Hybrid Setup - Microsoft 365 as Primary ➝ Zoho as Secondary

Hybrid Setup - Microsoft 365 as Primary ➝ Zoho as Secondary

📌 Your domain’s MX Records point to Microsoft 365 (Outlook)
This means all incoming emails land in Microsoft 365 first.

📩 Incoming Email Flow (External to Your Domain)

  1. Email is sent to user@yourdomain.com.

  2. Domain’s MX records point to Microsoft (Outlook/Exchange Online).

  3. Microsoft receives the email.

  4. Based on your setup:

    • If user exists in M365 ➝ Delivered to Outlook inbox.

    • If user is on Zoho ➝ Microsoft forwards or dual-delivers email to Zoho Mailbox (user@yourdomain.com).

    • Forwarding is done via mail flow rule or user-level forwarding.

📤 Outgoing Email Flow

  • Outlook user sends email ➝ Sent via Microsoft SMTP servers.

  • Zoho user sends email ➝ Sent via Zoho SMTP servers.

🔁 Internal Mail Flow

  • Outlook ➝ Zoho user:

    • Microsoft routes the mail to Zoho (using mail flow rule).

  • Zoho ➝ Outlook user:

    • Zoho sends directly to Microsoft 365 (normal SMTP delivery).

🔍 How to Trace Emails

🔹 In Microsoft 365

  1. Login to: https://admin.exchange.microsoft.com

  2. Go to: Mail Flow > Message Trace

  3. Click Start a Trace

  4. Enter:

    • Sender / recipient

    • Date range

  5. View:

    • Delivery status (delivered, forwarded, failed)

    • Message path

🔹 In Zoho Mail Admin Console

  1. Login to: https://mailadmin.zoho.com

  2. Go to: Email Logs

  3. Enter:

    • Sender / recipient email

    • Date range

  4. Click Search

  5. View:

    • Delivered / Bounced / Spam

    • SMTP details.

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