Everyone deserves a vacation or a short break from work. However, if you’re going to be on leave for a few days and you’re not available to attend clients at the office, it’s recommended that you set up automatic replies or out-of-office emails in Outlook. That way, you can let others know when, why, and for how long you won’t be available. You can also specify who to contact in your absence using your out-of-office replies.
You can easily set up and schedule out-of-office mail in Outlook web, Windows and Mac apps. Unfortunately, you cannot do the same from the Outlook mobile apps. In this post, we’ll cover all three platforms and show you how to schedule out-of-office notifications in Outlook.
Schedule Out of Office Mail in Outlook Web
The Outlook desktop apps are fine, but Outlook web remains the most feature-rich of the three. New functionality like Outlook Spaces comes to Outlook web first and then expands to other platforms.
Here’s how to set up automatic replies in Outlook on the web.
Stage 1: Visit Outlook on the web.
Step 2: Click the Settings icon in the upper right corner and select View all Outlook settings.
Stage 3: Select Mail from the left sidebar and click Automatic replies.
Step 4: Enable the automatic replies toggle.
Step 5: You can set your answers to start and end at a specific time. Otherwise, they will continue until you turn them off. Enable only send replies for a certain period of time. Select Start time and End time.
Step 6: Type your personalized response with all the relevant details and hit the Save button at the bottom.
When drafting an answer, you can use Outlook’s rich text editor to create the perfect answer. You can also enable send reply to contacts menu at the bottom. However, we don’t recommend it because if you enable the option, only saved Outlook contacts will receive automatic replies. Others may miss the office response.
Schedule Out of Office Mail in Outlook Mac
Microsoft currently manages two Outlook apps on Mac. The New Outlook migration in the Outlook app on Mac takes you to the new Outlook experience Microsoft has planned soon.
Out of Office functionality is only available in the legacy Outlook Mac application. Here’s how to use it.
Stage 1: Open the Outlook app on Mac.
Step 2: Select Tools from the menu bar.
Stage 3: Click Out of Office.
Step 4: Enable auto-reply for ‘Outlook’ account.
Here you have the option to create different automatic replies inside and outside your organization.
Step 5: Select Start time and End time and press the arrow at the bottom.
Unfortunately, the rich text editor for creating automatic replies is missing in the Outlook Mac app.
Set up Automatic Replies in Outlook Windows
On Windows, we have the Mail app built into the operating system and the Outlook app that is part of the Microsoft 365 suite. For the example below, we’ll use the Outlook app from Microsoft 365.
Stage 1: Open Outlook on Windows.
Step 2: Keep the Mail menu open and choose File from the menu bar.
Stage 3: From the info page you will find the Automatic Replies option. Click on it.
Step 4: Enable Send auto reply and choose start and end time.
Step 5: Type your auto-reply using a functional text editor and click OK at the bottom.
One area where Outlook for Windows is outpacing Outlook Mac and Outlook web is Rules in automatic replies.
After typing your auto reply, you can click on Rules and a special menu will pop up to set rules.
Select Add Rule and you can create different automation rules in Outlook. For example, you can automatically forward certain emails to a different email address.
You can also set Outlook to automatically delete certain emails that contain marketing keywords. This way, you won’t be bombarded with hundreds of e-mails when you return from vacation.
Another scenario would be custom responses. Let’s say some customers are more important to you. You can add email addresses to Rules and set a custom email reply for them. The reset will continue to receive normal automatic replies in Outlook. The possibilities are endless here.
Set up Automatic Replies in Outlook
Setting up automatic replies outside of business hours demonstrates your professional approach to your business. Your customers, clients, and those who reach out to you via email appreciate email updates. Follow the steps above and set up out-of-office mail in Outlook.
