Out of Office Message: 15 Free Templates for 2026

An out of office message is an automated email reply that tells senders you're away, when you'll return, and who to contact meanwhile. A strong one contains six elements: acknowledgment, absence dates, return date, alternative contact, response-time expectations, and a clean sign-off. You set it up in Gmail via the vacation responder and in Outlook via Automatic Replies — and you should always write separate internal and external versions for security reasons.

Now, here's the thing nobody tells you about your out of office message.

It's not a formality. It's a tiny piece of public-facing communication that hundreds of people — clients, recruiters, vendors, and yes, occasionally attackers — will read while you're sipping something cold on a beach.

I've written, audited, and rewritten more OOO messages than I care to admit. And I've noticed something: most people spend 40 seconds on theirs, then spend three days after vacation cleaning up the confusion it caused.

So in this guide, I'm walking you through exactly what to write, how to set it up in Gmail and Outlook, which templates to steal, and — critically — what to leave out so your auto-reply email doesn't hand strangers a map of your company.

Let's get into it.

What Is an Out of Office Message (And Why It Matters More Than You Think)

An out of office message is an automated email reply that fires whenever someone contacts you during your absence. Simple concept. Bigger consequences. Because while you're away, that little block of text becomes your voice — the only version of you your clients and colleagues get to interact with. A vague one creates confusion. An oversharing one creates risk. A well-written one buys you genuine, guilt-free time off. Honestly? It's one of the highest-leverage 200 words you'll write all year.

Consider how common the underlying problem is.

A ZeroBounce study of 1,157 workers across the US and Europe found that only 29% of professionals fully disconnect on vacation. Nearly half said fear of missing something important was the reason.

That's not a discipline problem. That's a communication expectations problem.

And a strong automatic reply fixes a surprising amount of it.

The 6 Building Blocks of a Professional Out of Office Message

Before you write a single word, you need a checklist. Every effective OOO message answers the same handful of questions the sender is silently asking: Did this land? When will you reply? Who do I talk to if I can't wait? Nail those, and everything else is decoration. Miss one, and you'll get follow-up emails asking the exact question your message should've answered. Below is the framework I use, in the order it should appear.

1. Acknowledgment. One line confirming their email arrived.

2. Your absence dates. Be specific. "Back next week" is useless — nobody knows which week you mean.

3. Your return date. The single most-scanned detail in any away message.

4. An alternative contact. For urgent matters, give people somewhere to go.

5. Response time expectations. Something like "I'll reply in the order received within two business days."

6. A clean sign-off. Your email signature appears automatically in Gmail, so don't duplicate it.

Quick Note on Your Subject Line

Your out of office subject line deserves ten seconds of thought. Really. It's what shows up in a crowded inbox, and clever wording actively hurts here — nobody's charmed by "Gone fishin'!" when they're trying to figure out whether their invoice got processed. Unambiguous beats creative every single time. I recommend one of two formats and nothing else.

• Out of office — [Your Name]
• Out of office until [Date]

That's it. Move on.

Gmail vs Outlook: Which Handles Out of Office Better?

Both platforms do the job, but they're not equivalent — and the differences matter more than you'd expect, especially if you deal with external clients. Outlook's biggest advantage is the internal/external message split, which is genuinely a security feature disguised as a convenience feature. Gmail's advantage is simplicity and server-side reliability. Here's the honest side-by-side so you know what you're working with.

FeatureGmail (Vacation Responder)Outlook / Microsoft 365 (Automatic Replies)Separate internal vs external message❌ No✅ YesDate-range scheduling✅ Yes (full days only)✅ Yes (date and time)Contacts-only restriction✅ Yes✅ Yes (My contacts only)Domain-only restriction✅ Workspace accounts only✅ YesReplies to mailing lists / groups❌ Deliberately blocked⚠️ Varies by configRepeat replies to same senderOnce per 4 daysOnce per sender, per absencePOP / IMAP account supportN/A❌ Requires rules workaroundAPI / admin automation✅ Gmail API✅ Exchange / GraphTime-of-day scheduling❌ No✅ Yes

Bottom line: if you email people outside your organization regularly, Outlook's split-audience feature is worth the switch on its own.

