Help with Bluehost/Outlook

I know next to nothing about websites, but I had set up a simple website for my husband a few years ago with Bluehost. He had chosen to use Outlook for email, and Bluehost billed us monthly for it (think it's now about 7.99 a month).

Just got an email from Microsoft saying Endurance (Bluehost) is no longer approved and I'm supposed to either assign/unassign licenses or purchase directly from Microsoft. Bluehost is not helpful at all, saying I need to talk to Microsoft Support.

Since Outlook is the only product we're talking about, I'm thinking I just want Microsoft to bill us directly but don't see an easy way to do this. I'm looking at the admin page for Outlook but don't see where I can actually get it to bill us directly and get Endurance out of the picture. Under Billing Profile, Endurance is listed and that cannot be edited. I tried to "Add Billing Profile," thinking I can then make it the default, but it always fails. I don't want to lose our domain email but I'm at a loss as to how to do what seems a simple thing.

Can someone give me a little guidance here?

So I went through an analogous thing with my dad's side business. Domain/hosting through one company and email through MS 365 small business accounts. The setup was a chore and even had a recent b&e into the accounts so it's been a learning experience to get things right.

I may scale the accounts back to MS365 business basic, but at the time went for standard. ($6 vs $12.50 a month).

The setup was.. a challenge. I have one admin account not on any package, and I used that to setup:
- DNS needed the Exchange info for mail
- DNS needed DKIM, DMARC, and SPF lines
- turning on basic spam filter
- making sure MFA was on as well as various passwords reset
- locking down auto-created sharepoint
- making sure the admin account had backup entry in case of really bad exploitation

Beyond the recent b&e it has been pretty solid, and if nothing else a learning experience. Same with hardening the WP website we started with. Yuck.

modi123 said:

So I went through an analogous thing with my dad's side business. Domain/hosting through one company and email through MS 365 small business accounts. The setup was a chore and even had a recent b&e into the accounts so it's been a learning experience to get things right.

I may scale the accounts back to MS365 business basic, but at the time went for standard. ($6 vs $12.50 a month).

The setup was.. a challenge. I have one admin account not on any package, and I used that to setup:
- DNS needed the Exchange info for mail
- DNS needed DKIM, DMARC, and SPF lines
- turning on basic spam filter
- making sure MFA was on as well as various passwords reset
- locking down auto-created sharepoint
- making sure the admin account had backup entry in case of really bad exploitation

Beyond the recent b&e it has been pretty solid, and if nothing else a learning experience. Same with hardening the WP website we started with. Yuck.

Click to expand...

To elaborate a little further and then ask yet another question!

When the website was set up, Bluehost had email options available for choosing, which included Google and Outlook. Not knowing anything about anything, at least Microsoft Outlook was a name I recognized and it was only $2 or $3 (they called it Essentials back then), so I went with that. Mailerlite (we have a small mailing list) required DKIM, DMARC, and SPF; and, as you mentioned, it was a chore and a half to set up when you don't really understand it all. But on Chat with Bluehost at the time, they helped and made the changes, and we're all good in that department. Now. I've sent out 3 or 4 newsletters since then using the JD@Johndoe.com (substituting a real name for the john doe, of course!) and no issues and Mailerlite is happy.

Therein lies my fear. If I lost this email address, I'd lose all that work done on the DKIM, etc.

But here's the question: DO I lose this email address? It's not an outlook address, I don't think. I've never used website email...on the website, any emails always went to either the gmail account (in the "contact me" section) or to the JD@Johndoe.com (outlook) account for newsletter signups. I know there is some sort of setting for domain emails, but I never bothered with it. If I figured out how to use the Bluehost domain email, could I use the existing .com email address...with, I assume, all the correct antispam lines already there? Or is that tied to the outlook account? Bottom line, I don't want to go through the headache of setting up those antispam parameters when I don't really understand it.

So I just want to continue paying what has now become $7.99 a month (I guess it includes some 365 programs which I don't use) directly to Microsoft just to not rock the boat and have everything working the way it should. Just trying to figure out HOW to do that. Just changing the billing doesn't seem doable. Microsoft's gobbleydook email says I need to "resolve subscriptions from a detached CSP partner." It seems that I can buy a "new" subscription but, again, does that mean I use our old .com address and do I have to go through all the DMARC stuff again? I know so many people handle this stuff routinely and it's foreign to me. I'll reread the Microsoft email and all the links they provide (that also make no sense) in the meantime.

And to further update in case anyone else runs into this or is interested: Everything I've since read says that billing cannot be transferred. I have to buy a new subscription. Okay. Did that. The AI support page on microsoft is pretty useless, but the AI chat on Edge tells me I'm going the correct route and once it's provisioned (I only just bought it), there are one or two steps I need to take but that all the DNS information is intact. No changes need to be made...it doesn't need to be redone. So I guess I made much ado about nothing...hopefully. And, yay, I save $1.99 a month by going direct. I can use that to buy some antacid.

If you own the domain, then all you need to do in order to retain the mail address is change the mx records and ensure the new server is set up correctly.

That may mean switching from outlook, or not. Depends on whether they support that, I guess.

If you don't own the domain, you're kinda limited by what support your host and your email host are willing/able to provide. This is why I like owning my domain, even if it is a bit expensive.

Nobu said:

If you own the domain, then all you need to do in order to retain the mail address is change the mx records and ensure the new server is set up correctly.

That may mean switching from outlook, or not. Depends on whether they support that, I guess.

If you don't own the domain, you're kinda limited by what support your host and your email host are willing/able to provide. This is why I like owning my domain, even if it is a bit expensive.

Click to expand...

Appreciate the reply, but I gotta say owning my own domain is light year's away from my comfort level. As you can tell, I'm truly a neophyte with this and only know enough to get up and running. It appears, though, that since nothing substantial has changed...I am staying with Bluehost and staying with Outlook, just changing who bills me for it...that all my DNS records as already established are good. I was able to connect this "new" subscription to my domain with my already established .com email, and verified through MXToolbox that everything is as it should be. So I think I'm good. My only possible uneasiness rests on the fact that maybe MXToolbox is checking all my older DNS information. The Bluehost billing/licensing of Outlook doesn't expire until May 21. So we'll see what happens on the 22nd. I don't think my $1.99 saving will be enough for the antacids I need.