How to Set Up an Out of Office in Gmail (Vacation Responder)

Set up an out of office or vacation responder in Gmail in under a minute. Step-by-step for desktop, iOS, and Android, plus message templates and limits.

How to Set Up an Out of Office in Gmail (Vacation Responder)

To set up an out of office in Gmail, open Settings > See all settings > General, scroll to "Vacation responder", set the start and end dates, write a subject and message, then click Save Changes. The same setting is called "Vacation responder" on desktop and "Vacation responder" or "Out of office AutoReply" on the mobile apps. Gmail sends one auto-reply per sender every four days, optionally limited to people in your Contacts or your organisation.

A Gmail out of office message lets people who email you while you are away know when to expect a reply - without you having to keep checking your inbox. The setting is buried inside Gmail's General tab on desktop and inside the account-level Settings menu on mobile. This guide covers every method for setting up, customising, and testing a Gmail vacation responder across web, iOS, and Android, plus the rules that govern when it actually fires.

How to Set Up a Vacation Responder in Gmail on Desktop (Web)

The web version of Gmail has the most complete vacation responder settings, including date scheduling and audience filters.

Step-by-Step Setup

  1. Open Gmail in your browser and click the gear icon in the top right.
  2. Click See all settings.
  3. Stay on the General tab and scroll to the bottom.
  4. Find Vacation responder and select Vacation responder on.
  5. Set the First day (required) and Last day (optional - leave blank for "until you turn it off").
  6. Enter a Subject for the auto-reply.
  7. Enter the Message body (rich-text formatting and links are supported).
  8. Optionally check Only send a response to people in my Contacts to limit who gets the reply.
  9. If you are on a Google Workspace account, you may also see Only send a response to people in [your organisation].
  10. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save Changes.

The vacation responder is now active and will fire on incoming email from the start date. There is no need to keep Gmail open - Google's servers send the replies automatically.

Edit or Turn Off the Vacation Responder

Same path as setup: Settings > General > Vacation responder. Select Vacation responder off and click Save Changes, or edit the message/dates and save again.

A yellow banner appears at the top of your inbox while the vacation responder is active so you do not forget to turn it off when you return.

How to Set Up a Vacation Responder in Gmail on iPhone (iOS)

The Gmail iOS app has its own vacation responder setting that syncs with the web version - any change in one place applies to both.

  1. Open the Gmail app on your iPhone or iPad.
  2. Tap the three-line menu in the top left.
  3. Scroll down and tap Settings.
  4. Tap the account you want to set the responder for (each account has its own setting).
  5. Tap Vacation responder.
  6. Toggle Vacation responder on.
  7. Set the First day and optional Last day.
  8. Enter a Subject and Message.
  9. Optionally enable Send to my contacts only.
  10. Tap Done in the top right.

The change syncs to the web within a few seconds.

How to Set Up a Vacation Responder in Gmail on Android

The Android Gmail app uses slightly different labelling but the same underlying feature.

  1. Open the Gmail app on your Android phone or tablet.
  2. Tap the three-line menu in the top left.
  3. Tap Settings.
  4. Tap the account you want to set the responder for.
  5. Tap Vacation responder (or Out-of-office AutoReply on some Workspace accounts).
  6. Toggle Vacation responder on.
  7. Set dates, subject, and message.
  8. Toggle Send only to my contacts if you want to limit the audience.
  9. Tap Done.

Like iOS, the setting syncs across web and mobile within seconds.

How Gmail's Vacation Responder Actually Works

A few details about the vacation responder are non-obvious and trip people up:

One Reply Per Sender, Every 4 Days

Gmail only sends one auto-reply per sender per 4-day window, even if that sender emails you 10 times during your vacation. This prevents mailing-list reply storms and stops the responder from re-firing if someone replies to your auto-reply.

Working Hours Are Ignored

Unlike Outlook's out-of-office, Gmail's vacation responder fires on every incoming email regardless of time of day or the sender's working hours. If you want messages outside business hours to behave differently, you need a Gmail filter or third-party tool - see our guide on Gmail rules and filters for filter-based workarounds.

"My Contacts Only" Is a Privacy Filter, Not Anti-Spam

Checking "Only send a response to people in my Contacts" prevents the responder from confirming to spammers and strangers that the email address is active and being read. It is a privacy feature, not a deliverability feature - real customers who are not yet in your Contacts will not get the auto-reply either, which may surprise them.

Workspace Domain Filter Is Stronger

On Google Workspace accounts, the second checkbox Only send a response to people in [your domain] restricts the auto-reply to colleagues only. Useful for personal-life travel where you want coworkers to know you are out but do not need to broadcast it to every external sender.

No Multi-Day Differentiation

If you want different messages for different days (e.g., "out for one day" vs "out for two weeks"), Gmail does not support that. You would need to update the message manually mid-trip or set up multiple responders sequentially.

Customise the Out of Office Message

The default Gmail vacation responder message is blank. The single biggest improvement most people miss: write a message that actually helps the sender.

What to Include

  • When you are back - exact date, not just "next week"
  • Who to contact in your absence - direct email or Slack handle for urgent matters
  • What to expect on return - "I will respond to all messages in the order received within 2 business days of [date]"
  • Limited details about why - "I am attending [event/conference]" is helpful for context; "I am at my grandmother's funeral" is too much

Out of Office Message Templates

Three templates for the most common scenarios. Replace bracketed placeholders.

