An out of office message needs three things: the dates you are away, including the day you are back; whether you will read email while you are gone; and who to contact if it cannot wait. Two or three sentences cover it. You do not have to say where you are or why.
What to include
- The dates. "I am away from Monday 4 to Friday 15 August and back on Monday 18th." The return day is the part people look for.
- Whether you are reading email. "I will not be checking email" is clearer and more honest than "I will have limited access".
- Who to contact instead. A name, an address and what they can help with. Ask them first.
- What happens to the email. "I will reply when I am back" is enough. If you will not read what piles up, say so, and ask people to write again after your return.
Everything else is optional: a thank-you, a reason, a friendly line.
Examples
The names and dates are made up. Put your own in.
A holiday
Subject: Out of office until Monday 18 August
Thank you for your email. I am on leave from Monday 4 to Friday 15 August and will not be checking email.
For anything urgent, please contact Sunita Rao at sunita.rao@example.com. Otherwise I will reply when I am back on Monday 18th.
Gareth Pryce
A day or two
I am out of the office today, Thursday 12th, and back tomorrow. I will reply then.
Two contacts for two kinds of question
I am away until Monday 2 June and not reading email.
For orders and deliveries, please write to orders@example.com.
For invoices and payments, please contact Oksana Bondar at oksana@example.com.
I will answer everything else in the week I return.
Travelling, with slow replies
I am at a conference from Tuesday 9 to Thursday 11 September and will be reading email in the evenings only, so replies will be slower than usual. If it cannot wait until the evening, please call the office on the main number.
Sick leave
You do not owe anyone the details. If you do not know your return date, do not invent one.
I am out of the office at the moment and not reading email. For anything that needs an answer this week, please contact Sunita Rao at sunita.rao@example.com. I will reply to other messages when I am back.
If it is the email to your manager you need, how to call in sick covers that.
Parental leave, or any long absence
For months away, do not let email pile up. Hand everything to a person.
I am on parental leave until January and will not be reading this inbox. Pilar Santos is covering my work while I am away: pilar.santos@example.com. Please send anything you would have sent to me to her.
Part-time or non-working days
This one stays on every week, so keep it to a line.
I work Monday to Wednesday. Emails sent on Thursday or Friday will be answered on Monday. For anything urgent on those days, please contact the team at projects@example.com.
The office is closed
Our office is closed from Wednesday 24 December and opens again on Friday 2 January. We will answer your email then. For emergency repairs during the closure, please call the number on our website.
You are leaving the organisation
Set this on your last day, if your employer allows it.
I have left Holt Museum and this address is no longer read. For events and bookings, please contact Wei Chen at wei.chen@example.com.
A warmer one for colleagues
If your mail system lets you set a separate message for people inside your organisation, that one can say more.
I'm off until Monday 18th and not looking at email. Sunita has the handover notes and can answer anything about the autumn programme. See you all on the 18th.
Inside and outside your organisation
Some mail systems let you set one reply for colleagues and another for everyone else. If yours does, use it. Colleagues can be told who has your handover and where the files are. Outsiders need only the dates and one contact. Your reply goes to anyone who emails you, including strangers and mailing lists, so write the outside version with that in mind.
What to avoid
- No return date. "I am currently out of the office" leaves the reader guessing how long to wait.
- "Limited access to email." If you will not be replying, say so. People wait for answers when you leave the door half open.
- A contact who does not know. Ask your colleague before you name them, and check they are not away the same week.
- Too much detail. Where you are, how ill you are or what the surgery is for is nobody's business. Think twice before telling every sender that your home is empty for two weeks.
- Your mobile number. Unless you truly want calls on the beach.
- A promise you cannot keep. "I will reply on the day I return" commits you to clearing two weeks of mail in a day. "In the week I return" is kinder to yourself.
- Jokes about how much you will not miss work. Clients and senior people get this message too.
- Wrong dates. Read the dates twice. A typing slip here misleads everyone who writes to you.
Setting it up
- Set a start and end time, so the reply switches itself on and off. A message still saying "back on the 18th" on the 25th looks careless.
- Send yourself a test from another address to see what people will get.
- Put the same dates in your calendar and on your voicemail.
- Tell the people you work with most before you go. The auto-reply is for everyone you did not think of.
Writing one with Hemmingway
The out of office message generator writes the message from a few details: the dates you are away, the day you are back, who is covering and how formal it should be. It uses only what you give it, so it will not invent a contact or a reason. Read it, check the dates and the address against your calendar, and paste it into your mail settings yourself. Nothing is set or sent for you. There is a free trial with no card needed.
Try HemmingwayDownload the app
For the pile of mail waiting when you get back, the Hemmingway apps for Mac, Windows and Android have an Inbox that drafts each reply for you to read and send. How that works.
Common questions
What should an out of office message say?
The dates you are away and the day you return, whether you are reading email, and who to contact for anything urgent. Two or three sentences is enough. A reason is optional.
What is a good short out of office message?
"I am away until Monday 18 August and not checking email. For anything urgent, please contact Sunita Rao at sunita.rao@example.com. I will reply when I am back." Change the date and the contact and it fits nearly any absence.
Should I say why I am out of office?
Only if you want to. "On leave" or "out of the office" is enough for any absence, and for sick leave or personal matters it is better to give no reason at all. The reader needs the dates and a contact, not the cause.
How do I write an out of office message for sick leave?
Say that you are out of the office and not reading email, give a contact for urgent matters, and say you will reply when you are back. Leave out the illness, and leave out a return date if you do not know it yet.
Do I need an out of office message for one day?
If people expect a same-day answer from you, yes. One line does it: "I am out of the office today and back tomorrow." If your email is rarely urgent, a day without replies needs no message.
Should I put my phone number in an out of office message?
Usually not. The message goes to everyone who emails you, including strangers, and a number invites calls while you are away. Give a colleague's work contact or a main office number if something truly cannot wait.