How to Set up Auto Reply in Outlook? Are you going to be away from your office for a few days and want to let your coworkers know? Learning how to set up an automatic reply in Outlook might be just what you need. Now, if someone messages you when you’re not working, they’ll get an automatic reply letting them know you’re away. You can set up automatic replies in Microsoft 365 as well as in various versions of Outlook.
Read: How to Extract Email Addresses from Outlook A Step-by-Step Guide
You can quickly set up an automatic reply by choosing “File” and then “Automatic Reply” in Outlook. Select “Send automatic replies,” then configure the specific days and times you want other people to receive this message.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at how to configure the auto-reply feature in Outlook.
How to Set up Auto Reply in Outlook
Setting up automatic replies in Outlook can be done in two ways. One is to use the “Automatic Reply” button and the other is to use rules. Both these methods are explained below.
1. Use the Automatic Reply Button.
Does your Outlook have an “Automatic Reply” button? Use these pointers to set up automated responses for your coworkers.
- In Outlook, select the “File” option.
- Now select the “Automatic Reply” option.
- If you’re using Outlook 2007, select “Tools” and then select “Out of Office Assistance.”
- In the “Automatic reply” box, select “Send automatic reply.”
- You can now set a date for your automatic replies. Setting a date range will allow messages to start and end at a specified time period.
- In the “In my organization” tab, enter the message you want to show your coworkers when they message you during your absence.
- If you choose the “Anyone outside my organization” option, your automatic replies will be sent to everyone who emails you. This includes all promotional and spam messages.
- So, if you want to let people outside your organization know that you’re away, choose the “Only my contacts” option.
- Finally, tap “OK” and save all the changes applied.
2. Configure Rules to Create Automated Responses.
If you don’t see an “Automatic Reply” button you may be wondering how to send an automatic reply in Outlook. This means that this feature is not supported by your email account. Don’t worry, you can still set up automated responses through filters.
- In Outlook, type an email.
- Now enter the message and subject text of your Out of Office template.
- Select “File” and then select “Save As”.
- Create a name for this template.
- Select “Outlook Template (.oft)” from the “Save As” menu.
- The default location of your newly created template will be: “c:\users\username\appdata\roaming\microsoft\templates”.
- You have the option of changing this default location.
- After changing or using this default location for your template, click on the “Save” option.
- You can use this template whenever you want to set up an auto-reply for your coworkers.
- Alternatively, you can create a new template as needed whenever you are out of your office.
- To create the rule, select “File” in Outlook.
- After that, select the option “Manage rules and alerts”.
- In the “Rules and Alerts” area, go to the “Email Rules” tab.
- Here, tap on the “New Rule” button.
- Under “Start with an empty rule,” select “Apply rule to messages I receive.”
- Now press “Next”.
- To reply to all messages you receive, leave the first two boxes unchanged.
- Tap “Next” and select “Yes” when prompted to apply the rule to each email.
- When you see “What do you want to do with the message,” choose the “Reply using a specific template” action.
- To “Edit Rule Description”, tap the underlined phrases for “Specific Pattern”.
- Check out the “Look in” box. It’s at the top of the “Select response template” box.
- Here, select “User templates in file system”.
- Select the template you just created, then select Open.
- Now select “Next”.
- Add relevant exceptions if necessary.
- After that, choose the “Next” option.
- Enter a name for your rule.
- You will see that the “Enable this rule” box is checked. If you want to enable this rule immediately, leave this box checked.
- If you want to enable this rule later, uncheck the “Enable this rule” box.
- Keep Outlook running while you’re away. This will allow you to continue sending replies even when you’re out of the office.
How To Set Up Auto Reply in Outlook App
If you use Outlook on your Android or iPhone, creating an Outlook autoresponder is quite simple. The sections below will show you how to create an automatic reply on the Outlook app on your phone.
1- Android
- Open the Outlook app on your Android phone.
- Select the “Home” button. It is located at the top left of the screen.
- Now go to “Settings” of the app.
- Select the account for which you want to create an out-of-office response.
- Under the Account heading, tap “Automatic Replies.”
- This will take you to another window.
- Here enter the out-of-office message you want your coworkers to see when they send you a message. Type this response in the “Reply all” box below.
- Now, at the top right of the screen, select the “Check” icon.
2- iPhone
- To configure auto-reply on the Outlook app on your iOS, press the “Home” button on the app.
- Then, touch the “Settings” icon.
- Select your Outlook account.
- Now, tap on the “Auto Reply” button.
- Click the “Auto Reply” button to enable out-of-office responses.
- Enter your out-of-office reply or the message you want to show others when they message you while you’re away. Type this message in the box below the “Automatic reply” toggle.
- Once you return to your desk, tap the “Auto Reply” button again. This will disable responses outside your office.
Summary
Learning how to set up automatic replies in Outlook is a useful thing for any working professional. This not only saves you from being bothered by work calls while you are away but also saves the time of the person calling you. As soon as they see the auto-reply, they don’t contact you again. Use the instructions above to configure out-of-office auto-reply in your browser or application. If you need further advice, contact Technical Support by e-mail.