If you are going on holiday or will be unavailable for a period of time, you can configure Outlook to automatically reply to people who email you.
With a Microsoft 365 or Exchange mailbox, automatic replies continue to work even when Outlook is closed.
Classic Outlook
Open Outlook and go to:
File > Automatic Replies
Select:
Send automatic replies
If you want the reply to start and stop automatically, select:
Only send during this time range
Choose the start and end date and time.
Enter the message you want people within your organisation to receive.
If you also want people outside your organisation to receive an automatic reply, select the Outside My Organization tab and enable automatic replies for external senders.
Click OK to save the settings.
New Outlook
Open Outlook and go to:
View > View settings
Then select:
Accounts > Automatic Replies
Turn on:
Automatic replies
To set a start and end time, enable:
Send replies only during a time period
Choose the dates and times required.
Enter your automatic reply message.
If required, enable replies to people outside your organisation and enter a separate external message.
Click Save.
Outlook on the Web
Sign in to Outlook on the web.
Click Settings and go to:
Accounts > Automatic replies
Turn on:
Automatic replies
If required, select:
Send replies only during a time period
Choose the start and end date and time.
Enter the message you want sent while you are away.
If you want people outside your organisation to receive the reply, enable:
Send replies outside your organization
Click Save.
Turning Off Your Out of Office Reply
If you selected a start and end time, Outlook will turn automatic replies off automatically.
If you did not set an end time, return to the Automatic Replies settings and turn the feature off manually.
Important
Automatic Replies are designed for Microsoft 365 and Exchange mailboxes.
If you use a POP or IMAP email account and do not see the Automatic Replies option, you may need to create an Outlook rule instead. In that case, Outlook normally needs to remain running for the reply to be sent.