When you are on vacation, it is very useful to set up an “out of office” response for your emails. The vacation responder allows people to email you to know that you will not be able to reply immediately. This article will show you how to create an out-of-office reply in Gmail using either the app for Android or iPhone.
How to set up an Out of Office Reply in Gmail for Desktop
Go to Settings > Setting > Vacation Responder. Select Vacation Responder on and then write your message. Click Save changes.
Notification: Automated replies will not go to spam messages or messages sent to a mailing list that you are subscribed to.
- Open your Gmail inbox.
- Click the cog icon at the top-right corner.
- Next, select Settings.
- Scroll down and then check the box, next Vacation responder, for.
- Next, enter your automatic reply dates. In the Last Day box, type the last day that you wish to send automated replies. If you plan to turn off all automatic replies manually when you return to work, you can skip this step. If you aren’t sure when you will be back, this might be easier.
- Next, type your message from outside the office. This will be an automatic response to any email sent by your company while you are away.
Gmail attaches your signature automatically to any automatic replies it sends. You don’t need to add your signature when you send out an email. You don’t need a signature to send out emails. Check out this guide for how to add a signature in Gmail. - Click Save Your Changes.
You can also select the box next Send a reply only to people in my Contacts box. You can also check the box next to em>Only send a response to people in my Contacts/em>box. If you do not, your out-of-office reply will be sent directly to all those who have sent you an email. You can also choose to limit the recipients of your automatic reply to those in your school or company if you have a Gmail account.
Notification: Gmail sends vacation responses to recipients once, unless you receive an email from the same person after four days.
How to set up an out of office reply in the Gmail Mobile App
Go to Menu > Setting to create a vacation reply in Gmail on your Android or iPhone. Select your account and then go to Vacation response. Next, turn on the Vacation reply and type your message. Finally, tap Done / Save.
Notification: Automated replies will not go to spam messages or messages sent to a mailing list that you are subscribed to.
- Open the Gmail App. You can also download the app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
- Next, tap the Menu icon. This is the three-line icon located in the upper-left corner.
- Scroll down to tap Settings. This option will be at the bottom of your list.
- Choose the account for which you would like to create an out-of-office reply. Your email accounts will appear at the top of your screen.
- Next tap Vacation Responderunder General section.
- To turn it on, tap the slider to the right of the Vacation responder.
- Choose your auto-reply dates. If you prefer to turn off the automatic replies after you return to work, you can choose None for the Last Day.
- Enter your out-of-office message. This is the response that will be sent to anyone who emailed you from your company while you are away.
- Tap Done on an Android phone or Save on an iPhone/iPad. This button is located in the upper-right corner of the screen.
You can also tap on the slider next Send only my Contacts. Gmail will send an out-of-office reply to your contacts only. You can also skip this step if you don’t want your vacation reply sent to everyone. You can also send an automatic reply to only people within your company if you have a Gmail account.
You now know how to set up an office reply in Gmail. Check out this guide to organize your Gmail Inbox.
