Whether you’re going on vacation or just taking a few days off, it’s a good idea to let coworkers know that you’re out of the office. Nobody wants Bill from accounting calling about a financial statement while out enjoying a drink on the beach!
Thankfully, it’s easy to set an out office (AKA automatic replies) in Outlook / Office 365. In this article, we’ll show you how to setup automatic replies in Office 365 Outlook for the web, Outlook for Windows, and the Outlook mobile app.
How to Set an Out of Office in Office 365 Outlook for the Web
First, open outlook.office365.com in your favorite web browser and sign in.
Click the Gear icon at the top right of Outlook and then click View all Outlook settings at the bottom of the menu that appears.
In the Settings Window, and with Mail selected in the left-most menu, click Automatic replies.
Click the Toggle icon next to Turn on automatic replies to enable them.
If you only want automatic replies to be sent during a specific time frame, click the Send replies only during a time period checkbox and fill out the date / time fields underneath it. You might also want to check the other boxes below this to further customize your out of office.
Type a message you want senders to receive in the textbox under Send automatic replies inside your organization.
You may want to check the Send replies outside your organization box if you frequently contact external vendors / customers.
Finally, click the Save button. Your out of office is now setup!
How to Send Automatic Replies in Outlook on your Windows PC
In Outlook for Windows, click the File tab and then select Automatic Replies (Out of Office).
Click the Send Automatic replies radio option.
If you want to send automatic replies only during a specific time frame, check the Only send during this time range checkbox and fill out the date / time fields below it.
Type the message you want senders to receive in the text box under the Inside My Organization tab. If you want external senders to also receive automatic replies, click the Outside My Organization tab and check the Auto-reply to people... checkbox.
Click OK when finished. Your out of office is now set!
How to Set an Out of Office with the Outlook Mobile App
On your Android or iPhone, open the Outlook Mobile app and sign into your account.
Tap the Office icon, to the left of Inbox at the upper left corner of the app, and then tap the Gear icon at the bottom left of the menu that appears.
Now, in Settings, tap the account you wish to set automatic replies for under Mail accounts and then tap Automatic replies on the following screen.
Tap the Toggle icon to enable automatic replies.
Select either Reply to everyone or Reply only to my organization and the type the message you want senders to receive in the field below.
Tap the Checkmark icon at the upper right corner when finished. Senders will now start receiving your out of office message!
