Setup Out of Office in Outlook
Out of Office setup in Outlook is an incredibly important and beneficial feature. Whether you are going on vacation, a business trip, or taking an extended leave of absence, setting up Out of Office in Outlook enables you to provide an automated message to those who attempt to contact you while you are away. This automated message typically informs the sender that you are out of the office and provides them with information such as who they can contact in your absence. Furthermore, Out of Office setup ensures that any emails sent to you while you are out of the office will not be missed as they will be held in a queue until your return.
Step to Setup Out of Office in Outlook
- Launch Outlook and click on “Tools > Out of Office Assistant” in the main Outlook window.
- Select the radio button for “I am currently Out of the Office”.
- Set the time frame for your absence in the two sections provided.
- Enter the message you wish to be received when someone emails you while out of office in the box provided.
- Click the “OK” button at the bottom of the Out of Office Assistant window.
- Exit Outlook. Your Out of Office message will now be sent to anyone who emails you while you are away.
How to Set Out of Office in Outlook?
This article will serve as your guide to setting up ‘Out of Office’ in Outlook. You will need to have Outlook setup and configured on your computer or laptop in order to use this feature. Moreover, you will need access to the Outlook account that you wish to set up ‘Out of Office’ for. Also, be sure to take the proper precautions in order to ensure that any sensitive emails sent to you are handled appropriately while you are out of the office.
To begin, open the Outlook program by searching for it in your list of programs. Once the program is open, locate and click on the ‘File’ link at the top left of the window. This will bring up a menu; select ‘Automatic Replies’. You will then be asked to choose the Outlook account for which you wish to set up the Out of Office reply. If you have multiple account in Outlook, click the down arrow and select the applicable one.
Once you have selected the account, activate the ‘Send automatic reply’ option at the top. You will then need to provide two types of replies. The first type of reply is the “Out of the Office” reply, which will be sent to those who attempt to contact you. The second type of reply, ‘I am out of the office but will reply when I return’ is sent to those who attempt to contact you but require a response a bit sooner than when you return to the office.
In the message box, provide a brief message explaining why you are out of the office and when you will return. This should include contact information for those who need to be reached in your absence. You can also provide links to other resources that allows the sender to proceed without you such as links to webpages or Wiki pages. Be sure to keep your message brief, polite, and professional.
Once you have finished setting up your messages, select the option for ‘Do not send more than one Out Of Office message.’ This ensures that you do not send multiple Out of Office messages to the same person. After that, click ‘OK’ and your Out of Office replies will be set up.
You can also turn on the Out of Office function remotely if you are attending a conference or a business trip, as long as you have access to your Outlook account. To do this, access the ‘Send/Receive’ group of commands and select ‘Work Offline.’ Doing this will allow you to check messages while you are away, but replies will not be sent to senders as you are ‘offline.’ Now, you can enable the Out of Office function from your PC, laptop, or mobile device.
Conclusion
In conclusion, setting up Out of Office in Outlook is a straightforward process that doesn’t require much time. You can easily provide automated responses to those who contact you while you’re away. Moreover, Out of Office plays an important role in aligning expectations for those who attempt to contact you while you are out of the office, as they will have evidence of your absence.