop using email addresses with plus signs (+), Exchange Online may be unable to deliver emails to them when plus addressing is turned on for the entire service.
What you need to do to prepare
To fix any potential problems, remove any addresses with plus signs (+) from your organizations’ mailboxes.
If you are not blocked from using plus addressing, you can still enable plus addressing for your organization before January.
Learn more
- Review the following to learn more about plus addressing: Plus Addressing in Exchange Online
Message ID: MC276028
Published: 06 August 2021
Updated: 13 January 2022
Effective: 01 January 2022
Action required by date: 14 January 2022
#UpdatedMessage #FeatureUpdate #UserImpact #AdminImpact
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Alex Lim
Alex Lim is a certified IT Technical Support Architect with over 15 years of experience in designing, implementing, and troubleshooting complex IT systems and networks. He has worked for leading IT companies, such as Microsoft, IBM, and Cisco, providing technical support and solutions to clients across various industries and sectors. Alex has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the National University of Singapore and a master’s degree in information security from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is also the author of several best-selling books on IT technical support, such as The IT Technical Support Handbook and Troubleshooting IT Systems and Networks. Alex lives in Bandar, Johore, Malaysia with his wife and two chilrdren. You can reach him at [email protected] or follow him on Website | Twitter | Facebook
