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Sixteen ready-to-use auto-replies for vacations, sick days, parental leave, business trips, and sabbaticals, plus the short list of rules that keep an out-of-office message helpful instead of annoying. Swap the placeholders, paste, done.
An auto-reply has one job: it tells the sender what happens to their message now that nobody is reading it. The best ones answer three questions in the first two lines. When are you back? Who can help right now? Does the sender need to do anything differently? Everything past that is tone, and tone is a choice you make based on who actually emails you.
Say when you return, not that you are back soon. Add one buffer day if you triage slowly, so you are not apologizing on day one.
Include one person with their email for urgent items, and tell that person before you leave. A surprised backup helps nobody.
If you will answer within a day of returning, say so. If your inbox will take a week to dig out, say that instead.
Clients and prospects get a neutral, professional reply. Coworkers can get jokes. If one address serves both, write for the client.
No medical details, no travel itinerary, no house-is-empty announcements. A reason is optional; specifics are a privacy and security risk.
Set an end date so the reply stops itself. An auto-reply still running two days after you are back reads worse than none at all.
If you would rather not write one at all, the free out-of-office generator turns your dates, backup contact, and preferred tone into a finished message in under a minute.
Replace the bracketed placeholders, adjust anything that sounds unlike you, and paste the result into your vacation responder. Each example stands alone; none of them depend on the others.
Hello, and thank you for your email. I am out of the office from [start date] through [end date] with limited access to email. I will respond after I return. For urgent matters, please contact [name] at [email]. Best regards, [your name]
Hi there! I am on vacation until [date] and mostly ignoring my inbox, as vacations require. I will reply within a day or two of getting back. If it cannot wait, [name] at [email] has you covered.
I am currently somewhere with sand, sunscreen, and no cell signal. Your email has safely arrived and is now relaxing in my inbox until [date], just like me. Need a human before then? [Name] at [email] bravely stayed behind.
Out of office until [date]. I will reply when I am back. Urgent items: [name], [email].
Thank you for your message. I am out on sick leave and checking email only occasionally. I will respond as soon as I am able. For time-sensitive issues, please contact [name] at [email].
I am unexpectedly out of the office for health reasons and do not yet have a confirmed return date. [Name] is covering my projects in the meantime and can be reached at [email]. Thank you for your patience.
Hello! I am on parental leave welcoming a new addition to the family and will return on [date]. I will not be reading email until then, so please reach out to [name] at [email], who is covering my role while I am away.
I am on parental leave through [month]. For billing, contact [name]; for active projects, [name]; for everything else, [team email]. Messages sent to this address will not be forwarded, so please resend anything still relevant after [date].
I am traveling for work through [date] and answering email slower than usual, typically in the evening. If your message is urgent, call or text [number], or contact [name] at [email] for a faster response.
I am at [conference name] from [dates] and away from my desk most of the day. Attending too? Stop by [booth or session] and say hello. Otherwise, I will reply to your email when I am back on [date].
I am traveling internationally with limited connectivity until [date], and replies may be delayed by several days. [Name] at [email] can help with anything that cannot wait. Thank you for your understanding.
I am on sabbatical until [month] and this inbox is unattended. Messages will not be read or forwarded while I am away, so please resend after [date], or write to [team email] for anything currently in motion.
I am on extended leave through [date]. To make my return manageable, I will not be working through this backlog. If you still need me after [date], please write again then. For current business, contact [name] at [email].
Our office is closed for [holiday] from [date] to [date]. The whole team is offline, and we will answer messages in the order received when we reopen on [date]. Warm wishes from everyone at [company].
Off today, back [day]. Message me on [chat tool] if something is genuinely on fire; otherwise it will keep. [Name] can approve anything urgent.
I am away from my desk for an appointment until [time] today and will reply this afternoon. For anything urgent, please call the main line at [number].
Every out-of-office reply goes out with your signature underneath it, and while you are away, that signature does your talking. If it is a bare name in Times New Roman, or a broken image where the logo used to be, the polish of the message above it does not count for much.
ProSignature's free email signature generator fixes that in a few minutes. Enter your work email and it pulls your logo, brand colors, and social profiles straight from your company website, then lets you choose from 13 email-safe templates while a live Gmail-style preview shows exactly what recipients will see. Gmail users can install the finished signature in one click through Google's official API, which can manage settings like your signature but cannot read your mail, and it applies to both new messages and replies, including the auto-replies above. Outlook and Apple Mail are covered with clean copy-paste. If Gmail gives you trouble along the way, the walkthrough on how to add a signature in Gmail covers every step.
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Design a branded signature and install it into Gmail in one click — free.
Create my signature — freeAt minimum: the date you return, a backup contact for urgent matters, and what the sender should expect, whether that is a delayed reply, a redirect, or a request to resend later. Keep it under 75 words and leave out personal details like medical information or travel plans.
Match your audience. Humor works for internal teams and brands with a casual voice, but keep client-facing replies neutral if your senders include prospects, executives, or people whose culture or first language your jokes may not land with. When in doubt, friendly beats funny.
Open Gmail, click the gear icon, choose See all settings, and scroll to Vacation responder on the General tab. Set your first and last day, add a subject and message, and save. You can limit the reply to your contacts or your organization if you prefer.
Usually once, not on every email. Gmail resends the vacation reply to a repeat sender only after four days, and Outlook replies once per sender for each time the automatic reply is switched on. Turning the responder off and on again resets the cycle.