Setting Automatic Replies in Outlook

Owned by Dan Jakubiak
Last updated: Jul 29, 2024 by A.J. Newman
5 min read

People with a UConn mailbox can create an out-of-office automatic reply in Microsoft Outlook.

"Send automatic replies to anyone outside my organization" will send your automatic reply to every email, including newsletters, advertisements, and potentially junk email. If you want to send automatic replies to only those inside your organization, we recommend choosing "My contacts" only.

Creating an Automatic Reply

  1. Log in to Microsoft 365 and open the Outlook mail app.

  2. Click the settings icon, and then click View all Outlook settings.

  3. With the Mail tab selected, click Automatic replies.

  4. Click Turn on automatic replies.

  5. If you wish to specify a start and end date for your automatic reply, click the checkbox for “send replies only during a time period” and set a date range for your automatic replies. If you do not choose an automatic end time, you will have to manually turn off automatic out-of-office replies.

  6. In the text box, enter the automatic reply you wish to send.

  7. If you choose to send replies to senders outside of the organization, select Send replies outside your organization. To only send outside replies to those in your contacts, click Send replies only to contacts.

  8. Click Save.

Manually Turning Off Automatic Reply

  1. Log in to Microsoft 365 and open the Outlook mail app.

  2. Click the settings icon, and then click View all Outlook settings.

  3. With the Mail tab selected, click Automatic replies.

  4. Click the slider next to Automatic replies on.

  5. Click Save.

Creating an Automatic Reply

  1. Select File → Automatic Replies.

  2. In the Automatic Replies box, select Send automatic replies.

  3. If you wish to specify a start and end date, click the checkbox for “only send during this time range” and set a date range for your automatic replies. If you do not choose an automatic end time, you will have to manually turn off automatic out-of-office replies.

  4. On the Inside My Organization tab, type the response that you want to send to teammates or colleagues while you are out of the office.

  5. If you wish to send replies outside your organization, select the Outside my Organization tab, and click on Auto-reply to people outside my organization. If you want to reply only to those in your contacts, click My contact only. Enter the message you want to be sent to those outside your organization.

  6. Select OK to save your settings.

Manually Turning Off Automatic Reply

  1. Click the File tab, and then click the Info tab in the menu.

  2. In the Automatic Replies section, select Turn off.

Microsoft Outlook for Mac

Creating an Automatic Reply

  1. On the Tools tab, click Out of Office.

  2. In the Auto-Reply Settings box, check the Send automatic replies for account "X” box (where "X” is the account you’d like to send out of office replies from).

  3. Under "Reply once to each sender with," enter your automatic reply.

  4. To set the start and end dates, select the Only send replies during this time period check box, and enter the start and end dates and times. If you do not choose an automatic end time, you will have to manually turn off automatic out-of-office replies.

  5. To send replies only to senders inside the organization, deselect the "Also send replies to senders outside my organization” box. If you choose to send replies to senders outside of the organization, choose to send to your contact list or all external senders and enter your automatic reply.

  6. Click OK.

Turning Off an Automatic Reply

  1. On the Tools tab, click Out of Office.

  2. In the Auto-Reply Settings box, uncheck the Send automatic replies for account "X” box (where "X” is the account you’d like to send out of office replies from).

Apple Mail

Creating an Automatic Reply

  1. Launch Mail and navigate to Mail > Preferences > Rules.

  2. Click Add Rule and give it a description.

  3. In the first drop-down, select Account. In the drop-down next to it, select the email you wish to set up the automatic reply for.

  4. In the "Perform the following actions" drop-down, select Reply to Message.

  5. Click Reply message text and enter your automatic reply. Click OK.

  6. Click Don’t Apply. If you click Apply, your rule will be applied to all your existing messages as well as new messages.

Turning Off Automatic Reply

  1. Rules in Apple are active by default. To turn off your automatic reply navigate to Mail > Preferences > Rules.

  2. Deselect the box next to the automatic reply rule.

Creating an Automatic Reply

  1. Open the Outlook mail app.

  2. Click your picture/initial icon (top left), and then click Gear to enter the settings.

  3. With the Quick Settings tab , click Automatic replies.

  4. Click Turn on automatic replies.

  5. If you wish to specify a start and end date for your automatic reply, click the box for “Reply Withing a Time Range” Toggle the option on, and set a date range for your automatic replies. If you do not choose an automatic end time, you will have to manually turn off automatic out-of-office replies.

  6. If you choose to send replies to senders at UConn select Send replies outside your organization. To only send outside replies to everyone, choose Everyone. You can also toggle the option to send different replies to each group.

  7. Set the text you’d like to send using the “Reply to Everyone With”, or “Reply inside/outside My Organization”

  8. Click the check mark on the top right to save.

Manually Turning Off Automatic Reply

  1. Open the Outlook mail app.

  2. Click your picture/initial icon (top left), and then click Gear to enter the settings.

  3. With the Quick Settings tab, click Automatic replies.

  4. Click the slider next to Automatic replies and toggle it off.

  5. Click the check mark on the top right to save

Related Articles