Holiday
Subject: Out of office
Hello, Thank you for your email. I am on holiday and will reply to your message when I return. Best regards,
Free tool
Out of office message generator
Type your name, return date and who to contact instead. You get four ready-to-copy auto-replies: holiday, parental leave, conference and leaving the company. Runs in your browser.
02Ready-to-copy messages
Parental leave
Subject: On parental leave
Hello, Thank you for your message. I am on parental leave and I am not reading email during this time. If your message needs an answer before I am back, please send it again after my return. Thank you,
Conference or event
Subject: At a conference, replies may be slow
Hello, Thank you for your email. I am at a conference with little time for email, and I will reply as soon as I can. Best regards,
Left the company
Subject: This address is no longer in use
Hello, Thank you for your email. I no longer work here, and this mailbox is not read. Your message will not be forwarded. Please use the contact details on our website. Thank you,
What a good out of office message says
Three things: that you are away, when you are back, and who can help in the meantime. Put the return date in the first sentence, because most readers stop there. A reason is optional; holiday or parental leave helps people decide whether to wait.
Say plainly whether you will read the message later. "I am not reading email" sets a different expectation from "replies may be slow", and saying which one stops people from writing again to chase you.
See more auto-reply examples, and how to set one in Gmail and Outlook
Keep it short and safe
An auto-reply goes to everyone who writes, including strangers and spammers. Leave out your home address, your travel plans and personal phone numbers. Give a colleague's work address or a shared team address instead.
For someone who has left the company, the reply should point to a person or team that is still there, and the mailbox should be forwarded or kept open long enough for clients to update their contacts.
Set it up in Shipmail
Open the mailbox, choose Out of office under Mail handling, paste the message and, if you like, set start and end dates. Shipmail sends auto-replies as plain text, which is what this generator writes, and answers each sender at most once every 7 days.
What should I write in an out of office message?
Say that you are away, the date you are back, and who to contact for anything urgent. Two or three short sentences are enough.
Should I say why I am away?
You do not have to. A short reason such as holiday, parental leave or a conference helps people judge whether to wait for you, but personal details do not belong in a message that goes to every sender.
Is what I type here saved or sent anywhere?
No. The messages are built in your browser as you type, and nothing is sent to Shipmail.
What should an auto-reply say after someone leaves the company?
That the person no longer works there, that the mailbox is not read, and who to contact instead, with a name and a work address. The left the company template above does this.
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