How To Setup Out of Office Auto-Replies in Outlook (Non-Exchange Users)

For you user who are not working with Microsoft Exchange, the automatic reply setup is a bit more work but it’s not impossible. Below is a tutorial on how to do this through Outlook 2010 & 2007. As always, if you have any issues following this guide, give us a call, we’ll help you out. For Outlook 2010, make sure you have Service Pack 1 for Office 2010 installed. While this article is informative, it may save you a lot of time to simply setup an auto reply or vacation responder within your web mail. I am almost sure it will be faster than applying all these steps through Outlook.

Outlook 2010

You can combine an Outlook email template with Outlook rules to reproduce the functionality of classic Automatic Reply functions.

Step 1: Create a message template

On the Home tab, in the New group, click New E-mail.
In the message body, type the message that you want to send as your automated reply.
In the message window, click the File tab, and then click Save As.
In the Save As dialog box, in the Save as type list, click Outlook Template (*.oft).
In the File name box, type a name for your message template, and then click Save.

Step 2: Create a rule to automatically reply to new email messages

On the Home tab, in the Move group, click Rules, and then click Manage Rules & Alerts.
In the Rules and Alerts dialog box, click New Rule.
Under Start from a blank rule, click Apply rules on messages I receive, and then click Next.
Under Which condition(s) do you want to check?, select any criteria that you want, and then click Next. Typically, you don’t need to select any items.
Under What do you want to do with the message?, select the reply using a specific template check box.
Under Step 2: Edit the rule description (click an underlined value), click a specific template.
In the Select a Reply Template dialog box, in the Look In box, click User Templates in File System.
Select the template that you created in the previous section, and then click Open.
Click Next.
Select the check boxes for any exceptions to the auto-reply rule. It is common not to add any exceptions.
Click Next.
Under Step 1: Specify a name for this rule, type a name for the auto-reply rule, and then click Finish.

IMPORTANT INFO

The reply using a specific template rule in the Rules Wizard sends your automated reply only one time to each sender during a single session. A session is every time that you start Outlook until you exit the application. This rule prevents Outlook from sending repetitive replies to a single sender from whom you receive multiple messages. During a session, Outlook keeps track of the list of users to whom it has responded. If you exit and then restart Outlook, it is considered a new session and the list of the senders who have received automated replies is reset.

Turning off automatic replies

To turn off a rule that is sending automatic replies, do the following:

On the Home tab, in the Move group, click Rules, and then click Manage Rules & Alerts.
On the E-mail Rules tab, under Rule, clear the check box for the rule that you want to turn off.

Outlook 2007

Step 1: Create a message template
1. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Mail Message. 2. On the Options tab, in the Format group, click Plain Text. 3. In the message body, type the message that you want to send as your 4. In the message window, click the Microsoft Office Button and then click Save As. 5. In the Save As dialog box, in the Save as type list, click Outlook Template (*.oft). 6. In the File name box, type a name for your message template, and then click Save.

Step 2: Create a rule to automatically reply to new e-mail messages

1. On the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts. 2. In the Rules and Alerts dialog box, click New Rule. 3. Under Start from a blank rule, click Check messages when they arrive, and then click Next. 4. Under Which condition(s) do you want to check?, select the sent only to me check box and any other criteria that you want, and then click Next. 5. When you see a dialog box informing you that this rule will be applied to every message that you receive, click Yes. 6. Under What do you want to do with the message?, select the reply using a specific template check box. 7. Under Step 2: Edit the rule description (click an underlined value), click a specific template. 8. In the Select a Reply Template dialog box, in the Look In box, click User Templates in File System. 9. Select the template that you created in the previous section, and then click Open. 10. Click Next. 11. Optionally, select the check boxes for any exceptions to the auto-reply rule. 12. Click Next. 13. Under Step 1: Specify a name for this rule, type a name for the auto-reply rule, and then click Finish.

IMPORTANT INFO – Outlook must be running and be setup to receive new mail automatically to send auto replies.

The reply using a specific template rule in the Rules Wizard sends your automated reply only once to each sender during a single session. This rule prevents Outlook from sending repetitive replies to a single sender from whom you receive multiple messages. During a session, Outlook keeps track of the list of users to whom it has responded. If you exit Outlook and then restart it, however, the list of the senders who have received automated replies is reset.

Turning off automatic replies

To turn off the rule you created above, do the following
1. On the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts.

2. On the E-mail Rules tab, under Name, clear the check box for the rule you want to turn off.