If you don't see the Automatic Replies button, follow the steps to use rules to send an out of office message. Set up an automatic reply
I once left a kind of breezy, fun out of office message for “people inside my organization” that said the literal truth: “I am out of office this week at a mountain resort where I have paid many hundreds of dollars for someone to take my electronics away from me. I’ll get back to you Monday,” and a very normal and professional OOO for “people outside my organization.” Needless to say I returned to a message from a senior (but not, I stress, my boss or even on my team) colleague calling me out on it. People surely can make things their business.
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Unfortunately, literally every single thing in the world is an emergency in my office :(
Although out of office emails are usually used when a person’s on holiday, they can also be used in a number of other circumstances.
Depending on the type of holiday, you can create specific templates for various holidays such as Christmas Thanksgiving, New Year etc.:
This list of 25 out of office message examples for holidays are perfect to use for your autoresponder. ----- Hello, Thanks for your email. I'm currently out of the office, returning on [date]. I'll respond to your message then. While I won't be quite as far as the North Pole, I will still be completely disconnected from my inbox until my return.
In the early 2000s I received an OOO which said “[very senior person] never reads his email, please resend your message to [his PA]”. Post navigation ← coworker loves to abuse robocallers, boss uses Facebook photos without permission, and more Ask a Manager in the media →
After I tweeted this example, dozens of people sent me examples of OOO messages they’d set or particularly good examples they’d seen in the wild. One example from a boss (via a TikTok) who offers emailers a decision tree of sorts. “Option 1.) Wait it out. Ask yourself, ‘is this urgent and important?’ If not, take a beat…you and I will be better off with this expectation set now,” the email begins. This one stands out because it’s extremely detailed, manages expectations and also offers who to contact in different situations. It models good behavior of taking time off, but also gives the original sender a variety of option. Most importantly, the responder forces the original sender to assess whether this is actually an urgent request.
For all pressing matters, please contact [Contact Name] at [contact email] for assistance.
When was today? Did you leave the sign up or is it freshly posted? Etc. People, use dates!
Next, click Send automatic replies.Tick the “Only send during this time range” box. Set the dates you’ll be out of the office. You can skip this step if you want to manually turn off automatic replies when you get back to the office.Then set your automatic out of office reply under the Inside My Organization tab. This will be the automatic response sent to people from your company who email you while you’re away.
This is a general notice informing you of the absence of [NAME] until [MM/DD]. [NAME] has chosen to exercise his right to partake in the traditions of a certain holiday which may or may not be a denominational or non-denominational.
Thank you for your email, I’m currently out of the office and celebrating the holidays until [insert date]. For immediate assistance, please contact [insert name] at [insert email] and one of Santa’s helpers will assist you!
I take advantage of the ability to send different OOO messages to internal or external addresses. Internal addresses get a couple of people to contact if it’s urgent, usually my direct report and my backup person, since between them they can cover pretty much everything I do, or at least they’ll know who can. External addresses get a more general notice: “I am temporarily out of the office. If your message is regarding the Llama Care project and requires a prompt response from our Llama Grooming Team, please make sure that [email protected] is one of the recipients of your message.” Probably not the most elegant phrasing, but we have a distribution list for this very reason. Even requests that they know only I handle are supposed to go to the LG list.
Setting up an out of office email depends on each company and the emailing systems and inbox setting used. But, it's also possible to set up an automatic reply for Gmail accounts and, with the coronavirus pandemic seeing more people go freelance than ever before, we're going to outline exactly how to get that Gmail out of office setting up and running.
I’m guilty of the “pre-vacation warmip” email…but I send it on Wednesday so Last-minute Louie can contact me before I go out on Friday. (And it’s not all-office!)
I suppose I’d rather know that and be able to factor it in to my schedule, irritating as it is, than not know and get caught by the month-long delay.