Setting an Out of Office message in Outlook

To set an automatic Out of Office reply, please use the following instructions. The screenshots in this article are from Outlook 2013, your version may look slightly different. This guide is for setting an Out of Office reply in the Outlook application. For setting an Out of Office reply in Outlook Web Access (OWA) please see Setting an Out of Office message in OWA.

1. Open the File menu

In the Outlook application, click the File button in the top left of the screen.

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2. Open the Automatic Replies menu

Under the Account Information screen select the Automatic Replies button, as shown below

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3. Create your Automatic Reply

Make sure "Send automatic replies" is selected then enter your message for both inside and outside your organisation using the relevant tabs.

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4. Set a time range

If you know the date you will be returning to the office, tick the box for "Only send during this time range" and set the start and end date/time. This will automatically enable and disable your Automatic Reply. If you do not know when you will be returning to the office, leave this box blank. Click OK.

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5. Turning off Automatic Reply

If your Automatic Reply has been set successfully, the Automatic Reply section in the File menu will now appear yellow, as show below. To manually turn off your Automatic Reply, click the Turn Off button. The yellow background will now disappear, and your Out of Office message will no longer be sent.

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