Microsoft 365 (Outlook on the web | Outlook for Windows/MacOS) - Automatic Replies

This topic shows you how to use the Automatic Replies tab. Use automatic replies whenever you want to let people who send you email know that you won't be responding to their messages right away because you are either unavailable or away from the office (such as on vacation). If automatic replies are enabled, only one reply is sent to each sender even if a recipient receives multiple messages from the same sender.

Note for administrators: Some administrative functions in Office 365 require administrators to access a user's account via Outlook on the web, which requires the user to grant the administrator full mailbox permissions. Once the administrator has full mailbox permissions, they can follow these instructions to access the user's account.

Note: The automatic reply will also show up for users who are attempting to interact with you via Teams - the automatic message will appear when they hover over your avatar/account.

Important:

  • Automatic reply will be triggered regardless if the user is placed in the To, CC, or BCC fields.
  • Automatic reply will not be triggered if the original message received a spam rating. 
  • If there is a forward on the account, automatic replies will not be sent back to senders. The forward will need to be removed.
  • If you are needing to configure automatic replies for a service account you have full mailbox permissions to, please use the following article to first access the service account: Office 365 - How to access a Service Account ("Access the service account via 'Open Mailbox' feature in Outlook on the web" section). Then use the 'Outlook on the web' instructions below. The Microsoft 365 team recommends using 'Outlook on the web' instructions to set the automatic reply on a service account you have permissions to regardless of the client you are using to interact with the service account.

Manage Automatic Replies

Outlook on the web

Outlook for Windows

Outlook for Mac

Other Resources

Understanding and troubleshooting Out of Office (OOF) replies

Internal Notes

For HD/PCS Staff 

If a customer is looking for workaround so auto-reply goes to every message they receive, set up a server based rule on Outlook for Windows.

Please review and complete the instructions. Once set up, this process will entail a server based operation that will work even when Outlook is closed.  
For NetID accounts:
  1. Please follow these instructions to implement the server based rule: 
    1. Launch Outlook and ensure you're signed in with your NetID
    2. Click File and click Manage Rules and Alerts.
    3. Click New Rule and a window will pop up
    4. Under the header, Start from a blank rule, select Apply rule on new messages I receive
    5. Click next, click next again, click yes on the prompt asking: The rule will be applied to every message you receive. Is this correct? 
    6. On the next page, please click have server reply using a specific message.
    7. In the Step 2 box, Outlook will allow you to draft a message that will go to every message you receive. 
    8. Click next, click next again
    9. Name the rule, and click finish
For Service Accounts: 
  1. Please set a password on the service account so you can sign directly into Outlook for Windows by creating a new profile: 
    1. https://kb.wisc.edu/46699
  2. Follow these instructions to create a new Outlook profile
    1. https://kb.wisc.edu/52197#:~:text=show/hide%20section)-,Create%20a%20new%20profile,-(click%20to%20show
    2. Once the profile is created, please follow the prompts and login to your service account.
    3. Additionally, please click File > Account Settings > Manage Profiles > Show Profiles. Now you can tell Outlook to prompt for a profile to be used, so you can use the new profile to create the server based rule. 
  3. Please follow these instructions to implement the server based rule: 
    1. Launch Outlook and select the profile you created above.
    2. Click File and click Manage Rules and Alerts.
    3. Click New Rule and a window will pop up
    4. Under the header, Start from a blank rule, select Apply rule on new messages I receive
    5. Click next, click next again, click yes on the prompt asking: The rule will be applied to every message you receive. Is this correct? 
    6. On the next page, please click have server reply using a specific message.
    7. In the Step 2 box, Outlook will allow you to draft a message that will go to every message you receive. 
    8. Click next, click next again
    9. Name the rule, and click finish
Once you've completed this, please click File > Account Settings > Manage Profiles > Show Profiles. Now you can tell Outlook to always use your default profile and you can revert back to your usual profile. 

Keywords:
microsoft office 365 web app client outlook mail messages automatic reply vacation owa o365 m365 microsoft 365 autoreply autoreplies ooto ooo 2016 2019 proplus subscription out of office service account linked
Doc ID:
32606
Owned by:
O365 S. in Microsoft 365
Created:
2013-08-08
Updated:
2025-06-11
Sites:
DoITHelpDesk-external, DoITHelpDesk-internal, Microsoft365-external, Microsoft365-internal, WiscAccountAdmin-external, WiscAccountAdmin-internal