Auto-reply emails inform senders of your absence, ensuring continuous communication even when you’re unavailable to send an immediate response. Essential elements of a professional Announcement: Your message should begin with a direct statement indicating that you are out of the office, whether for vacation, business trip, medical leave, maternity leave, etc.
auto-reply email include:
- Clear Absence
**Mention the exact date you’ll be back and able to respond to emails. This sets expectations for when a follow-up can be expected.
- Alternative contacts: For urgent matters
, please provide the contact information of a colleague or team member who can assist you. Include your work email address and phone number in out-of-office communications.
- Limited Access Note: If you anticipate having limited internet or mobile phone access, please include this information to manage expectations about your availability.
- Professional Tone and Closing: Even funny out-of-office messages should maintain a professional tone, ending with a polite closing that can spread some holiday cheer or convey well wishes.
Tip: Since you’re likely to use a generic message for all emails, whether from friends or work contacts, it’s best to find the right tone. Make your availability and who to contact clear in your absence, but keep personal details private.
100 Examples of Out of Office Messages
Here are 100 examples of absence messages to suit every situation, from short-term leave to 
.
Before you begin: Remember that all messages benefit from starting with common greetings like “Hello,” “Hope you’re doing well,” or “Thanks for getting in touch.” These universal phrases add a polite and professional tone to your message.
Each message should also include an emergency contact in case someone contacts you about something urgent. It could look like this:
For urgent matters, please contact [contact name] at [contact email address] or [phone number].
EITHER
For immediate assistance, please email [contact email] or call [phone number].
Let’s now look at some examples of out-of-office messages:
1. General examples of professional out-of-office messages
- Thank you for your email. I’m currently out of the office with limited internet access and will be back on [date].
- I’ll be out of the office until [date]. For anything urgent, please email [contact email] or call [phone number]. Thank you very much.
2. Short-term leave (Ideal for short absences)
- Thank you for your email. I’m out of the office today with limited email access. I’ll respond upon my return on [Date].
- Hello! I’m out of the office on a short break, but I’ll be back on [Date]. I hope we catch up soon.
- I’ll be out of the office until [Date]. Thank you, I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
- OOO until [Date].
- Thank you for contacting me. I’ll be out of the office briefly and will return on [date]. For
, please contact [General Inquiries Email/Phone Number].
- Hi everyone, I’m taking a short break and won’t be checking email until [Date]. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
- Thank you for your message. Our team is currently out of the office and will be back on [Date]. We appreciate your patience and will be in touch shortly.
- Thank you for contacting us. I’m currently offline working on a project and will be back on [Date]. I hope to connect soon.
- Thank you for your email. I’m currently away [work/school/university] and will return on [date]. During this time, I will have intermittent access to email.
- Out of the office until [date]. I’ll respond to your email as soon as I return.
