Out of Office Email Template
Set a clear, professional out-of-office auto-reply.
Tips for your Out of Office Email
- Give your return date and a backup contact.
- Keep it brief and friendly.
About this Out of Office Email template
Turn on an auto-reply when you are away long enough that a normal reply time would be missed — usually more than a day. It exists to reset expectations, so it must contain a real return date and a route for anything that cannot wait. "Back next week" is not a date, and a reader cannot decide whether to wait or escalate without one.
Remember who receives this: everyone. An auto-reply fires at recruiters, strangers and every spammer who mails you, and it confirms your address is live, monitored, and currently unwatched. That makes it a real information-disclosure risk. Do not publish your travel plans or where you are staying, do not hand out a colleague’s personal mobile number, and think twice before naming your boss and their role — org-chart detail helps impersonation attempts more than it helps the sender. A work email is almost always enough.
Keep it to a few lines, and ask your cover person before volunteering them. If your mail client supports separate internal and external replies, use them — colleagues get the detail, the outside world gets the minimum. Booking the time off is a different email: see the leave application template.
Frequently asked questions
Should I include a contact person?
Yes for anything urgent, but ask them first and give their work email rather than a personal number. Being named as cover without warning is not a nice surprise.
Is it safe to say I am on holiday?
Saying you are away is fine and necessary. Saying where you are, for how long, and that the house is empty is more than a stranger needs — keep locations and travel details out of it.
Should I promise to check email occasionally?
Only if you mean it. "Limited access to email" sets a soft expectation honestly; promising daily checks and then not delivering is worse than saying nothing.
Do auto-replies go to mailing lists and spam?
Well-configured lists suppress them and most servers will not auto-reply to bulk mail, but plenty still leaks through. Assume anyone who mailed you will see it.
How long should it be?
Four or five lines. Dates, cover contact, thanks — anything more is detail the average sender did not ask for.