I’ve seen some confusion over the email addresses used by Microsoft 365 Groups and Teams. This note gives a quick summary of the situation.
Email Addresses for a Microsoft 365 Group
Every Microsoft 365 group has at least one email address, but might have several, all of which can be used to route email to the group. We can retrieve the addresses from the group’s EmailAddresses property.
The SMTP proxy addresses assigned to Microsoft 365 groups are used by Exchange Online to route email. Exchange Online creates the set of SMTP addresses during the creation of a new Microsoft 365 group. The set of addresses might be affected by the existence of an email address policy for groups. In all cases, one of the addresses must be a MOERA (Microsoft Online Email routing address), which comes from the tenant service domain (xxx.microsoft.com). Another of the addresses has the prefix highlighted, meaning that this address is the primary address of the type. For SMTP addresses, this means that the address is stamped on outbound messages sent by the group. The primary SMTP address for the group is also stored in the PrimarySMTPAddress property. For example:
When you send email to a Microsoft 365 group, Exchange Online treats the group like a distribution list and delivers messages to any of the group members who subscribe for updates. A copy of the message is also delivered to the group mailbox, where it creates a new conversation in the group inbox. To find out which members receive updates sent to a group, run the command (there’s no UI to expose this list):
If the Email Integration setting is enabled for Teams in a tenant, (Figure 1) you can generate email addresses for channels and use those addresses to send email to the channels. It’s important to underscore that the recipient is a channel and not the members of the team.
Figure 1: Email Integration setting in the Teams Admin Center
To generate an email address for a channel, select the channel and then take the Get Email Address choice in the […] menu. If an email address doesn’t already exist, a new one is generated (Figure 2). Any member of a team (except guests) can generate an email address for a channel.
Figure 2: Getting the email address for a channel
The email address does not belong to any domain associated with the Microsoft 365 tenant. Instead, it’s in a part of Office 365 managed by Microsoft. The address is intended to be obscure to avoid casual spamming, so we end up with something like this:
General – Project Condor <95c133a3.office365itpros.com@emea.teams.ms>
If a channel is spammed, just remove the email address and generate a new one or include the spamming domain in the blacklist in the Email Integration section of Teams settings.
When you send email to a channel, the message arrives in a special form of mailbox. A connector then picks up the new message and imports it into Teams, where it shows up in two places:
A new conversation in the channel.
A copy of the message (.eml file) and any attachments are stored in the SharePoint site belonging to the team. You’ll find these items in the Email Messages folder (Figure 3) under the folder for the channel. (Note: In February 2021, Microsoft changed how it stores copies of messages received by channels in SharePoint Online).
Figure 3: Email sent to a Teams channel is captured in SharePoint
Because the messages and attachments are in SharePoint, they are indexed and available for compliance purposes.
Copies of messages sent to a channel are never delivered to team members. The email address is for a channel and does not act like a distribution list. If you want to send email to everyone in a team, use the email address assigned to the Microsoft 365 group used by the team. If the recipients subscribe to the group, they’ll get the message. If not, they won’t unless you use PowerShell to read the group membership and add each member as a recipient for the message.
For more information, read Office 365 for IT Pros to learn about much more about Microsoft 365 Groups and Teams. Obviously, we have a lot more to say about these and other associated topics than can be covered in a 600-word blog post.
Thanks, this will be a good foundation/reference for customer conversations. Also, worth noting that this feature isn’t (yet?) available for government customers:
{"id":null,"mode":"button","open_style":"in_modal","currency_code":"EUR","currency_symbol":"\u20ac","currency_type":"decimal","blank_flag_url":"https:\/\/office365itpros.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/flags\/blank.gif","flag_sprite_url":"https:\/\/office365itpros.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/flags\/flags.png","default_amount":100,"top_media_type":"featured_image","featured_image_url":"https:\/\/office365itpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cover-141x200.jpg","featured_embed":"","header_media":null,"file_download_attachment_data":null,"recurring_options_enabled":true,"recurring_options":{"never":{"selected":true,"after_output":"One time only"},"weekly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every week"},"monthly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every month"},"yearly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every year"}},"strings":{"current_user_email":"","current_user_name":"","link_text":"Virtual Tip Jar","complete_payment_button_error_text":"Check info and try again","payment_verb":"Pay","payment_request_label":"Office 365 for IT Pros","form_has_an_error":"Please check and fix the errors above","general_server_error":"Something isn't working right at the moment. Please try again.","form_title":"Office 365 for IT Pros","form_subtitle":null,"currency_search_text":"Country or Currency here","other_payment_option":"Other payment option","manage_payments_button_text":"Manage your payments","thank_you_message":"Thank you for supporting the work of Office 365 for IT Pros!","payment_confirmation_title":"Office 365 for IT Pros","receipt_title":"Your Receipt","print_receipt":"Print Receipt","email_receipt":"Email Receipt","email_receipt_sending":"Sending receipt...","email_receipt_success":"Email receipt successfully sent","email_receipt_failed":"Email receipt failed to send. Please try again.","receipt_payee":"Paid to","receipt_statement_descriptor":"This will show up on your statement as","receipt_date":"Date","receipt_transaction_id":"Transaction ID","receipt_transaction_amount":"Amount","refund_payer":"Refund from","login":"Log in to manage your payments","manage_payments":"Manage Payments","transactions_title":"Your Transactions","transaction_title":"Transaction