How to Set Up an Automatic Out of Office Reply in Outlook

You know you should be checking your e-mail while you’re on vacation, but the guilt of not doing so can be enough to make you want to stay home. Fortunately, Outlook has an easy solution for this problem: automatic out of office replies. With a little bit of setup work, you can set up an automated response that will go out when you’re away from your computer. When it’s time to return, another rule takes care of sending a follow-up message letting people know when they can expect your response again—making sure everyone gets the message without having to wait around forever!

Create and customize the automatic out of office reply

To create your automatic out of office reply, follow these steps:

Click the File tab.
Select New > Rule.
In the Create Rule dialog box, type “Automatic Out of Office Reply” in the Name field and then click Next.
In the Start from a Blank Rule section of this dialog box, select Apply rule on messages I receive and click Next again to continue creating your rule.

The next page will allow you to customize how Outlook will respond when it receives an email message that matches your trigger conditions (for example, all incoming mail).

Make sure Automatic Replies is selected as both “Receive a message” and “Reply with specific text.” Then enter some custom text into both text boxes under “Reply with specific text.” For example: “I am currently away from my desk but will return on [date]. Please contact me at [phone number] if necessary.”

Create an Outlook rule to auto-reply using the automatic out of office reply

Open Outlook and click on the File tab.
Select New and then Rule from the drop-down menu.
Enter a name for your rule, such as “Automatic Out of Office Reply.”
Click Next to continue with step 2 of creating your rule.

In this step, you will choose what happens when an email arrives in your inbox that matches the conditions you set up in Step 1: If any message arrives from someone who isn’t in my Contacts list AND Contains any text that includes ‘out of office’ OR Has an attachment called ‘Outlook OOF Response Template’, then do these things…

Select Sent Mailbox under Where does this rule apply? This will tell Outlook where to look for emails matching its criteria (in other words, where it should send out automatic replies).
Check Include all items except junk email; leave unchecked if you want only certain types of messages sent out automatically through this rule (e.g., only those containing attachments). The former option is recommended because it’s easier than having multiple rules set up specifically targeting different types of messages–and remember: Those who receive your automatic out-of-office replies won’t know whether they’re getting one because they sent an attachment or not anyway! Your recipients will just see something along these lines: “This message was sent automatically by Microsoft Office 365 Service.” So don’t worry too much about choosing between these two options because either way will work fine here!

Set up a second rule to send an e-mail when you return

Once you have an out-of-office reply set up, it’s time to create a second rule that will send an e-mail when you return. To do this, follow these steps:

Click the File tab and then click Manage Rules & Alerts (or press CTRL+SHIFT+R).
Click New Rule in the middle of your screen to bring up the New Rule dialog box.
Select start date from end date from the “Start with” drop-down menu; then choose tomorrow’s date from today’s date by selecting it from list of days below this field. In this example we’ve chosen 5/30/2018 because it is Thursday today (5/29/2018) and our first day back at work is Friday morning at 9am EST which means if I want my out of office reply sent before noon EST then I need to set my rule up so that it starts Thursday night at midnight EDT since midnight EDT corresponds with 6pm PST where I live!

You can use Outlook rules to automatically respond to your e-mail when you’re away, so you don’t need to worry about it.

Outlook rules are a good way to automate tasks in Outlook. They allow you to set up a rule for any kind of situation that occurs regularly, such as automatically deleting spam messages or flagging important messages as high priority. You can also create rules that send out an automatic reply when someone sends an e-mail while you’re away from the office and won’t be able to respond immediately (for example, if they need something from you).

Setting up an automatic out-of-office reply is easy–just follow these steps:

We hope you found this article helpful. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below!

