Set up an automatic reply (out of office) in Microsoft 365 so people who email you while you're away know when you'll be back and who to contact instead. You can schedule it in advance, send different messages to colleagues and outsiders, and an administrator can switch it on for someone who forgot.
Before you start
- Automatic replies run on the Microsoft 365 server, so they keep working when your computer is off. You set them once in any Outlook app and they apply everywhere.
- Decide on your wording. A good reply says when you're back, who to contact for urgent matters, and nothing that helps a scammer (such as "my house is empty until...").
Outlook on the web and the new Outlook for Windows
- Open Settings. Select the gear icon at the top right. (In the new Outlook you can also use View → View settings.)
- Go to Accounts → Automatic replies. If you can't see it, type "automatic replies" in the settings search box.
- Turn on the Automatic replies toggle.
- Set the dates. Tick Send replies only during a time period and choose a start and end time. Without dates, the reply stays on until you turn it off.
- Optional extras for that period: Block my calendar for this period, Automatically decline new invitations for events that occur during this period, and Decline and cancel my meetings during this period.
- Write your reply for people inside your organisation.
- Choose who outside gets a reply. Tick Send replies outside your organization to reply to customers and suppliers, then decide whether to reply only to people in your contacts. Write the external message in the second box.
- Select Save.
Classic Outlook for Windows
- Select File → Automatic Replies. (If you don't see this button, your account is set up as IMAP or POP rather than Microsoft 365. Use Outlook on the web instead, and see Set up Outlook for Windows.)
- Choose Send automatic replies. Tick Only send during this time range and set the start and end times if you want it scheduled.
- Write the Inside My Organization message on the first tab.
- Write the Outside My Organization message on the second tab, ticking Auto-reply to people outside my organization and choosing My Contacts only or Anyone outside my organization.
- Select OK. A yellow bar in Outlook reminds you that automatic replies are on.
Outlook for Mac and mobile
- Outlook for Mac: Tools → Automatic Replies, select your account and complete the same options.
- Outlook for iPhone and Android: tap your profile picture → the settings gear → your account → Automatic replies.
Admins: turn on someone else's automatic reply
If a colleague is unexpectedly off or has left, a Global or Exchange administrator can set the reply for them:
- Sign in to admin.microsoft.com and go to Users → Active users.
- Select the person's name, then the Mail tab.
- Select Manage automatic replies (listed under Automatic replies), turn replies on, enter the messages and dates, and save.
For someone leaving permanently, it's usually better to convert their mailbox to a shared mailbox and set a reply on that. See Remove a leaver.
Example message
"Thank you for your email. I'm out of the office until Monday 3 November and will reply when I'm back. For anything urgent, please contact Sam on sam@yourbusiness.co.uk or 01234 567890."
Troubleshooting
People outside my business aren't getting the reply
Check Send replies outside your organization is ticked, and whether you limited it to your contacts. Each sender receives the external reply only once per period, so test from an address that hasn't emailed you since you turned it on.
My automatic reply is still going out after I came back
If you didn't set an end date, you have to switch it off yourself. Open the same settings and turn Automatic replies off, then save.
The automatic reply shows strange characters or formatting
Text pasted from Word can carry hidden formatting. Paste as plain text (Ctrl+Shift+V in most browsers), then reformat.
Last reviewed: October 2026