Receipt","transaction_period":"Plan Period","arrangements_title":"Your Plans","arrangement_title":"Manage Plan","arrangement_details":"Plan Details","arrangement_id_title":"Plan ID","arrangement_payment_method_title":"Payment Method","arrangement_amount_title":"Plan Amount","arrangement_renewal_title":"Next renewal date","arrangement_action_cancel":"Cancel Plan","arrangement_action_cant_cancel":"Cancelling is currently not available.","arrangement_action_cancel_double":"Are you sure you'd like to cancel?","arrangement_cancelling":"Cancelling Plan...","arrangement_cancelled":"Plan Cancelled","arrangement_failed_to_cancel":"Failed to cancel plan","back_to_plans":"\u2190 Back to Plans","update_payment_method_verb":"Update","sca_auth_description":"Your have a pending renewal payment which requires authorization.","sca_auth_verb":"Authorize renewal payment","sca_authing_verb":"Authorizing payment","sca_authed_verb":"Payment successfully authorized!","sca_auth_failed":"Unable to authorize! Please try again.","login_button_text":"Log in","login_form_has_an_error":"Please check and fix the errors above","uppercase_search":"Search","lowercase_search":"search","uppercase_page":"Page","lowercase_page":"page","uppercase_items":"Items","lowercase_items":"items","uppercase_per":"Per","lowercase_per":"per","uppercase_of":"Of","lowercase_of":"of","back":"Back to plans","zip_code_placeholder":"Zip\/Postal Code","download_file_button_text":"Download File","input_field_instructions":{"tip_amount":{"placeholder_text":"How much would you like to tip?","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"How much would you like to tip? Choose any currency."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How much would you like to tip? Choose any currency."},"invalid_curency":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please choose a valid currency."}},"recurring":{"placeholder_text":"Recurring","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"How often would you like to give this?"},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"How often would you like to give this?"},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How often would you like to give this?"}},"name":{"placeholder_text":"Name on Credit Card","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter the name on your card."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter the name on your card."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please enter the name on your card."}},"privacy_policy":{"terms_title":"Terms and conditions","terms_body":null,"terms_show_text":"View Terms","terms_hide_text":"Hide Terms","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"I agree to the terms."},"unchecked":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please agree to the terms."},"checked":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"I agree to the terms."}},"email":{"placeholder_text":"Your email address","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"not_an_email_address":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Make sure you have entered a valid email address"}},"note_with_tip":{"placeholder_text":"Your note here...","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"empty":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"not_empty_initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"saving":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Saving note..."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Note successfully saved!"},"error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Unable to save note note at this time. Please try again."}},"email_for_login_code":{"placeholder_text":"Your email address","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."}},"login_code":{"initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."}},"stripe_all_in_one":{"initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"success":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"invalid_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is not a valid credit card number."},"invalid_expiry_month":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration month is invalid."},"invalid_expiry_year":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration year is invalid."},"invalid_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is invalid."},"incorrect_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is incorrect."},"incomplete_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is incomplete."},"incomplete_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is incomplete."},"incomplete_expiry":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration date is incomplete."},"incomplete_zip":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's zip code is incomplete."},"expired_card":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card has expired."},"incorrect_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is incorrect."},"incorrect_zip":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's zip code failed validation."},"invalid_expiry_year_past":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration year is in the past"},"card_declined":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card was declined."},"missing":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"There is no card on a customer that is being charged."},"processing_error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"An error occurred while processing the card."},"invalid_request_error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Unable to process this payment, please try again or use alternative method."},"invalid_sofort_country":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The billing country is not accepted by SOFORT. Please try another country."}}}},"fetched_oembed_html":false}
Thanks, this will be a good foundation/reference for customer conversations. Also, worth noting that this feature isn’t (yet?) available for government customers:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/plan-for-government-gcc#step-2-understand-which-capabilities-are-currently-unavailable-or-disabled-by-default
You mean email addresses for channels? If so, I think it’s because the phantom mailboxes needed to host the email aren’t available.
For others reading this post and the comments who are looking to subscribe all members of a Microsoft 365 Group to receive emails and invites, it can be done via script. See also:
https://office365itpros.com/2020/10/21/update-teams-send-meeting-invitations-to-members/
and
https://office365itpros.com/2020/03/31/invitations-teams-meetings/