How to Set Out of Office (Automatic Replies) in Outlook

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. You don’t want others scheduling meetings with you when you’re unavailable.

Thankfully, it’s easy to set an out office (AKA automatic replies) in Outlook. In this article, we’ll show you how to setup automatic replies in Outlook for Windows, Outlook for the web, and in the Outlook mobile app.

How to Set an Out of Office in the Outlook 365 Desktop Client

1. Open the Outlook desktop client and sign into your account.
2. Click the File tab in the upper left corner and then select Automatic Replies (Out of Office).
   
3. Click the Send Automatic replies radio option.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Click OK when finished. Your out of office is now set!
   

How to Set an Out of Office in Outlook for the Web (OWA)

1. Open Outlook for the Web and sign into your account.
2. 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.
   
3. In the Settings Window, and with Mail selected in the left-most menu, click Automatic replies.
   
4. Click the Toggle icon next to Turn on automatic replies to enable them.
   
5. 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.
   
6. Type a message you want senders to receive in the textbox under Send automatic replies inside your organization.
7. You may want to check the Send replies outside your organization box if you frequently contact external vendors / customers.
8. Finally, click the Save button. Your out of office is now setup!
   

Setting an Out of Office in the Outlook Mobile App

1. Open the Outlook mobile app and sign into your account.
2. Tap the Office 365 icon in the upper right corner and then tap the Gear icon at the bottom left of the menu that appears.
   
3. In Settings, tap the account you wish to set automatic replies for under Mail accounts and then tap Automatic replies on the following screen.
   
4. Tap the Toggle icon to enable automatic replies.
   
5. 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.
6. Tap the Checkmark icon at the upper right corner when finished. Senders will now start receiving your out of office message!
   

Final Thoughts

Setting an out of office in Outlook is one of the best ways to let others know when you’re traveling or will be away from the office for a while. Thankfully, you setting one is easy and you can even do it from your phone in case your forget.

If you’re traveling somewhere far away, don’t forget to adjust your time zone in Outlook if you’ll be working at all.