An effective out of office message states three things in as few words as possible: that you are away, when you will return, and who can help in the meantime. Anything beyond that, including the reason for the absence, is optional and often unwise to share.
The same discipline applies to business auto replies more broadly, such as holiday notices and support inbox acknowledgements, where the aim is to set accurate expectations rather than to create the impression of a reply. The examples below are organized by situation and are written to be adapted. This guide forms part of a wider set of resources on customer service email templates.
In brief: write the shortest message that tells the sender the return date and the alternative contact, avoid personal or security-sensitive detail, and keep support inbox acknowledgements honest about what happens next. Review every automated message at least twice a year, because outdated promises damage trust more than silence does.
What should an out of office message include?
A well-constructed out of office message answers the sender's immediate question, which is whether and when they will receive a response. It should therefore contain a clear statement of absence, a specific return date, an escalation contact with a name and an address or role, and a brief instruction for urgent matters. A subject line that begins with the words "Out of office" helps recipients and mail filters identify the message correctly.
Tone should match the audience. Internal colleagues tolerate brevity. External customers and prospects expect a courteous opening and a clear path to help. In both cases, a single short paragraph is usually sufficient, and a second paragraph is justified only when the contact arrangements are complicated.
The following example suits most professional absences and can be used as a baseline.
Subject line: "Out of office until Monday, March 9". Message: Thank you for your message. I am out of the office until Monday, March 9, with limited access to email. For anything urgent, please contact Maria Lopez at [email protected]. Otherwise, I will reply when I return.
Note that a return date is more useful than a duration. "Back on Monday, March 9" removes the need for the reader to calculate, and it avoids confusion across time zones.
How do you write an out of office message for different situations?
The right wording depends on how long you are away, how closely you can monitor email, and what the sender is likely to need. The examples that follow cover the situations that occur most often in professional settings. Square brackets indicate details to replace.
Short absences and travel
For a brief absence where email is monitored intermittently, it is reasonable to promise a delayed reply but not an immediate one.
Thank you for your email. I am travelling on [dates] and will have limited access to messages. I will respond within two business days of my return on [date]. If the matter cannot wait, please contact [name] at [email].
When the absence is a single day, a briefer message avoids unnecessary formality.
I am out of the office today, [date], and will reply to your message tomorrow. If you need immediate assistance, please contact [name] at [email].
Extended leave
Longer absences, such as parental leave or sabbaticals, call for a message that is clear about the lack of monitoring. Senders should not be left to assume that a reply is coming.
Thank you for your message. I am on extended leave until [date] and will not be monitoring this inbox. For matters relating to [area], please contact [name] at [email]. For all other enquiries, please write to [shared address]. I look forward to being in touch on my return.
It is generally advisable to name the leave type only if the employer and the individual are comfortable doing so. Many organizations choose the neutral phrase "extended leave" for every case.
Public holidays and office closures
Business holiday notices differ from personal absence messages, because they speak for the organization and often cover several people at once.
Thank you for contacting [company]. Our offices are closed from [date] to [date] for the [holiday]. Messages received during this period will be answered from [date] in the order they arrive. If your request is urgent, please use [alternative channel or link].
Departed employees and role changes
When a colleague has left, the auto reply should redirect the sender rather than leave the address unattended. It should also avoid sharing the reason for the departure.
Thank you for your email. [Name] is no longer with [company]. Please direct your message to [name or team] at [email], who will be glad to help.
How should a support inbox acknowledgement differ from an out of office message?
An out of office reply tells the sender that a person is unavailable. A support acknowledgement tells the customer that their request has been received and describes what happens next. The distinction matters because the second type is sent in response to every inbound message, including those that could be answered immediately, and it is therefore easy to write in a way that annoys rather than reassures.
An effective acknowledgement confirms receipt, gives a reference number if one exists, states a realistic response window, and offers a route for urgent cases. It should not repeat the customer's message back to them, and it should avoid promising a resolution time that the team does not consistently meet. Teams that monitor first response time can base the stated window on their actual median rather than an aspiration.
Thank you for contacting [company] support. We have received your request and your reference number is [number]. A member of our team will reply within [response window]. If your issue is urgent, please reply to this message with the word "urgent" in the subject line.
