Out of office message generator.

Out of office message examples

Every good out of office message says three things: that you're away, when you'll be back, and who to contact if it can't wait. Here's how that reads in the most common situations; the generator above writes the same thing with your dates and names.

1. 1.

   Holiday

   Annual leave

   "Thank you for your email. I'm currently out of the office on annual leave until Monday 2 November. I'll respond to your message when I return. For anything urgent, please contact Ana Lima (ana@example.com)."

2. 2.

   Sick day

   Short and private

   "Thank you for your email. I'm out of the office today and will reply as soon as I'm back. For anything urgent, please contact Ana Lima." Saying you're unwell is optional; you never owe anyone the details.

3. 3.

   Work trip or conference

   Slow, not gone

   "Thanks for your message! I'm travelling for work until Thursday 5 November and checking email less than usual. I'll get back to you when I'm back. If it can't wait, Ana Lima can help."

4. 4.

   Parental leave

   Long absence

   "Thank you for your email. I'm on parental leave until 2 February and won't be checking email. For anything about my projects, please contact Ana Lima (ana@example.com), who's covering for me." For a long absence, give a person, not just a date.

5. 5.

   Public holiday

   For the whole team

   "Thank you for your email. Our office is closed for the public holiday until Tuesday 3 November. We'll reply to your message when we're back."

6. 6.

   The short one

   For colleagues

   "I'm on leave until 3 November. Urgent? Contact Ana Lima." Inside your own company, shorter is usually better.

How to set an out of office message in Outlook

In the new Outlook and Outlook on the web, open Settings (the gear icon), go to Account, then Automatic replies. Turn automatic replies on, tick the option to send them only during a time period, set your start and end dates, and paste your message. You can write a different message for people outside your organisation, which is a good idea: colleagues need less explanation than customers.

In classic Outlook for Windows, go to File, then Automatic Replies, and fill in the same details. Outlook switches the replies off by itself at the end date if you set one, so you don't need to remember to come back to it.

How to set an out of office message in Gmail

In Gmail, click the gear icon, then See all settings. On the General tab, scroll down to Vacation responder, switch it on, set the first and last day, add a subject such as "Out of office until 3 November", paste your message, and click Save changes at the bottom.

Gmail sends the auto-reply once to each person in a four-day period, not to every message, so people who write twice won't get it twice. You can also choose to send it only to people in your contacts, or only to people in your organisation on a work account.

Out of office in Slack and Microsoft Teams

Team chat doesn't send auto-replies, so a status does the job instead: it shows next to your name wherever people try to message you. In Slack, click your profile picture, choose Update your status, add an emoji and a short line like "🌴 On holiday until 3 Nov", and set it to clear when you're back. Pausing notifications for the same dates keeps your phone quiet too.

In Microsoft Teams, click your profile picture and choose Set status message. Type your message and set when it should clear. The same dialog has a link to schedule out of office, which turns on your Outlook auto-reply and your Teams status together. The status from the generator above is short enough for both.

What a good out of office message includes

• When you're back. A date, not "next week". If you don't know yet, say you'll reply as soon as you're back.
• Who can help. A name, and an email if it's someone outside the conversation. Ask them first; nobody likes finding out they're covering from a customer.
• Not too much detail. "Out of the office" is enough. Where you are and why are nobody's business, and a holiday destination in an auto-reply tells strangers your home is empty.
• No promises you won't keep. "I'll reply when I'm back" is fine. "I'll reply to every email" after two weeks away usually isn't true.
• Turn it off. Set an end date in Outlook or Gmail, and a clear time on your chat status, so nobody is told you're away the day you're back.