How do you set up out of office in the Outlook mobile app?

In case you are new to the concept, an out of office reply is an automated email response to any messages you receive in your inbox whilst you are away. This automated message is an opportunity to inform your clients, customers, colleagues and contacts that you are not available. You can also direct them on who to get in contact with or what action to take in your absence.

This way colleagues or existing/prospective clients know that you are not ignoring them. Your reputation remains intact! Also, if anything is to go awry, they are not wasting critical time waiting on a response from someone who cannot help them.

You can specify how long your out of office is in action for. Away for 2 weeks, set the dates to cover your holiday. It is a good practice and boundary to put into place, especially for those who struggle to shut off from work. You can also set it indefinitely, if circumstances mean it is unclear when you shall return. Perhaps you have planned surgery or are on compassionate leave?

For many of us, it can feel like a sprint to the finish line to get everything handed over before you take time off. It can be so frantic that you forget to set up an out of office message at all! Do not fear, we have included instructions on how to set one up from your mobile device, so you don’t have to trudge back to the office to do it. We have also included instructions on how to set up an auto-reply on the Microsoft Outlook web and desktop applications too.

How to set up your out of office reply in Microsoft Outlook mobile app for iOS and Android

• Open up the Microsoft Outlook app on your mobile device.
• Go to Settings.
• Select the account you want to set up an out of office for.
• Tap ‘Automatic replies.’
• Switch the ‘Automatic replies’ toggle to on.
• Select ‘Reply to everyone’ or ‘Reply only to my organisation’ as applicable. Or, if you want to set up a slightly different out of office message for both, switch the ‘Use different messages for my organisation and external senders’ toggle to on.
• Compose your out of office message in the ‘Reply to everyone with’ or ‘Reply to my organisation with’ text field.
• Tap the Tick icon in the top right hand corner of the screen when you are happy with your message.
• A pop up message will appear: ‘Update Automatic Replies? Do you want to update your Automatic Replies settings?’ Select OK.

How to turn off your out of office reply in Microsoft Outlook mobile app for iOS and Android

• Open up the Microsoft Outlook app on your mobile device.
• Go to Settings.
• Select the account you want to set up an out of office for.
• Tap ‘Automatic replies.’
• Switch the ‘Automatic replies’ toggle to off.

How to set up your out of office reply in Microsoft Outlook web application

• Go to Settings (cog icon in top right hand corner).
• Scroll down to the bottom of the menu that appeared and select ‘View all Outlook settings.’
• Go to Mail > Automatic Replies.
• Switch the ‘Turn on automatic replies’ toggle to on.
• Tick the box ‘Send replies only during a time period.’ Please note: If you want your out of office to kick in straight away and not specify a time frame, then leave the box unticked.
• If you opted into  ‘Send replies only during a time period,’ specify the ‘Start-’ and ‘End time’ for the period in which you would like your automated response to be sent.
• There are tick boxes you can opt into:
• Block my calendar for this period - tick this box to block your calendar for the time frame you have specified.
• Automatically decline new invitations for events that occur during this period - tick this box to automatically decline any new events which are scheduled in the time frame you have specified.
• Decline and cancel my meetings during this period - tick this box to cancel any existing meetings or outstanding invitations which have already been scheduled in the time frame you have specified.
• Compose your out of office message in the ‘Send automatic replies inside your organisation’ in the text editor box.
• You can create separate out of office messages for clients. Select the box ‘Send replies outside your organisation.’ Enter the same or a different message in the accompanying text editor box.
• Hit ‘OK’ when you are happy with your message.

How to turn off your out of office reply in Microsoft Outlook web application

• Go to Settings > Mail > Automatic Replies.
• Switch the ‘Turn on automatic replies’ toggle to off.

How to set up your out of office reply in Microsoft Outlook desktop application

• Go to File (top left hand corner).
• Click ‘Automatic Replies (Out of Office).’
• Select ‘Send automatic replies.’
• Tick the box ‘Only send during a time period.’ Please note: If you want your out of office to kick in straight away and not specify a time frame, then leave the box unticked.
• If you opted into ‘Only send during a time period,’ specify the ‘Start-’ and ‘End time’ for the period in which you would like your automated response to be sent.
• You can create separate out of office messages for clients and colleagues. Click the appropriate tab:
• Inside My Organisation
• Outside My Organisation. Make sure the ‘Auto-reply to people outside my organisation’ box is ticked.
• Compose your out of office message in the corresponding text editor box.
• Hit ‘OK’ when you are happy with your message.

How to turn off your out of office reply in Microsoft Outlook desktop application

When an out of office is on in the desktop version, a yellow banner will feature at the top of your inbox reading "Automatic Replies are being sent for this account". To stop sending out of office messages simply:

• Press the ‘Turn off’ button featured on this yellow banner.