(Cloud) Tip of the Day: Mapping cloud users to Azure AD users

Today’s (Cloud) Tip…

If you have users that already exist in the cloud and want to start directory synchronization and have these users map to users on-premises, you must match the SMTP address. The SMTP address must be the same for the on-premises user and the cloud user.

To use SMTP matching to match an on-premises user to an cloud user account for directory synchronization, follow these steps:

  1. Obtain the primary SMTP address of the target Office 365 user account. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Sign in to the Office 365 portal as a global admin.
    2. Do one of the following:
      • In Office 365, click Admin, and then click Exchange. to open Exchange Admin Center.
      • In Office 365 pre-upgrade, click Admin, and then under Exchange Online, click Manage to open Exchange Control Panel.
    3. In the Exchange Admin Center or Exchange Control Panel, locate the user account that you want, and then double-click it.
    4. Click Email address or expand  Email Options, and then note the primary SMTP address of the user account.
  1. Start Active Directory Users and Computers, and then create a user account in the on-premises domain that matches the target Office 365 user account. For more information about how to do this, go to the following Microsoft TechNet website:
    Create a User Account in Active Directory Users and Computers
  2. Set the primary SMTP address of the new user account to match the primary SMTP address that you noted in step 1.4.
    To do this by using Exchange Management tools, go to the following Microsoft websites:
    1. Right-click the user object, and then click Properties.
    2. On the general tab, update the E-mail field, and then click OK.
  1. Force directory synchronization. For more information about how to do this, go to the following Microsoft website:
    Force directory synchronization