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MS-102 Deploy and manage a Microsoft 365 tenant Practice Question

Your organization has a Microsoft 365 tenant configured with a custom domain. You need to verify domain ownership using a TXT record. Where in the Microsoft 365 admin center would you initiate this process?

⚠ Common exam trap

It's easy for candidates to confuse domain verification with other domain-related tasks (like setting up email routing or managing user accounts) and select Setup > Org-wide settings or Users > Active Users, but only Settings > Domains provides the guided wizard for adding and verifying a custom domain via TXT records.

Answer choices

Why each option matters

Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.

Correct answer & explanation

✓

Settings > Domains

To verify domain ownership in Microsoft 365, you must add a TXT record provided by Microsoft to your domain's DNS zone. The process is initiated in the Microsoft 365 admin center under Settings > Domains, where you select the domain and click 'Start setup' to receive the verification TXT record value. This is the only location in the admin center that directly manages domain verification and DNS record validation for custom domains.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

✓
Settings > Domains
Why this is correct
Settings > Domains is the correct location in the Microsoft 365 admin center for adding, verifying, and managing custom domains. From this blade, you can initiate domain verification via a DNS TXT record or MX record, designate a primary domain, set the domain for services like Exchange Online, and monitor domain health. This is the unified domain management interface that most administrators use for day-to-day domain lifecycle tasks.
✗
Setup > Org-wide settings
Why it's wrong here
Setup > Org-wide settings is a hub for tenant-wide configuration options such as user profile settings, Microsoft 365 Groups, and site creation for SharePoint, but it does not provide domain management capabilities. While it does contain some identity and security settings, domain verification requires the dedicated Domains page under Settings > Domains. Navigating here would be an initial guess for administrative settings, but it lacks the DNS record verification functionality that the Domains page offers.
✗
Users > Active Users
Why it's wrong here
Users > Active Users is for managing user account objects, including assigning licenses, resetting passwords, editing profiles, and managing sign-in status. Domain verification is a DNS-level operation that proves ownership of a namespace; it is unrelated to user object administration. Even though you might assign UPN suffixes to users, the actual domain verification process is performed in Settings > Domains, not in the user management console.
✗
Admin centers > Azure Active Directory
Why it's wrong here
Admin centers > Azure Active Directory (now Microsoft Entra ID) does have a Custom domain names blade where you can add and verify domains using DNS records, so this is not a completely unreasonable choice. However, the question asks for the primary location within the Microsoft 365 admin center, and the intended answer is Settings > Domains, which aggregates domain management across M365 services and links to Azure AD. Accessing domain management through Azure AD would take you to an additional admin portal and does not offer the same consolidated view of domain status for Exchange, SharePoint, and other services.

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MS-102 Deploy and manage a Microsoft 365 tenant Practice Question

Why each option matters

Option-by-option breakdown

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