Write a custom out of office message in seconds, or copy one of the ready-made templates below. Pick a reason and tone, add a return date, and get 3 options, free.
Four common reasons for being away, what goes into the tool, and the kind of message it writes for each.
A week-long vacation with a clear return date and a backup contact.
Reason: vacation. Tone: professional. Returns Monday, August 24. Backup: [email protected].
Thank you for your email. I'm currently out of the office and will be back on Monday, August 24, with limited access to email in the meantime. For anything urgent, please reach out to Jane at [email protected]. I'll respond to your message as soon as I'm back.
Unexpected sick day, no return date known yet.
Reason: sick leave. Tone: brief. No return date given.
I'm out sick today and responding to email more slowly than usual. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks for your patience.
At a conference for a few days, checking email intermittently.
Reason: travel or conference. Tone: friendly. Returns Thursday.
Thanks for reaching out! I'm at a conference through Thursday and checking email once or twice a day rather than in real time. I'll get back to you as soon as I'm able, and appreciate your patience until then.
Extended leave with a colleague covering in the meantime.
Reason: parental leave. Tone: professional. Backup: Alex Chen, [email protected].
Thank you for your message. I'm currently on parental leave and will have limited access to email during this time. For anything that needs attention before I'm back, please contact Alex Chen at [email protected]. I appreciate your understanding.
Ready-made out of office messages for the most common situations. Replace the bracketed details and paste into Outlook, Gmail, or your help desk.
Thank you for your email. I'm currently out of the office and will return on [date]. I'll respond to your message as soon as possible after I'm back.
Hi, thanks for your message. I'm on vacation until [date] with limited access to email. For anything urgent, please contact [name] at [email]. Otherwise, I'll get back to you when I return.
Thank you for reaching out. I'm away for the holidays and will be back on [date]. I'll reply to your message once I return. Wishing you a restful holiday season.
Thanks for your email. I'm out sick today and will be slower to reply than usual. If your message is urgent, please contact [name] at [email]. Otherwise, I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
Thank you for your message. I'm currently on parental leave until [date] and won't be checking email. For anything that needs attention, please contact [name] at [email], who is covering for me.
Thank you for contacting [company]. Our office is closed from [start date] to [end date] for [reason, e.g. the public holiday], and we'll reply to every message when we reopen on [date]. Thank you for your patience.
Thanks for your email. I'm traveling for [event] until [date] and checking email only occasionally. I'll reply as soon as I'm able. For urgent matters, please contact [name] at [email].
Thanks for contacting [company] support. Our team is away until [date], and we'll answer your message in the order it was received when we're back. In the meantime, many answers are in our help center: [link].
The tool applies these automatically. Written out, they work just as well typed by hand.
"I'm out of office" with no end date leaves the sender guessing whether to wait or find another way to reach you.
"Out sick" or "on leave" is enough. There's no need to detail a medical situation or personal circumstance in an autoresponder.
Naming someone who can help with urgent requests is useful. Naming them for everything just moves your inbox onto their plate.
A message that's warmer or more formal than how you usually write reads as slightly off, even in an autoresponder.
While you're out, Bund AI can still answer the questions your customers are asking and take the action they need, refunds, order changes, account lookups, then hand off anything that truly needs you the moment you're back.