Out of Office Email Message Examples

If you have plans to be out of the office for a period of time, then setting your out-of-office email message is a must. The last thing you want to do is upset clients, coworkers, or vendors by going dark with no explanation.

For those new to the business world, your out-of-office message is the most common form of automation related to email. Once activated, it sends out a predetermined email message to anyone who emails you while you’re out, telling recipients exactly what they need to know.

How to Set Up Your Out of Office in Gmail

Thankfully, setting this up in Gmail is easy to do and only takes a few minutes. Here are step-by-step instructions for setting your out-of-office message, plus some helpful examples you can steal for your own use:
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1. Navigate to mail.google.com
2. Click the gear icon in the upper right-hand corner below your account name:

3. Click Settings:

4. Scroll to the bottom of the page to the Vacation Responder block
5. Turn your Vacation Responder on:

6. Set active dates for the Vacation Responder:

You’ll have options to set a “first day” and “last day,” or just “first day.” If you want things truly automated, picking a “last day” will trigger the autoresponder to automatically turn itself off the day after the selected date. Of course, in those instances when you’re unsure of your exact return date, it’s best to leave this open-ended.

7. Set the email response subject line:

The “out of office” subject line is much less creative and scientific than say, a cold email subject line or a marketing email subject line. More often than not, they’re very plain and simple, like the following:

• Out of Office
• Out of Office Friday, Nov 8th – Friday, Nov 9th
• I’m Out Til Monday the 12th

On the other hand, you can get more interesting or playful with subject lines such as:

• I’m at Growth Marketing Conference – Are You?
• Bonjour from France! 🇫🇷
• Happy Holidays! I’m at home with my family.

An easy win here is to be specific about your out-of-office dates, or to be upbeat about why you are out of office.

8. Type up your out-of-office response:

Don’t forget to click Save Changes at the bottom to finalize your message.

Note: While you could test your out-of-office message, you can also see it’s working because Gmail conveniently overlays a yellow bar at the top of your inbox reminding you that your autoresponder is on, along with options to “End now” or adjust your settings.

Additional Reading: How to Automate Follow Ups in Gmail

So what do good out-of-office messages look like? Here are a handful of examples that will help you craft the perfect out-of-office message:

Out-of-Office Message Examples

1. Professional example

2. Lighthearted example

3. Sales Example

4. Social Media Engagement Example

5. Medical Leave Example

6. Lead Generation Example

7. Internal Communication Example

Out-of-Office Message Best Practices

There are multiple ways to craft your out-of-office message, but there are a couple of standard best practices to follow that will ensure you don’t come back to angry or confused customers, coworkers, or vendors.

Reiterate Out-of-Office Dates

This might seem obvious, but make sure you clearly state and restate the dates you’ll be out of the office. Even if you put the dates in your subject line, you should also repeat them in the message body. It’s hard to over-communicate here. State exactly when you’ll be back, and whether or not you’ll be responding to calls and emails while you’re out. If you’re on the road but are responding to messages, let everyone know if you’ll be unavailable for an extended period (while on a flight, for example), if you’ll be in a different time zone, and in general, that they should expect a delay in response time. All in all, set realistic expectations and strive to be as specific as possible.

Provide Guidance

It usually isn’t enough to just say you’re out and won’t be responding to messages. You’ve got to give people options for how they can get their issue or request resolved. One of the easiest wins here is to provide alternative contact information. That could mean providing your mobile number while you’re out, or, more commonly, providing the phone number and email of the colleague (or department) that will be covering while you’re away.

Again, be as specific as possible and provide as much detail as possible on how they can get their questions answered or problems resolved. This will ensure you come back to fewer fires and headaches.

Lastly, don’t forget to set your out-of-office greeting for your office and mobile phones while you’re out.

Out of Office Message FAQs

What do I put in an out-of-office message?

A good out-of-office message needs to have the following things:

1. Dates of your leave — You need to be clear and precise about how long you’re going to be unavailable.
2. Alternative contact — You need to provide an alternative contact for people who need immediate assistance. A phone number or email address of the person who is covering you should be good enough.
3. Reason for your leave — Without knowing the reason for your leave, your colleagues might assume that you’ll still be checking your emails and may try to reach you. They’ll be less likely to contact you if they know you’re on a vacation.

Why should I have an out-of-office setup?

If you have an out-of-office email setup, every time somebody emails you, they will get an automated reply containing your message. Normally, this message has details like why you’re unavailable and when people can reach you again. This helps you automatically inform your contacts about your absence.

Not setting up an out-of-office message and ghosting people without an explanation can be rude in a professional setting. And it can lead to miscommunication, business errors, and even financial losses!

How to turn off your out-of-office email?

Step 1: Go to settings in the top right corner of your Gmail account.

Step 2: Scroll down to the “Vacation Responder” section.

Step 3: Select the option “Vacation responder off”.

Is there an easy way to use vacation responders?

The best way to use vacation responders in a stress-free way is to rely on templates. After all, the specific reasoning for going on vacation may change. However, the basic template of telling them the length of your absence will remain constant with the expectation of the timeframe.

Can I reuse an automated out-of-office email response?

Absolutely. Out-of-office email responses do not need to be on the level of a Shakespeare drama. They need to communicate some simple facts to ensure complete clarity between you and the recipients.