How do I set an out of office message to automatically reply in Outlook?

Automatically reply by email to internal and external senders to say you are on leave or other messages

In this article:

• Outlook Desktop
• Outlook on the Web
• Outlook Mobile
• How can I set an out of office message for a shared mailbox?

Outlook Desktop: Turn on automatic out-of-office replies

1. Open Outlook Desktop

2. Select File > Automatic Replies.

   

3. 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.

4. 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.

   

   Note: Sending automatic replies to anyone outside my organization will send your automatic reply to every email, including newsletters, advertisements, and potentially, junk email. If you want to send automatic replies to those outside your organization, we recommend choosing My contacts only.

5. Select OK to save your settings.

Outlook Desktop: Turn off automatic out-of-office replies

When 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.

Outlook on the Web: Turn on automatic out-of-office replies

1. Go to https://outlook.office.com
2. Sign in with your own credentials

3. At the top of the page, select Settings > Email > Automatic replies.

4. Select the Turn on automatic replies toggle.

5. 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.

6. 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

7. 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.

8. If you want senders outside your organization to get automatic replies, select the check box for Send replies outside your organization.

9. When you're done, select Save at the top of the window.

Outlook on the Web: Turn off automatic out-of-office replies

If you didn't set a time period for automatic replies (step 4 earlier), you'll need to turn them off manually. To turn off automatic replies, sign in to Outlook on the web, choose Settings  > Email > Automatic replies and then select the Automatic replies on toggle to disable.

Outlook Mobile: Turn on automatic out-of-office replies