How to Set Gmail Out of Office in 2026, With Reply Templates

To set an out of office in Gmail, open Settings, choose See all settings, and on the General tab turn on Vacation responder. Add your dates, a subject and a message, then click Save Changes. In the Gmail app, it's under Settings, then your account, then Vacation responder.

The setting takes two minutes. The message is the part people overthink the night before they leave, usually while also packing. So I'll keep the steps short for computer, Android and iPhone, explain why Gmail doesn't reply to every email, and then give you templates you can paste straight in, written the way real people would set them before Thanksgiving week, a conference or the end-of-year shutdown.

How to set out of office in Gmail on a computer

Gmail calls its out-of-office reply the vacation responder, even if you're only off for a training day. Here are the steps from Google's help page:

1. Open Gmail and click the Settings gear at the top right.
2. Click See all settings.
3. On the General tab, scroll down to Vacation responder.
4. Select Vacation responder on.
5. Fill in the first day, the last day, a subject and your message.
6. Optional: check the box under the message to send the reply only to your contacts.
7. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

Once it's on, a banner sits across the top of your inbox so you don't forget it's running. If you have an email signature, Gmail adds it below the reply, so read the two together before you save.

When does the Gmail out-of-office reply start and stop?

It starts at 12:00 a.m. on your first day and stops at 11:59 p.m. on your last day, unless you end it earlier. That means you can set it up days in advance and it will switch itself on. I'd make the last day the final day you're away, not the day you're back, and then put the return date in the message itself.

Picture Greg, an account manager at a Chicago ad agency with a dozen clients, taking Thanksgiving week off. He's out Monday, November 23, through Friday, November 27, and back Monday, November 30. I'd have him set the first day to Monday the 23rd and the last day to Sunday the 29th, so the client who emails on Saturday morning still gets an answer, and write "back Monday, November 30" in the message. He can set it up on the Wednesday before and forget about it.

How to set out of office in the Gmail app

On Android

1. Open the Gmail app and tap the Menu icon at the top left.
2. Tap Settings, then choose the account you're going to be away from.
3. Tap Vacation responder and switch it on.
4. Enter the dates, subject and message. Check the box under the message if you only want your contacts to get it.
5. Tap Done.

Those are the steps in Google's Android instructions.

On iPhone and iPad

1. Open the Gmail app and tap Menu at the top left, then Settings.
2. Choose your account. Under Compose and Reply, tap Vacation responder.
3. Turn on Vacation Responder.
4. Enter the dates, subject and message. Tap Send only to my Contacts if you want to limit it.
5. Tap Save at the top right.

Google's iPhone and iPad steps match these. If you have a work and a personal account in the app, check which one you're in before you save. Say Lauren, a marketing director at a software company in Austin, sets her reply from the airport gate and doesn't notice the app is open on her personal Gmail. Her friends hear she's at a conference. Her agency, emailing her work address, hears nothing. The account picker at the top of the settings screen is worth a second look.

How to turn off out of office in Gmail

On a computer, click End now in the banner at the top of your inbox. In the app, go back to Vacation responder and switch it off. If you set a last day, you don't need to do anything: it stops on its own at 11:59 p.m. that day.

Coming back early is the one case where I'd end it by hand. If you're back on Thursday and the reply still says Monday, people will hold their questions for a person who's already at their desk.

Why isn't my Gmail out-of-office reply working?

Usually it is working. It just doesn't reply the way people expect. According to Google:

• Most people get it once. Gmail replies the first time someone emails you, not every time.
• Repeat senders get it again after four days. If the same person writes again more than four days later and the reply is still on, they get it again.
• Editing the reply resets it. After you change the message, people who already got the old one get the new version next time they write.
• Spam and mailing lists are skipped. Email that lands in spam, or is addressed to a mailing list you're on, doesn't get a reply.
• The contacts box is checked. With it on, anyone who isn't in your contacts gets nothing.
• The dates haven't started. If the first day is tomorrow, nothing goes out today.

That first point is why testing confuses people. Say you send yourself a test from your other address, it works, and then you send a second test and nothing comes back. That's Gmail doing its job. Check the dates and the contacts box instead of sending test after test.

The contacts box catches people out in a quieter way. Say a new client in Minneapolis emails Greg for the first time on the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week. She isn't in his contacts yet, so with that box checked she gets silence, and silence from an agency reads as being ignored. On a work address, I'd leave it unchecked.

What a good out-of-office reply says

A good out-of-office reply answers two questions: when will you hear back, and who can help sooner? That's it. You don't need to apologize for taking time off, and you don't need to say why you're away.

Here's the version most people write, and the version I'd send instead. This is Greg's first draft for Thanksgiving week:

Subject: Out of office

Hello,

I am currently out of the office with limited access to email. I will respond to your message as soon as possible upon my return.

Best regards,
Greg

Nothing in it is wrong, and none of it helps. The client doesn't know when "my return" is, "limited access" invites them to wait for him anyway, and there's nobody to go to. Here's the fix:

Subject: Out of office until Monday, November 30

Hi,

Thanks for your email. I'm out for Thanksgiving week and back on Monday, November 30.

