How to Send Automatic Replies in Outlook with an Office365/Exchange Account.
If you have set up Outlook with an Office 365 (aka "Microsoft 365") account and want to send automatic replies to messages you receive, continue reading below.
Whether you're going on vacation or missing work for other reasons, you can easily set up an automatic "out-of-office" reply to let people who email you know that you're unavailable. Outlook Automatic replies can inform others of your absence, provide alternate contacts, or simply let them know when you'll be available again.
If you have a Microsoft 365/Exchange account, you can easily set up an out-of-office auto-reply directly on Microsoft Outlook desktop app, or in Outlook for Web by following the instructions below.
* Note: If you own a POP3/IMAP account, read the instructions in this article: How to Setup Automatic Replies in POP3/IMAP accounts.
How to Set Up & Send Automatic Replies in Microsoft 365/Exchange Accounts in Outlook.
- Set Up an Out-Of-Office Reply in Microsoft Outlook app.
- Set Up Out-Of-Office Replies in Outlook for Web.
How to Set Up Automatic Out-of-Office Replies in Outlook for desktop.
To configure an automatic reply message in Microsoft Outlook:
1. Click the File menu, go to Info tab and click the Automatic Replies option.*
* Note: If you do not see the "Automatic Replies" option, it means that you are not using an Office365/Exchange account but a POP3 or IMAP account. In this case, please read the instructions in this article: How to Setup Automatic Replies in POP3/IMAP accounts.
2. In the 'Automatic Replies' pop-up window, select Send automatic replies option and type your auto-reply message in the message body. *
* Notes: If your email account is linked to an organization or company, you also have the following options for your automatic reply message:
● Inside My Organization: This message will be sent as a response to emails received from people within your company or organization.
● Outside My Organization: This message will be sent to people outside of your organization, such as clients, partners, or personal contacts.
3. If you want to set a specific timeframe for sending the auto replies, tick the Only send during this time range option. Then, select the dates and times when you won't be able to respond to your emails using the given Start time and End time options. You can skip this step if you want to manually enable and disable automatic replies.*
* Note: If you don't set specific dates for your auto-replies, they will be activated and sent immediately as soon as you finish the Automatic Replies set up.
4. If you want to optionally set conditions for when auto-replies are sent and what actions to take with incoming emails, click the Rules button in the bottom left corner.
5. When done, click OK to save the changes.
8. You're done! Automatic replies are ready to be sent during your absence.
9. If you have not set when automatic updates will stop being sent, or if you want to stop them manually or before they stop automatically, go to the File menu > Info and click the Turn off button below under the Automatic Replies section.
How to Send Automatic Replies in Outlook on Web.
If you want to enable the automatic replies on Outlook for web:
1. Click on the Settings (Gear ), icon on the top-right corner and select View all Outlook settings.
2. Select Mail on the left and then click Automatic replies on the right.
3. Then, turn On the Turn on automatic replies toggle.
4. After that, type your out-of-office message in the box.
5. If you want to send auto replies for/at a specific time, check the Send replies only during a time period option and specify the start time and end time.
5a. If you select the "Send replies only during a time period" option, you'll also have three more options that you can turn on if you want to. These options give you more control over your availability and help manage your schedule during the automatic reply period.
6. To send the automatic replies only to people in your contact list, check the Send replies only to contacts option.
7. When done, click Save to apply the changes.
8. You're done! To stop manually the automatic replies, just turn off the Automatic replies toggle.
That's it! Let me know if this guide has helped you by leaving your comment about your experience. Please like and share this guide to help others.
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