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Outlook - Configuring Out of Office Replies

This document details how to configure automatic out of office replies in Outlook 2016 for Windows.

Related KBs:
Outlook - Adding Room Calendars 
Outlook - Forward an Email as an Attachment 
Outlook - Sharing Your Calendar 


1. Select the "File" tab on the ribbon.

Screenshot of Outlook with File Tab Highlighted

2. Select the "Automatic Replies" button located about a third of the way down the page.

Screenshot of Opened File Tab with Automatic Replies Highlighted

3. Select "Send Automatic Replies." If desired, you can select the "Only send during this time range” checkbox and choose a range of times during which you'd like automatic replies to be sent.

Screenshot of Send Automatic Replies Selected

4. In the text box under the "Inside My Organization" tab, type the message you would like people with UWGB email addresses to receive.

Screenshot of Inside My Organization Tab

5. When finished, select the "Outside My Organization" tab. If you’d like a different message to go to people outside of UWGB, you can type it into the text box here. Otherwise, you can copy and paste the message you wrote under “Inside My Organization.”

Screenshot of Outside My Organization Tab

6. Finally, we strongly recommend doing one of the following:

  • Select "My Contacts only" to ensure that automatic replies are only sent to people outside of the university if they're on your contacts list. If you go this route, don't forget to add non-UWGB addresses that you would like to receive automatic replies to your contacts list after you're done.

Screenshot of My Contacts only Selected

  • Alternatively, you can un-select the "Auto-reply to people outside my organization" checkbox to disable automatic replies to external addresses altogether.

Screenshot of Auto-Reply to People Outside Organization Un-Selected

***NOTE: Scammers and hackers would love to know when you won’t be at work. For instance, they might try to trick others into giving them sensitive information by pretending they've been working with you, they need information, and it can’t wait for your return. Sending emails to potential targets and watching for out of office replies is a favorite tactic of social engineering hackers. Making sure that only people you know receive automatic replies will help stop any such would-be impostors in their tracks.***



Keywordsout of office, ooo, automatic, reply, automatic replies, auto-reply, autoreply, outlook, reply, email, mail   Doc ID84308
OwnerSteve K.GroupUW Green Bay
Created2018-07-26 15:10:32Updated2022-08-09 14:23:30
SitesUW Green Bay
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