how to configure an absence message

Are you not at the office or simply on vacation and would like to let your colleagues or acquaintances know? Gmail makes it easy to schedule an out of office message. Here’s how.

For people struggling to get work or who have the anxiety of not being able to respond to professional or personal messages, a simple manipulation on your Gmail mailbox can save you anxiety and hassle.

The latter simply consists of setting up an automatic response when one of your contacts sends you a message and you are unable to reply. This message can take several forms depending on your unavailability. We are thinking in particular of warning of an absence linked to leave or a temporary absence.

But it can take other forms, such as better managing your workload by notifying senders of a delay in processing your emails and that you will get back to them as soon as possible. You can also use automatic replies to direct senders to other people or resources in case of an emergency or immediate need, which can help you manage requests efficiently. Finally, and we think about it very little, it is sometimes necessary to protect your privacy by limiting communication with certain people or by filtering unsolicited emails. An out-of-office message can serve as a temporary barrier to prevent certain senders from contacting you.

Here is the procedure to follow to set up an automatic absence message on your Gmail inbox.

How to set up an automatic absence message (or other) on your Gmail box?

On browser

Open Gmail and log in to your account.
Click on Settings at the top right (notched wheel) then on See all settings.

In the tab Generalscroll down to auto reply then select Auto answer enabled.
Select the start and end dates for activating your automatic email.

Fill in the subject of your automatic email as well as its content. You can customize it as you wish.
Then click on Save Changesat the end of the page.

Note that if you want to send the automatic response only to your contacts or your work area, you can check the box below. Also note that your Gmail signature is also displayed at the bottom of the automatic reply if you have defined it beforehand.

On mobile

Open the Gmail app connected to your account.
Tap the menu shaped like three horizontal lines in the top left corner to open the side menu. Scroll down and tap Settings.

Select the account whose automatic message you want to set up.
Scroll down the page until you get to the option auto reply.

Activate the option, select the start date and the end date of the message, then write your message. Note that the signature will not be taken into account from the application.