Setting Up an Out of Office Reply

Want to tell the world you're away from your desk for a while? You can set up your out of office reply in two ways.

Outlook Web Client


  1. Sign in to o365.suffolk.edu
  2. At the top right of the page, select Settings > View all Outlook settings > Mail > Automatic Replies.
  3. Select the Turn on automatic replies toggle.
  4. Select the Send replies only during a time period check box, and then enter a start and end time.

    If you don't set a time period, your automatic reply remains on until you turn it off by selecting the Automatic replies on toggle.

  5. Select the checkbox for any of the following options that you're interested in:
    • Block my calendar for this period
    • Automatically decline new invitations for events that occur during this period
    • Decline and cancel my meetings during this period
  6. In the box at the bottom of the window, type a message to send to people during the time you're away.

    If you like, you can use the formatting options at the top of the box to change the font and color of the text or customize your message in other ways.

  7. If you want senders outside your organization to get automatic replies, select the check box for Send replies outside your organization.
  8. When you're done, select Save at the top of the window.

If you didn't set a time period for automatic replies (step 4 earlier), you'll need to turn them off manually. To turn off automatic replies, sign in to Outlook on the web, choose Settings > View all Outlook settings > Mail > Automatic replies and then select the Automatic replies on toggle.

Outlook Application (the version installed directly on your PC)

Click on Tools and select Out of Office Assistant from the drop-down menu. Click on Send Out of Office auto-replies, put in the date/time range if required, and then type in your message as you would like it sent. Click on OK to save. To turn off the Out of Office Assistant, click on Tools and select Out of Office Assistant from the drop-down menu and then click on Do not send Out of Office auto-replies, then click on OK to save.