When you are out of the office, an automatic reply lets anyone who emails you know that you are away and when they can expect to hear back. It takes less than two minutes to set up and saves a lot of confusion.
Setting it up in Outlook on your computer
Open Outlook and click on File in the top left corner. Select Automatic Replies. In the window that opens, select Send automatic replies.
You can choose to set a specific date range so it switches on and off automatically, or leave the dates blank and turn it off manually when you return.
Type your message in the box. Keep it simple, let people know you are out, when you are back and who to contact if it is urgent.
If you work with people outside your organisation, there is a second tab for external senders. It is worth filling this in too so clients and suppliers are not left waiting without a response.
Click OK and your out of office is active.
Setting it up in Outlook on the web
Go to outlook.cloud.microsoft and sign in. Click the settings gear icon in the top right corner and search for Automatic replies. Toggle it on, set your dates and type your message. Save and you are done.
A few things worth knowing
Your out of office will not send a reply to the same person more than once. So if a colleague emails you three times while you are away they will only receive the automatic reply on the first email.
Remember to turn it off when you return if you did not set an end date. There is nothing more awkward than an out of office reply going out two weeks after you are back.
If setting this up feels like more than you want to deal with, this is exactly the kind of thing Recloud handles for managed clients as part of everyday support.
When to get help
If your out of office is not working as expected, if replies are not being sent or if you need different rules for internal and external contacts, your Outlook settings may need configuration at the admin level. If you also need emails forwarded while you are away, see our guide on how to forward your Outlook email to another address. Recloud handles this for managed clients.