How to Set Out of Office Reply in Outlook

Microsoft Outlook users can easily set an Out of Office message to automatically reply to received messages if you’re going to be away on vacation for a few days. We’ll show you how it’s done from Outlook client software or the Outlook Web Access (OWA) with this tutorial.

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Enabling Out of Office Replies from Outlook Client

1. In Outlook, select the “File” > “Info” > “Automatic Replies (Out of Office)“. If this option is grayed out, you may not be connected to a server that cannot use this feature.
   
2. Select the “Send automatic replies” option. You can also check “Only send during this time range:” and select a time frame to send the replies.
3. Select the “Inside My Organization” tab and type the reply you would like sent to your co-workers who are on the same mail system.
4. Select the “Outside My Organization” tab and type the reply you would like sent to people outside of your organization.
   
5. Select “OK“, and you’re done!

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Disabling Out of Office from Outlook Client

1. Select “File” > “Info” > “Automatic Replies“.
2. Select the “Do not send automatic replies” option, then select “OK“.

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Enabling Out of Office Reply from Outlook Web Access (OWA)

1. Login to OWA for your organization.
2. Select the gear icon located at the upper-right corner, then choose “Set automatic replies“.
3. Select the “Send automatic replies” option. You can also check “Only send during this time range:” and select a time frame to send the replies.
4. In the “Inside My Organization” area, type the reply you would like sent to your co-workers who are on the same mail system.
5. In the “Outside My Organization” area, type the reply you would like sent to people outside of your organization.
6. Select “Save” and you’re done.

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Disabling Out of Office Reply from Outlook Web Access (OWA)

1. Login to OWA for your organization.
2. Select the gear icon located at the upper-right corner, then choose “Set automatic replies“.
3. Select the “Don’t send automatic replies” option.
4. Select “Save“.

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Note: If you are using Outlook in a corporate or school environment, you may have to contact your system administrator to enable or disable the automatic out of office reply feature.