Summary: How to configure a Office 365 test tenant.
Date: Around 2021
Refactor: 8 March 2025: Checked links and formatting.

An office 365 E3 can be a trial without credit card.

• Go here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/enterprise/office-365-e3
• Click Free Trial
• Fill in an business email address: sjoerd@business.nl
  • Message: Looks like you're already using sjoerd@business.nl with another Microsoft service. Sign in to use this account with this trial, or create a new account.
  • Click Create a new account
  • Fill in personal details and click next
  • Your phone number is used for verification that you're a real person, a text is sent with a verification code. Fill in the verification code and click verify
  • Create a business identity and check for availability: testtenant2020.onmicrosoft.com, if the business identity is available click next
  • Create a user ID, and use something general: testoffice365@testtenant2020.onmicrosoft.com, note that the password is between 8-256 characters and can only contain upper and lower characters. Click Sign up
  • Creating the subscription takes just a moment, and then you can click Go to Setup

• Start a incognito browser and go to https://portal.office.com/adminportal/home
• Verify you are in the correct subscription, go to Settings → Domains and verify the new created domain is the only domain available
• Go to Users → Active Users and verify the created users is the only user available
• Go to Settings → Org settings → Organization profile → Data location and verify all data is based in the European Union
• Go to Settings → Org settings → Organization profile → Organization information and fill in the required information. Set, as a minimum, the Organization Name to Business-Test.
• Optionally for test tenants: Go to Settings → Org settings → Organization profile → Release preferences and set to “Targeted release for everyone” if this is a test tenant to test new Office 365 functionality.

User Name,First Name,Last Name,Display Name,Job Title,Department,Office Number,Office Phone,Mobile Phone,Fax,Address,City,State or Province,ZIP or Postal Code,Country or Region
dtasjoerd@testtenant2020.onmicrosoft.com,Sjoerd,Hooft,Sjoerd Hooft, , , , , , , , , , ,
dtauser2@testtenant2020.onmicrosoft.com,dtauser,dtauser,dtauser dtauser, , , , , , , , , , ,

• Create a csv file with the above information
• Go to Users → Active Users → Add multiple users and click browse to select the just created csv file and click verify. Click next if everything is ok.
• Set sign-in to allowed, and assign a Office 365 E3 license and click Next
• Review the results and send the passwords by email to sjoerd@business.nl, as this will allow for easy distribution of the temporary passwords.

Setup a global admin:

• From the Users → Active Users select the account → Manage Roles → select Global Admin

Note that admins don't require a license for administrative tasks

• From the Users → Active Users select the account → Manage Roles → select SharePoint Admin

Note that admins don't require a license for administrative tasks

Default Sites:

• https://testtenant2020.sharepoint.com/ (communication site)
• https://testtenant2020.sharepoint.com/sites/BusinessName (team site)

• Start another browser incogntito and go to www.office.com → Login → SignIn

If you need to access the tenant from behind a firewall, this is the official list you need to open: SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business

If you just need to access it for authentication and file upload to sharepoint online you can do with:

testtenant2020.onmicrosoft.com
testtenant2020.sharepoint.com
login.microsoftonline.com
login.windows.net
*.msauth.net

To extend the trial with an additional 30 days you'll have to provide your creditcard details. This means that if you forget to cancel your subscription, you will be charged for the services you use.

• Start a incognito browser and go to https://portal.office.com/adminportal/home
• Go to Billing → Your Products
• Under the Free trial subscription, click Extend trial.