For creative approvals or anything running this week, Tanya Brooks can help at [Tanya's email]. She has the schedules for every active campaign. I'll reply to everything else when I'm back.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Greg

Same length, but now the client knows the date, the person and what that person can actually do. That last part matters more than the name. A client with an ad going live on Black Friday shouldn't have to guess whether Tanya can approve the change or just pass on a message.

Gmail out-of-office templates you can copy

Each of these is written for one of the people I use as examples on this blog. Swap in your own dates, names and responsibilities, including what your backup actually covers, not just their name.

Standard work reply with a backup contact

Subject: Out of office until [day, date]

Hi,

Thanks for your email. I'm out of the office and back on [day, date].

For anything about [responsibility] before then, [name] can help at [email address]. I'll reply to everything else when I'm back.

Thanks,
[Your name]

That's Greg's "after" version with the specifics taken out. It fits almost any job.

At a conference, checking email now and then

Say Lauren is at a three-day marketing conference in San Diego, Tuesday, November 3, through Thursday, November 5. She'll glance at email between sessions, but she won't be quick, and her launch questions shouldn't wait on her:

Subject: Slower replies until Friday, November 6

Hi,

Thanks for getting in touch. I'm at a conference through Thursday, November 5, so my replies will be slower than usual.

If it's about the December product launch and it can't wait, please email Nate Collins at [Nate's email]. Otherwise I'll get back to you by Friday.

Lauren

Only say you're checking email if you really will. Otherwise people wait for you instead of going to your backup. And notice what Lauren left out: the city, the hotel and the conference name. Her agency doesn't need them.

Freelancer with no one covering

Now picture Megan, who runs a small design studio in Denver on her own. There's no Tanya or Nate to hand things to, so her reply has a different job: set expectations and give current clients somewhere useful to put their notes.

Subject: Away until Monday, November 2

Hi,

Thanks for your email. I'm taking a short break and I'm back on Monday, November 2.

I'll reply to new inquiries and project messages then. If we're already working together, feel free to add comments to [shared doc or project tool] so they're ready for me when I'm back.

Megan

Don't invent an emergency contact to look bigger. A clear return date is more useful than an address nobody is watching.

Sick day

Subject: Out sick today

Hi,

I'm out sick today and won't be checking email. I expect to be back on [day].

If it can't wait, please contact [name] at [email address].

Thanks,
[Your name]

Keep this one short and don't add symptoms. "Out sick" is a complete explanation at any company I'd want to work for.

Extended leave, no return date yet

Subject: Please contact [team] while I'm away

Hi,

Thanks for your message. I'm away from work for an extended period.

[Name or team] is looking after [responsibility]. Please email [address] so your request can be handled while I'm away.

Thank you,
[Your name]

This one works for parental leave or anything where the return date isn't settled, or isn't something you want to share. It keeps the focus on how the sender gets help.

Holiday closure for a small business

Back to Megan. Say the studio closes from Thursday, December 24, through Friday, January 1, and she's back on Monday, January 4. Her clients are mostly planning their own January, so she points them to what they can do without her:

Subject: We're closed until Monday, January 4

Hi,

Thanks for your email. The studio is closed from December 24 through January 1, and we're back on Monday, January 4.

We'll reply in the order messages came in. If you need files from a finished project, they're in your shared client folder.

Happy holidays,
Megan
[Studio name]

If you sell online, swap that line for whatever your customers can do on their own, like your help page or order tracking.

Personal inbox

Subject: Away from email

Hi,

Thanks for your message. I'm taking some time away from email and will catch up after [date].

[Your name]

A personal reply can be that short. And whichever one you use, leave out your travel plans, your home address and your personal cell number. The person emailing you doesn't need them, and the reply may go to people you don't know.

Add your time off to Google Calendar too

The vacation responder only covers email. If you have a work or school account, it's worth blocking the same dates in Google Calendar as well. In Calendar, click Create, then Out of office, pick your dates and click Save. Google's Calendar help says your calendar then declines meetings while you're away, and you can edit the decline message.

For Greg, that's the part that saves the most back-and-forth. Clients plan their November calls early, and a calendar block that's been there since October declines the Thanksgiving-week invite politely, weeks before anyone is counting on him.

There's a small bonus. With a work or school account, Gmail can show your calendar status to people who email you, as long as they have access to your calendar. It isn't a replacement for the auto-reply, though, so I'd set both. Our Google Calendar guide covers the rest of Calendar, and if your team is on Microsoft, here's how to set out of office in Teams.

Before you switch it on

• Tell your backup. Naming someone in an auto-reply is the last step of a handoff, not the whole thing. Share where things stand and what they're allowed to decide. Greg should walk Tanya through every campaign that goes live that week, not just forward her a spreadsheet.
• Check the account. Set it on every inbox people will actually write to.
• Read it with your signature. A booking link in your signature next to "I'm away next week" sends mixed signals.
• Think about the contacts box. On a work address, a new client probably isn't in your contacts yet. I'd leave it unchecked there.
• Read it on your phone. If the return date and the backup are easy to spot on a small screen, you're done.