Step-by-Step: How to Set Up a Vacation Responder in Gmail

Gmail calls this feature the vacation responder, and it lives in a slightly annoying place — buried at the bottom of General settings, where roughly half of users never scroll. Once you find it, though, setup takes about ninety seconds. One detail worth knowing upfront: Google's servers handle the sending, so you don't need to leave Gmail open or your laptop running. Set it, close it, go. Here's the exact path.

Step 1. Open Gmail and click the gear icon in the top right.

Step 2. Select See all settings.

Step 3. Stay on the General tab and scroll all the way down.

Step 4. Find Vacation responder and switch it on.

Step 5. Set your first day and last day. (Leave the last day blank if you want it running until you manually stop it.)

Step 6. Add your subject and message body.

Step 7. Optionally tick Only send a response to people in my Contacts — a smart privacy move I'll come back to.

Step 8. Click Save Changes.

A couple of quirks you should know. Your reply starts at 12:00 AM on the start date and ends at 11:59 PM on the last day. Also, Gmail deliberately won't auto-reply to mailing lists or Google Groups, which prevents those horrifying reply-all loops.

And if the real problem is the inbox waiting for you on the other side, that's a separate fight. A tool like Hey Help, an AI executive assistant that lives inside Gmail, handles sorting, replies, and follow-ups so your first day back isn't a write-off.

Implementation note: Mark this section up with HowTo schema (@type: HowTo, each step as a HowToStep). Add a screenshot of the Gmail Settings → General → Vacation responder panel here.

How to Set Up Automatic Replies in Outlook and Microsoft 365

Outlook handles this differently — and the method depends entirely on your account type, which trips people up constantly. If you're on an Exchange or Microsoft 365 account, you get the proper Automatic Replies feature with separate internal and external messages. If you're on a POP or IMAP account, that button simply won't exist, and you'll need rules instead. Check which camp you're in first, then follow the right path.

For classic Outlook (Windows):

1. Go to File → Automatic Replies.
2. Choose Send automatic replies.
3. Tick Only send during this time range and set your dates.
4. Write your message under Inside My Organization.
5. Switch to Outside My Organization and write a different, shorter message.
6. Click OK.

For Outlook on the web or Outlook.com:

Head to Settings → Accounts → Automatic replies, toggle it on, set your time period, then decide whether to check Send replies outside your organization.

Mac user? Microsoft's dedicated Mac guide covers the Tools menu route.

Why the Internal vs External Split Is Non-Negotiable

This feature exists for a reason, and skipping it is the most common mistake I see. Your teammates need operational detail — who's covering the Henderson account, which Slack channel to ping, when exactly you land. Strangers emailing your inbox need almost none of that. Writing one message for both audiences means you either starve your colleagues of context or overshare with the entire internet. Split them. It takes an extra minute.

15 Out of Office Message Templates by Scenario

Copy these, swap the brackets, done. I've deliberately kept them short — long OOO messages don't get read, they get skimmed for a date and abandoned. Notice too that every external-facing template here avoids naming individuals or locations. That's intentional, and the next section explains exactly why. Pick the scenario that matches your situation and adjust the tone to fit your industry.

Vacation Out of Office Messages

1. Thanks for your email. I'm out of the office until [Date] with limited access to email. For anything urgent, please contact [Team Inbox]. I'll reply in the order received when I'm back.

2. I'm currently on annual leave and returning [Date]. Your message is in my inbox and I'll get to it on my return.

3. Out of office until [Date]. If you need a faster response, [Team Inbox] is monitored daily.

Sick Leave Out of Office Message

4. Thank you for your email. I'm out unexpectedly and unable to respond. [Colleague] at [Team Inbox] can help in the meantime.

5. I'm currently on sick leave with an uncertain return date. Please direct anything time-sensitive to [Team Inbox].

Parental and Maternity Leave

6. I'm on parental leave until approximately [Date] and won't be checking email. [Colleague/Team Inbox] is covering my accounts.