Certainly! Here is a step-by-step guide to help you set up an automatic out-of-office reply in Outlook:

Open Outlook: Launch the Outlook application on your computer. Ensure that you are signed in to your Outlook account.
Access the File menu: At the top left corner of the Outlook window, click on the “File” tab to access the File menu.
Navigate to Automatic Replies: In the File menu, select the “Automatic Replies” option. This will open a new window for setting up your out-of-office reply.
Enable Automatic Replies: In the Automatic Replies window, check the “Send automatic replies” checkbox to enable the out-of-office functionality.
Set Your Out-of-Office Dates: Choose whether you want to set an out-of-office reply for a specific period or indefinitely. If you select “Send replies only during this time range,” enter the start and end dates and times for your out-of-office period.
Compose Your Out-of-Office Message: In the Automatic Replies window, you will find two tabs: “Inside My Organization” and “Outside My Organization.” Select the appropriate tab based on whether you want different messages for internal and external recipients or a single message for both.
Compose the Message for Internal Recipients: If you selected the “Inside My Organization” tab, enter the out-of-office message you want to send to colleagues or people within your organization. You can customize the subject and body of the message.
Compose the Message for External Recipients: If you selected the “Outside My Organization” tab, enter the out-of-office message you want to send to people outside your organization, such as clients or external contacts. Customize the subject and body of the message.
Set Optional Additional Settings: If desired, you can configure additional settings such as forwarding or redirecting incoming messages, setting different messages for different senders, or excluding specific contacts from receiving your automatic reply. Adjust these settings according to your requirements.
Save and Apply the Changes: Once you have composed your out-of-office messages and set the desired options, click the “OK” button to save your changes and enable the automatic replies.
Disable Automatic Replies: When you want to disable the out-of-office reply, follow the same steps to access the Automatic Replies window. In the window, uncheck the “Send automatic replies” checkbox and click “OK” to apply the changes.

That’s it! You have successfully set up an automatic out-of-office reply in Outlook. Now, anyone who sends you an email during the specified period will receive your customized out-of-office message. Remember to turn off the automatic replies when you return to the office to ensure that your emails are promptly addressed.

FAQ

Q: What is an out-of-office reply, and why is it important?
- A: Out-of-office reply is an automated email message sent by Outlook when you are not available to respond to messages. It is important because it helps manage email communication expectations with your colleagues and clients when you are away from work.
Q: How do I set up an automatic out-of-office reply in Outlook?
- A: To set up an automatic out-of-office reply in Outlook, you need to access the File menu, select “Automatic Replies,” and enable the out-of-office functionality. From there, you can compose your message, set the duration you’ll be out of the office, and apply additional settings if desired.
Q: Can I create different out-of-office messages for internal and external recipients?
- A: Yes, Outlook allows you to create different out-of-office messages for internal and external recipients. In the Automatic Replies window, you can choose between two tabs, “Inside My Organization” and “Outside My Organization,” to compose unique messages to these groups.
Q: Can I set up an automatic out-of-office reply for a partial day only?
- A: Yes, you can set up an automatic out-of-office reply for a partial day only. In the Automatic Replies window, select the “Send replies only during this time range” option and set the start and end dates and times as needed.
Q: Can I set up an automatic out-of-office reply for specific dates only?
- A: Yes, you can set up an automatic out-of-office reply for specific dates only. In the Automatic Replies window, select the “Send replies only during this time range” option and set the start and end dates as needed.
Q: How do I turn off the out-of-office reply when I return to work?
- A: To turn off the out-of-office reply when you return to work, access the Automatic Replies window, uncheck the “Send automatic replies” option, and click OK to apply the changes.
Q: Can I forward incoming emails to someone else while I’m away using the out-of-office reply?
- A: Yes, you can forward incoming emails to someone else while you’re away by enabling the “Forward” option in the Automatic Replies window. From there, enter the contact’s email address and customize the email message.
Q: Why am I not receiving out-of-office replies for some of the emails I send?
- A: It’s possible that some of the emails you send may be filtered by your email client or spam filters, preventing the out-of-office reply from being delivered successfully. It’s also possible that the sender’s email client doesn’t support the format of the out-of-office message. You can check your Outlook settings and spam filters to troubleshoot the issue.
Q: How do I customize the start and end times of my out-of-office replies?
- A: To customize the start and end times of your out-of-office replies, select the “Send replies only during this time range” option in the Automatic Replies window. From there, set the start and end dates and times according to your schedule.
Q: Can I exclude certain contacts or groups from receiving an out-of-office reply?
- A: Yes, you can exclude certain contacts or groups from receiving your out-of-office reply by enabling the “Exceptions” option in the Automatic Replies window. From there, you can choose which contacts or groups you’d like to exempt from receiving your out-of-office reply.