Topic

Outlook an Out of Office Reply

Environment

Instructions

How to Set an Out of Office Reply in Outlook

Contents

Desktop Version
Web Version
Shared Mailbox (Web Version)

Desktop Version

 
In Outlook, click on “File” in the upper left-hand corner. A new screen will appear. Click on “Automatic Replies”
          

A pop-up will appear. Start by selecting “Send automatic replies” at the top. If you would like your automatic replies to be sent for a specific period of time, click on the checkbox next to “Only send during this time range” and enter your times.
Then Make sure the tab “Inside My organization is selected” and write your automatic reply that you want those within your organization to see.

Next, click on the tab that says, “Outside My Organization”. If you do not want to auto-reply to those outside of your organization, uncheck the box next to “Auto-reply to people outside my organization”.
You can also choose whether you want to reply to anyone outside of your organization or those who are in your Outlook contacts only. If you choose to reply to those outside of your organization, enter the message you would like them to see. If you have any special rules you need to include, continue to step 5, otherwise click “Ok” and you are finished. 
                   

If there are any special rules you would like to create, you can do so by clicking on the “Rules” button on the bottom left. This is a great tool to use if you are waiting for a specific or important email and you don’t want the automatic reply to be used. 
In the example below, we have created a rule that will require any emails from example@cecil.edu that have been emailed directly to me or have been cc’d to me, to be forwarded to someone@cecil.edu. This is useful if you are keeping an eye on messages to another account, and not necessarily your work account.
There are many other options you can choose from, including sending a personalized message and filtering messages by Subject and Message Body. Once you have completed your Rule, click “Ok”. Once you have finished all of your rules, click “Ok” on the main automatic replies page. 
           

Web Version

Go to mail.cecil.edu and login to your account
In the upper right hand corner, you will see the settings button, click on it. 
           

          
A Settings pop-up screen will appear. Make sure that “Mail” is selected on the leftmost menu. Then, in the menu next to it, select “Automatic Replies”.
           

An area in which you can set up your automated reply will show up. You will need to hit the toggle which says” Automatic Replies on”.
If you want to have your reply sent indefinitely or are unsure as to the time frame, then you can simply type in your automated response. If you wish for the response to be forwarded to people outside of your organization, then you can copy your response or type a different one in the second text box. Make sure you click the check box next to “Send reply only to contacts” if you wish for your automated reply in that section to go only to those outside of your organization that are in your contacts list within Outlook. Once you have completed your messages, click “Save”. 
          

If your automated reply only needs to be activated for a specific amount of time, click the checkbox next to “Send replies only during a time period”. Then, select the timeframe you want your automated reply to be active. With this option selected, there are also a few other options you can select as well regarding meetings, events and calendar availability. Make sure to select all of the items you want and then enter your message. Once you have completed your message, click “Save”.
           

Shared Mailbox (Web Version)

Out of Office/Auto-Reply for shared mailbox

Using web browser go to: http://mail.cecil.edu
Login using your e-mail/password
Note: do NOT use the shared e-mail address
Once logged in, at the top-right corner should be your initials or picture
Click on initials/picture
Click on ‘Open another mailbox…’
A prompt should come up, enter the shared mailbox name/address
Click ‘Open’
A new browser tab will open with the shared mailbox
Top-right click on the small gear
                                                               i.      Click ‘Automatic Replies’

Configure the automatic replies for the shared mailbox
When finished click ‘Ok’ (top)
Close the browser tab for the shared mailbox
Log out of the browser tab for the user’s mailbox

If you need assistance, please call the IT Service Desk at 410 287 4357.

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