7. Thanks for reaching out. I'm on maternity leave through [Month]. For immediate support, please contact [Team Inbox].

Public Holiday Auto-Reply

8. Our office is closed for [Holiday] and reopens [Date]. We'll respond to your message on the next business day.

9. Thanks for your note — we're closed for the holiday period from [Date] to [Date]. Wishing you a good break.

Business Trip and Conference

10. I'm traveling for work this week with limited email access. I'll respond by [Date]. For urgent matters, [Team Inbox].

11. Currently attending meetings offsite through [Date]. Expect a slower-than-usual reply.

Sabbatical or Extended Leave

12. I'm on sabbatical until [Month]. I won't be monitoring this inbox. [Colleague] at [Team Inbox] is handling my responsibilities.

13. I'm away on extended leave through [Date]. Messages sent now will not be read on my return — please resend after [Date] or contact [Team Inbox].

Leaving the Company

14. As of [Date], I've moved on from [Company]. For ongoing matters, please contact [Team Inbox]. Thanks for working with me.

15. I'm no longer with [Company]. This inbox isn't monitored. Please redirect your message to [Team Inbox].

A permanent auto-reply is the cold, functional half of leaving a job. The warm half is the note you send your actual team, and that one's harder to write. If you're staring at a blank draft, LastWorkingDay generates personalized farewell messages for colleagues and clients so you're not scrambling on your final afternoon.

Out of Office Status for Slack, Teams, Voicemail and SMS

Here's a gap almost every guide misses: email isn't your only channel anymore. If your team runs on Slack or Microsoft Teams, an email-only out of office message leaves the busiest channel completely uncovered — and that's usually where the urgent pings actually land. Setting a status takes seconds on each platform. Do all four before you leave and you'll genuinely stop hearing from work.

Slack. Click your avatar → Set a status → choose the 🌴 or 🤒 emoji → add text like "OOO until Mar 14" → set it to clear automatically on your return date. Then enable Pause notifications for the full period.

Microsoft Teams. Teams pulls directly from Outlook. Click your profile picture → Set status message → tick Show when people message me. If you've set Outlook Automatic Replies, Teams syncs it.

Voicemail. "You've reached [Name]. I'm out of the office until [Date]. Please email [Team Inbox] for assistance." Keep it shorter than your email version — no dates on your outgoing personal line if you'd rather not broadcast that.

SMS / auto-text. Both iOS and Android support driving/focus auto-replies you can repurpose. One line is plenty: "Away from work until [Date] — I'll follow up then."

The Security Risk Hiding in Your Auto-Reply

Alright, this is the section most out of office guides skip entirely — and it's the one your IT team wishes you'd read. Your auto-reply email goes to everyone who emails you. Not just trusted contacts. That includes cold sales outreach, newsletters, compromised accounts, fake recruiters, and people actively testing whether your address is live. Which means whatever you write becomes freely available reconnaissance material. Kaspersky has documented exactly how this plays out.

Here's what a detailed OOO message actually hands over.

It confirms your address is active and monitored. It defines a precise window when your account isn't being watched. It reveals your reporting structure and cover staff, which fuels impersonation. And if you mention travel, it broadcasts that you're physically elsewhere.

Security researchers at DirectDefense consistently flag this as an early step in business email compromise (BEC) attacks, where social engineering relies on small, credible-sounding details.

Oversharing vs Security-Safe: A Side-by-Side

The difference is easier to see than to explain. Below are two versions of the same message. Read them back to back and the problem becomes obvious immediately. Both are polite. Both are professional. Only one of them is safe to send to strangers.

❌ Oversharing (don't send this externally):

I'm attending the Global Logistics Summit in Barcelona from June 3–11 and will have limited email access. For invoice queries, contact my supervisor Marcus Webb at marcus.webb@company.com or +1-555-0142. You can reach my mobile at +1-555-0198 if it's truly urgent. — Sarah Chen, VP Operations

✅ Security-safe (send this externally):

Thank you for your email. I'm currently out of the office with limited access to messages and will respond on my return. For time-sensitive matters, please contact operations@company.com. — Sarah Chen

Same courtesy. A fraction of the exposure.

