If you have to leave the office for a while, or you're planning to go on vacation, you may want to let the people email you that you're away. If you have an Exchange account, Outlook comes with built-in functions. If you don't have an Exchange account, you can still answer emails automatically by creating a few rules. Follow this guide to set up your automatic replies, whether you have an Exchange account or not.
Step
Method 1 of 4: Outlook 2010/2013
Step 1. Enable automatic replies
Select an Exchange folder. Select the folder from your message store. You must select an Exchange folder in order to see the Automatic Replies option. Open the Automatic Replies (Out of Office) menu. You can find this menu by clicking the File tab and then selecting the Info tab.
Step 2. Configure your reply
In the Automatic Replies menu, check the box that says Send Automatic Replies. You can set the active time for the assistant by checking the box and setting the time and date range.
Step 3. Write your reply
For email sent from within your exchange server, use the Inside My Organization tab. To respond to emails received from other people, use the Outside My Organization tab. Once you are satisfied with your reply, click OK.
Step 4. Disable Automatic Replies
If you set a date range for your automatic reply, the assistant will end automatically when the date range is over. If you don't set a date range, it will continue until you open the Automatic Replies menu and select “Do not send automatic replies.”
Method 2 of 4: Outlook 2007
Step 1. Activate Office Assistant
Click the Tools tab. On the Tools menu, select Out of Office Assistant. Check the box that says “Send Out of Office auto-replies.” You can set the active time for the assistant by checking the box and setting the time and date range.
Step 2. Write your reply
For email sent from within your exchange server, use the Inside My Organization tab. To respond to emails received from other people, use the Outside My Organization tab. Once you are satisfied with your reply, click OK.
Step 3. Disable Out of Office Assistant
If you set a date range for your automatic reply, the assistant will end automatically when the date range is over. If you don't set a date range, it will continue until you open the Automatic Replies menu and select “Do not send automatic replies.”
Method 3 of 4: Outlook 2003
Step 1. Activate Office Assistant
On the Tools menu, select Out of Office Assistant. Check the box that says “I am currently Out of the Office.”
Step 2. Write your reply
In the box labeled “AutoReply only once to each sender with the following text:” enter the answer you want to use as an email reply.
Step 3. Add rules
You can add rules to your Assistant, such as forwarding messages from certain senders to other recipients. Click the Add Rule … button to configure the rule you defined. For example, you can create a rule that will forward email from a specific client to your colleagues so that important emails are not missed when you are away.
Step 4. Disable Out of Office Assistant
Out of Office Assistant will continue until you open the Automatic Replies menu and select “Do not send Out of Office auto-replies.”
Method 4 of 4: Sending Auto Reply Without Exchange Account
Step 1. Create a template
Without an Exchange account, the Automatic Reply option is not available. But it's still possible to set up automatic answers using a template and some rules. Start by creating a new email. This will be the template for your auto-response.
- Choose a Subject that briefly describes the situation. For example “Out of office until”. You can also write the words " auto-reply " in the Subject so that recipients know immediately that what they receive is an automatic answer.
- Write a short message. In the body of the email, write a general message that can be applied to anyone who receives it. Tell the recipient how to contact you, or someone else they can contact.
Step 2. Save your template
Once you are satisfied with the message, click Save As… In the "Save as type" dropdown menu, select Outlook Template. This will save the file as a template that is loaded into Outlook.
Step 3. Create a rule
For the auto-reply to work properly, you'll need to define some rules to automate the process. In Office 2003/2007, click the Tools menu and select Rules and Alerts. In Office 2010/2013, click the File tab, select Info, and then click Rules and Alerts. This will open the E-Mail Rules menu.
- Click the New Rule button. You will be asked to select a template. From the “Start from a blank rule” section, select “Check messages when they arrive.” Click Next.
- Decide which message to reply to. If you want to reply to every message you receive in your inbox, check the “where my name is in the To box” box. You can narrow it down by designating a specific delivery or email with certain words in the subject or body of the email. Click Next after you have made your selection.
- Load your template. Select the “reply using a specific template” box in the next window to load the message you created earlier. Click the link in the description box for " a specific template ". This will open a dialog asking you where to save the template. Select "User Templates in File System". Open the message you created earlier.
- Set your exceptions. Once the template is loaded, you can specify instances if you don't want the reply to be sent, such as for specific recipients, or for certain types of messages. Click Next after you have made your selection.
- Give your rule a name. Before you can finish, you must assign a name to your rule. Use something easy to remember so you can quickly disable the rule in the future. Check the "Turn on this rule" box to activate the rule, then click Finish.
Step 4. Disable the rule
When you're back at work, you can disable the rule by reopening the Rules and Alerts menu. Select the Out of Office rule you created from your list of active rules, then click the Delete button.
Tips
- An organization is usually defined as your company and contains people who have Exchange Server accounts on your e-mail system.
- The Tools menu appears in the main Outlook window. The main window is the same window that appears when you launch Outlook and contains the File, Edit, View, Go, Tools, Actions, and Help menus. There is no Tools menu in the window you use to create or view items such as e-mail messages, contacts, or tasks.
- If you check the Auto-replay to people outside my organization check box, the Outside My Organization tab will be displayed (On) next to the tab name.
- The contact must be in your Exchange Server Contacts folder. If the contact is only in a folder that is part of a personal folders (.pst) file, the auto-reply message will not be sent.
