Out of Office Message Template
Fill in when you are away, why, and who covers for you. The generator writes the out of office message in a short, formal and friendly version, for colleagues and for customers, with a subject line, ready to paste into Outlook or Gmail.
How to set up an out of office reply in Outlook and Gmail
Copy the message you want first, then follow the steps for your mail app. Menu names are from Microsoft's and Google's help pages.
Outlook (new Outlook and Outlook on the web)
- New Outlook for Windows: open View, then View settings. Outlook on the web: open Settings.
- Go to Accounts (on the web: Account), then Automatic replies.
- Turn on the Automatic replies toggle.
- Select "Send replies only during a time period" and enter your start and end times.
- Paste your message in the box. Work or school accounts can add a separate message for people outside the organization: use the customer version there.
- Select Save.
In classic Outlook for Windows it is File, then Automatic Replies, with Inside My Organization and Outside My Organization tabs. Microsoft warns that replying to everyone outside your organization also answers newsletters, ads and junk email, and suggests the "My contacts only" option.
Microsoft Support: Send automatic replies (out of office) from OutlookGmail
- On your computer, open Gmail, click Settings at the top right, then See all settings.
- On the General tab, go to the Vacation responder section and select Vacation responder on.
- Fill in the first day, the last day, the subject and the message.
- Optional: check the box to send the reply only to your contacts.
- Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.
Google says the reply starts at 12:00 AM on the first day and ends at 11:59 PM on the last day, and in most cases goes to each sender only the first time they write. Someone who writes again after four days gets it again.
Gmail Help: vacation responder (support.google.com)What to put in an out of office message
Four things: that you are away, when you are back (the return date matters more than the last day away), who to contact in the meantime, and whether you will read email at all. A reason is optional. "On vacation" or "at a conference" helps people decide whether to wait; for sick leave or anything personal, "out of the office" is enough, and this generator never says more.
Give the return date with the weekday, so nobody has to check a calendar, and name a real person to contact with a way to reach them. "Please contact my team" sends people back to your inbox.
Internal and external versions
Colleagues need less: the dates and who covers what. Customers and prospects need the formal opening, your full signature with your company, and a clear route for anything that cannot wait. Outlook work accounts let you set the two messages separately; in Gmail you pick one, so use the customer version.
Out of office messages for sales reps
When a customer emails a rep who is away, the email is usually about a quote, an order or a delivery. Tick the sales option and the customer version names who handles quotes and orders while you are out, and says the work keeps moving. At a trade show, choose business travel and add the show's name: customers see you are working, not on the beach.
Set the reply the evening before you leave, test it by sending yourself an email from another address, and turn it off the morning you are back.
Away from the phone too? The Voicemail Script Generator writes an out of office voicemail greeting with the same dates.
For reps on the road: outside sales rep, trade show follow-up email, sales handover template.
The auto-reply covers the inbox. The handover is a conversation.
The out of office tells people who to contact. The handover meeting before you leave is where your cover learns which deals, quotes and customers need them. Record that meeting with ParrotNotes and get the summary and action items, so nothing lives only in your head while you are away. Free for 100 minutes of recording a month.
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