How to Set Up Automatic Reply in Outlook (Out of Office)

In new Outlook for Windows, go to View > View settings > Accounts > Automatic Replies and turn the toggle on. In Outlook on the web and Outlook.com, it is Settings > Mail > Automatic replies instead. In classic Outlook for Windows, it is File > Automatic Replies.

There is no single answer to how to set up automatic reply in Outlook, because Microsoft moved the setting to a different place in each version of the app. The toggle itself takes about ten seconds once you find it. Finding it is the whole job.

One thing to check before you start: this feature is a mailbox server function, not an Outlook function. Microsoft states it is not supported for Gmail, Yahoo, or other POP or IMAP accounts. If your mail is one of those, the toggle will not be there, and the workaround at the end of this article is your only route.

Where to set up automatic reply in Outlook on Windows

New Outlook and classic Outlook look similar but keep this setting in completely different menus. The quickest way to tell which you have: classic Outlook has a File tab in the top-left corner, and new Outlook does not.

New Outlook for Windows:

1. Open the View tab and select View settings. The gear icon in the upper right opens the same window if you prefer it.

2. Select Accounts, then Automatic Replies.

3. Turn on the Automatic replies toggle.

4. Tick Send replies only during a time period and set a start and end time. This is the part people skip, and it is the part that stops the reply running for three weeks after you get back.

5. Type your message, then select Save.

Classic Outlook for Windows:

1. Select File > Automatic Replies.

2. Select Send automatic replies, then set a date range if you want one. Replies stop on their own at the end time.

3. Type your message and select OK.

To switch replies off early in classic Outlook, use the Turn off button in the notice bar that appears under the ribbon. That is the whole of how to set up automatic reply in Outlook on the desktop — the other platforms differ only in where the menu sits.

Outlook on the web, Outlook.com, Mac and mobile

The web version is the one that trips people up, because it does not follow the new Outlook desktop path. Microsoft's own documentation for Outlook.com and Outlook on the web gives the path as Settings > Mail > Automatic replies, then Turn on automatic replies. Several well-regarded third-party guides list it under Accounts instead, which matches the desktop app. If Mail does not have it in your tenant, check Accounts before concluding the feature is missing — or type "automatic" into the search box at the top of the settings window, which jumps straight to it in every version.

On Outlook for Mac, open the Tools menu in the Mac menu bar and select Automatic Replies, then switch on Send Automatic Replies.

On the Outlook mobile app, tap your profile or menu icon in the top-left corner, tap the gear icon at the bottom left, select the account, then tap Automatic Replies. Turn the toggle on, type your message, and tap the checkmark in the top-right corner. Sources differ slightly on whether you pick the account before or after opening Automatic Replies, and the labels shift a little between app versions, so expect one of those two orders.

What automatic replies do not do

They do not reply to every email. Microsoft documents that while the Out of Office assistant is on, only one reply is sent to each sender, even if that person emails you five times. The internal "already replied to" list is cleared when you turn the assistant off, not when a scheduled period rolls over. That is usually what people want, but it means a colleague who emailed you on day one hears nothing on day eight.

They also do not clear your calendar by default. On Outlook.com and Outlook on the web there are separate checkboxes for it — 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 — and you have to tick them yourself. Microsoft's documentation for new Outlook on Windows does not describe the same set of calendar options, so do not assume they are present there.

And they are per-account, not per-app. If you have three mailboxes in one Outlook window, turning replies on for one does nothing for the other two.

Common questions

Does the sender know it is automatic? Nothing in the message marks it as automated beyond the wording you choose, but mail clients generally thread it as a normal reply from you. Write it as though a person will read it, because one will.

Can I send a different message to people outside my company? Yes, on work or school accounts. Classic Outlook splits this into Inside My Organization and Outside My Organization tabs; new Outlook and the web use a Send replies outside your organization checkbox. Microsoft's guidance is worth heeding here: external replies go to newsletters and junk mail too, so classic Outlook's "My contacts only" option is the safer setting.

Does Outlook need to stay open? No — not for this feature. The reply is sent by the mail server, so it works with your laptop shut. That is specifically why it is unavailable on IMAP and POP accounts.

If the option isn't there

A missing Automatic Replies entry almost always means the account is not Exchange or Microsoft 365. Check which account is selected in the settings window first, since Outlook shows the setting per mailbox.

If it genuinely is a POP or IMAP account, the fallback is a rule: save your message as an Outlook Template (.oft), then go to File > Manage Rules & Alerts > New Rule, choose Apply rules on messages I receive, and set the action to reply using that specific template. Two warnings about this route. It has no end date, so you must switch it off by hand when you are back. And because the rule runs in Outlook rather than on the server, Outlook has to stay running on a machine that is awake and online for the whole period — which is a worse deal than it sounds.

If you are reorganising how your mail behaves while you are away, it is worth knowing how to recall an email in Outlook and the narrow conditions under which that actually works.