An outside-hours variant works well for teams that do not staff every hour.
Thank you for your message. Our support team is available [days and hours, time zone]. Your request will be answered when we reopen. In the meantime, our help center at [link] covers account, billing and delivery questions.
Acknowledgements of this kind are one of several canned responses that support teams maintain, and they should be reviewed alongside the rest of the library.
What are the etiquette and privacy considerations?
Out of office messages are sent automatically to anyone who writes, including people the recipient has never met and, in some cases, automated senders and potential attackers. It follows that the content should be limited to what a stranger could safely know.
The first consideration is privacy. Destination, medical reasons, and personal travel plans are better omitted, because they can inform social engineering attempts and reveal when a home or office is unattended. A statement that you are "away" is adequate. The second consideration is access. Do not promise to check email "occasionally" if that is not true, and do not give a personal mobile number in a message that goes to external parties unless that is a deliberate policy.
The third consideration is the escalation contact. The named person should have agreed to be named, should have the context to help, and should be able to act on the matter or route it. A shared team address is often safer than an individual, since it continues to work if that individual is also absent. Finally, teams should set a rule on replies to mailing lists and no-reply senders, so that automated responses do not create loops or flood distribution lists.
Tone deserves attention too. A message that is courteous and plain will rarely cause offense, whereas humor, long apologies and promotional content tend to age badly. If a short message is used for a customer-facing role, it should be consistent with the voice in customer service scripts used elsewhere.
Can an out of office message generator help?
A generator is useful for producing a first draft in the right structure, particularly where the author is unsure of the tone or is writing under time pressure. The free out of office message generator asks for the dates, the contact and the preferred tone, and returns a message that can be pasted into a mail client.
A generator does not know your organization's policies, so the output still needs review for the points in the previous section. Confirm the return date, check that the named contact is accurate, and remove any detail that you would not wish an unknown sender to see. Then test the message by sending a note to yourself from a second address, as some clients apply the reply only once per sender or only to internal senders by default.
When does an auto reply stop being enough?
Auto replies are a holding measure. They cannot answer a question, update an order, or reschedule an appointment, and a customer who receives only an acknowledgement still has an unresolved problem. For support teams in particular, the cost of a long acknowledgement window is a second message from the customer asking whether anyone has seen the first, which increases volume and erodes confidence.
Organizations that find themselves relying heavily on acknowledgements often have a capacity or coverage problem that a template will not solve. One option is to have an AI agent handle routine requests in the inbox itself. Bund AI connects to a real email inbox through forwarding, answers from the organization's own knowledge with threaded replies, and escalates to a person with the full transcript when it should not continue. Plans start at $0.99 per month for 50 AI replies, with higher tiers listed on the pricing page. Early rollouts have reported that 86.7% of tickets were resolved with no human touch, a figure drawn from early rollouts and not a guarantee for every business.
When is an AI agent not the right fit?
An agent is not a substitute for an out of office message. Staff absences, closures and personal leave still need a human-written notice that names a real contact. Teams with very low email volume may find that a clear acknowledgement and a well-kept help center are adequate, and the added complexity of an agent would not pay back. Organizations in regulated settings should also consider carefully what an automated system may say, and read the guidance on when AI should hand off before they deploy anything customer-facing. Bund AI answers by email and web chat only; it is not a phone line.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good out of office message?
A good out of office message states that you are away, gives a specific return date, names a contact for urgent matters, and keeps to a few sentences. It leaves out the reason for the absence and any personal detail.
How long should an out of office message be?
Two to four sentences are usually enough. The sender needs the return date and an alternative contact, and a longer message adds little while increasing the chance that something sensitive is disclosed.
Should I say where I am or why I am away?
No. Stating that you are away or on leave is sufficient. Locations and personal reasons can be used in social engineering and are rarely useful to the person writing to you.
What are some auto reply message examples for a support inbox?
A support acknowledgement confirms receipt, gives a reference number, states a realistic response window, and offers a route for urgent cases. Variants exist for outside hours, holidays and high-volume periods, and examples of each appear above.
Is there an out of office message generator I can use?
Yes. The free generator on this site produces a draft from your dates, contact and tone. Review the result for accuracy and privacy before you activate it in your mail client.