How To Set Up An Out Of Office Message In Outlook Easy Guide

If you’re using Outlook 2007, see this method instead.

If you don’t see an Automatic Replies button, use this method instead.

If you’re on an Exchange server, you’ll see two tabs on this window: Inside My Organization and Outside My Organization. By default, your automatic Out of Office replies will only be sent to people within your organization.

If you want Outlook to automatically send your Out of Office response between two specific dates and times, check the box next to “Only send during this time range” and choose your time period. For example, if you plan on going on vacation for two weeks, select the date range during which you’ll be on vacation so the automatic response will only be active while you’re out. If you want to turn on Out of Office now and leave it on until you manually turn it off, don’t tick the box.

If you’re on an Exchange server, you’ll see two tabs in this window below the dates and times: Inside My Organization and Outside My Organization. Click the Inside My Organization tab and type an Out of Office message for people within your company or organization on this tab. If the only tab you see is Automatic replies, just create your Out of Office reply on this tab. In this case, your automatic replies will be sent to everyone who writes you while Automatic Replies is enabled. For example, type a message explaining the dates you’ll be unavailable, and refer questions and concerns to another contact in your office. You may also want to allow a coworker or assistant to send emails on your behalf while you’re out of the office.

By default, the automatic reply you enter into this field will be sent all senders outside of your organization, including advertisers, newsletter senders, and even possibly spammers. [1] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source To avoid sending your vacation message to people you don’t already associate with, consider turning on the My contacts only option instead.

Rules can also be used to keep your inbox organized.

In the subject line, type the subject that you want to appear in each message sent in your Out of Office replies. For example, “Out of Office,” or “On vacation until 9/22. " In the body of the message, you’ll usually want to list the dates you’ll be out of the office, and any specific instructions the sender should follow in the meantime. You may also include the contact information for somebody else within your organization in case the sender needs immediate assistance.

Click Next to proceed to creating the rule. Although there are several options on the screen, you’ll want to click Next to proceed to the next screen without making any selections.

By default, you’ll see that “Turn on this rule” is selected. This means that once you proceed to the next step, your Out of Office status will start automatically and remain on until you turn it off. If you don’t want to turn on the feature yet, remove the checkmark from the box—you can return to this screen later to turn it on.

If you’re not turning on the rule now, you can turn it on later by returning to File > Manage Rules & Alerts > E-mail Rules, checking the box next to the rule, and clicking OK. To turn off your rule when you return, go to File > Manage Rules & Alerts > E-mail Rules, select the rule, and click Delete. [4] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source

This method will also work for free Outlook. com & Hotmail. com email accounts.

If you’re using Outlook 365 on the web through your organization’s email server, you’ll also have these options, which you can enable if you’d like: Block my calendar for this period Automatically decline new invitations for events that occur during this period Decline and cancel my meetings during this period

If you don’t see this option, you can opt to enable Send replies only to contacts to avoid sending automatic replies to advertisers, newsletters, and even spammers.

To turn off automatic replies if you didn’t choose an end date, return to the gear icon, select View all Outlook settings > Mail > Automatic replies, then toggle off the feature.

If this option is not available, you may be using a non-Exchange account.

If you want to specify a time, click to select the box next to “Only send during this time range,” then select a start time and end time. For example, if you plan on going on vacation for two weeks, select the date range during which you’ll be on vacation so the automatic response will only be active while you’re out.

There is a drop-down for font type and font size as well as buttons to format the text in your message.