So what do you actually do?

Keep external replies deliberately thin. Route outside senders to a shared mailbox rather than naming an individual. And as legal specialists at rradar note, generic addresses like info@, hr@, and finance@ deserve extra scrutiny — sometimes disabling auto-replies on them entirely is the right call.

Your Out of Office Message and the Right to Disconnect

Your away message isn't just logistics — it's a boundary. And increasingly, it's a legally recognized one. A growing number of countries have enacted right to disconnect legislation giving employees the enforceable right to ignore work contact outside working hours. Even where no such law exists, a firmly worded automatic reply does real work: it sets the expectation on your behalf so you don't have to defend it in the moment.

Australia's right-to-disconnect law took effect in February 2024. Spain, Italy, Belgium, Ireland, Portugal, Mexico, and Ontario have similar protections. Portugal goes furthest — contacting employees outside working hours can be an administrative offense.

The US has no equivalent at federal or state level.

Which makes your own OOO message the closest thing American workers have to structural protection. Use it.

One practical move: don't write "I'll be checking email periodically." That single phrase undoes everything. It invites contact, guarantees you'll check, and quietly signals that your time off is negotiable.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are the questions I get asked most often about out of office messages — the ones that come up right as someone's about to click Save Changes and suddenly second-guesses themselves. Each answer is short on purpose. If you're skimming this article for one specific thing, there's a good chance it's here.

How long should an out of office message be?

Two to four sentences. Roughly 30–60 words. Long enough to include your return date and an alternative contact, short enough that someone reads the whole thing on a phone screen. Anything past 100 words gets skimmed, and the details you cared about get missed.

Should you say why you're out of the office?

Internally, a brief reason helps — "on annual leave" sets different expectations than "at a client site." Externally, skip it. The reason adds nothing operationally and can reveal travel plans, health information, or family circumstances to people you don't know.

Can you set different out of office messages for internal and external contacts?

Yes, in Outlook and Microsoft 365 via the Inside My Organization and Outside My Organization tabs. Gmail doesn't offer a true split — it only lets you restrict replies to contacts or, on Workspace accounts, to your own domain.

Does Gmail send an auto-reply every single time someone emails you?

No. Gmail sends the vacation responder once per sender, then again only if that person emails you after roughly four days. It also deliberately skips mailing lists and Google Groups to prevent auto-reply loops.

What should you do if you forgot to set your out of office message?

Set it remotely from the mobile app — both Gmail and Outlook support this. Then send a short manual note to your three or four most active contacts. That covers most of the damage.

Is an out of office message actually a security risk?

The message itself isn't, but its contents can be. Named colleagues, phone numbers, exact travel dates, and org structure are all useful to attackers running social engineering or business email compromise campaigns. Keep external versions vague.

Should you set an out of office message for a single day?

Yes, if you're genuinely unreachable. A one-day absence with no reply looks like being ignored. A one-line auto-reply costs you nothing and prevents a follow-up chase.

Can you set an out of office message on Slack and Teams?

Yes. Slack uses custom statuses with an auto-clear timer plus notification pausing. Teams pulls your status directly from Outlook's Automatic Replies, so setting one covers both.

Implementation note: Mark this section up with FAQPage JSON-LD schema so each Q&A pair is independently extractable by AI Overviews and answer engines.

Final Thoughts: Write It Once, Reuse It Forever

Your out of office message deserves more than the 40 seconds most people give it. Get the six building blocks right, split your internal and external versions, strip the identifying details from the external one, and cover Slack and voicemail while you're at it. Do that once and you've got a reusable system — not a scramble every time you take leave.

Then save your favorite templates from this guide somewhere you can find them.

Because the whole point of a good auto-reply email isn't to look professional while you're away.

It's to actually be away.

Grab the full template pack and set yours up before your next trip — your inbox on the way back will look completely different.