Outlook Automatic Replies

Outlook automatic-replies

Use automatic (Out of Office) replies from Outlook to tell people you won't be responding right away to their email messages.

New Outlook

On the View tab, select View settings in new Outlook.
Select Accounts > Automatic Replies.
Select the Turn on automatic replies toggle.
Select Send replies only during a time period, and then enter start and end times.
Under Send automatic replies inside your organization, enter the message to send while you're away. (You can use the formatting options for text alignment, color, and emphasis.)

To set up automatic replies to other people, select Send replies outside your organization, then add a separate message for that audience.

Note: Sending replies outside your organization will send your automatic reply to every email you receive, including newsletters, advertisements, and potentially, junk email. If you want to send automatic replies to those outside your organization, we recommend choosing Send replies only to contacts.
When you're done, select Save.

Classic Outlook

Select File > Automatic Replies.
In the Automatic Replies box, select Send automatic replies.

Optionally, set a date range for your automatic replies. This will turn off automatic replies at the date and time you enter for the end time. Otherwise, you'll need to turn off automatic replies manually.
On the Inside My Organization tab, type the response that you want to send to teammates or colleagues while you are out of the office.

Select OK to save your settings.

Turn off automatic out-of-office replies

When classic Outlook is setup to send automatic replies, you'll see a message under the ribbon with this information. Select Turn off to disable automatic out-of-office replies. If you want to modify the dates for your automatic reply or the message sent, use the steps above to modify your settings.

Turn off automatic replies

Outlook Online

At the top of the page, select
> Mail > Automatic replies in Outlook on the web or Outlook.com.
Select the Turn on automatic replies toggle.
Select the Send replies only during a time period check box, and then enter a start and end time.

If you don't set a time period, your automatic reply remains on until you turn it off by selecting the Automatic replies on toggle.
Select the check box for any of the following options that you're interested in:
- 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
In the box at the bottom of the window, type a message to send to people during the time you're away.

If you like, you can use the formatting options at the top of the box to change the font and color of the text or customize your message in other ways.
If you want senders outside your organization to get automatic replies, select the check box for Send replies outside your organization, then in the text box below it, add a separate message for that audience.
When you're done, select Save.

If you didn't set a time period for automatic replies (step 3 earlier), you'll need to turn them off manually. To turn off automatic replies, sign in to Outlook on the web, choose The Settings icon. Settings > Mail > Automatic replies and then select the Automatic replies on toggle.