Standard vacation:

Subject: Out of Office: Returning [Date]

Hi,

Thanks for your email. I am out of the office until [date] with limited access to email.

For urgent matters, please contact [colleague name] at [email]. For anything that can wait, I will respond to messages in the order received within 2 business days of my return.

Best,
[Your Name]

Conference or short trip:

Subject: At [Conference/Event] this week

Hi,

I am at [conference/event name] this week and will check email between sessions. Responses may be slower than usual until [date].

For anything urgent, [colleague name] ([email]) is covering my inbox.

Thanks,
[Your Name]

Extended leave:

Subject: On extended leave until [date]

Hi,

I am on extended leave and will return on [date]. I will not be reading email during this time.

For [type 1] matters, please contact [colleague 1] at [email].
For [type 2] matters, please contact [colleague 2] at [email].

I will respond to anything else after [date].

Thanks for your patience,
[Your Name]

Common Vacation Responder Issues

My Auto-Reply Is Not Sending

Causes, in order of frequency:

  1. Dates are wrong - the start date is in the future or the end date has passed. Re-check.
  2. "My Contacts only" is on - the sender is not in your Contacts. Disable the checkbox to test, or have a known contact send a test.
  3. You have already auto-replied to this sender - Gmail caches replies for 4 days. Wait or test from a different account.
  4. Spam filter - your auto-reply hit the recipient's spam filter. Ask them to check.

The Auto-Reply Is Going to People I Didn't Want It To

Either tighten the audience checkbox (Contacts only or domain only), or shorten the message body - long, detailed out-of-office messages tend to trigger spam filters and amplify the "shotgun" feel.

The Vacation Responder Will Not Turn Off

Make sure you click Save Changes at the bottom of the Settings page after selecting "Vacation responder off". Settings do not auto-save in Gmail's General tab.

I Want a Different Reply for Different Senders

The vacation responder only supports one message. For conditional auto-replies (different messages for different sender domains, subject keywords, etc.), use Gmail filters with the "Send template" action. See our Gmail rules and filters guide.

Vacation Responder for Customer Support Teams

If you handle customer email through a personal Gmail address (or a forwarded shared mailbox in Gmail), the vacation responder has limits that hit support workflows quickly:

  1. One generic message for every customer - VIP customers and free-tier signups get identical replies.
  2. No team-aware routing - the responder cannot say "your message has been forwarded to [colleague]" because Gmail does not know who is covering for you.
  3. Tied to one person's inbox - if the whole team goes out for a company offsite, every agent has to set their own vacation responder separately.

For team support coverage, an auto-responder in a shared inbox is a better pattern. The auto-reply applies at the inbox level, knows which agents are available, and can route the conversation directly to the on-call person rather than asking the customer to email someone else.

For Outlook users handling the same problem, see our guide on Outlook auto-forwarding. And for the broader Gmail automation toolkit beyond vacation replies, see ways to automate emails in Gmail.

Gmail Vacation Responder Quick Reference

Task Path
Set up (web) Settings > See all settings > General > Vacation responder
Set up (iOS) Three-line menu > Settings > [account] > Vacation responder
Set up (Android) Three-line menu > Settings > [account] > Vacation responder
Turn off Same path, select "Vacation responder off", Save Changes
Limit audience Check "Only send to my Contacts" or "Only send to [domain]"
Reply frequency 1 reply per sender per 4 days (cannot change)
Multiple accounts Set separately for each account on mobile

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the vacation responder in Gmail? On the web: gear icon > See all settings > General tab, scroll to the bottom. On mobile: three-line menu > Settings > tap the account > Vacation responder.

How long can a Gmail vacation responder run? There is no upper limit - leave the "Last day" blank and it runs until you turn it off manually. For long absences, set a specific end date so you do not accidentally leave it on after returning.

Does Gmail's vacation responder work for emails in spam or trash? No. The vacation responder only fires for messages that reach your inbox or labelled folders. Spam and trash are skipped, which is generally what you want.

Can I have different vacation responders for different Gmail accounts? Yes. Each Gmail account (personal Gmail, Workspace, signed-in additional accounts) has its own independent vacation responder setting. Configure each separately. See our guide on managing multiple Gmail accounts on mobile if you also need to switch between them while away.

Does the vacation responder send auto-replies to mailing lists? Gmail tries not to. It detects most mailing-list senders (via headers like List-Unsubscribe) and skips auto-replying. Edge cases slip through, which is why the 4-day cap exists as a backup.

Can I schedule a vacation responder in advance? Yes - set a future "First day" and Gmail will activate the responder automatically on that date. You can also enable it now if you are leaving today.

What is the difference between vacation responder and auto-reply in Gmail? They are the same feature with two names. "Vacation responder" is the official Gmail label. "Auto-reply", "automatic reply", "out-of-office", and "away message" are common informal terms for the same setting.

How do I set an out of office in Gmail on iPhone? Open the Gmail app, tap the three-line menu, tap Settings, tap the account, tap Vacation responder, toggle on, fill in dates and message, tap Done. The setting syncs to the web version.

Next Steps

Set the start and end dates, write a message that tells senders when to expect a reply and who can help in the meantime, and double-check the audience filter matches who you actually want to hear from you while away. If you handle a shared customer support address rather than a personal inbox, look at a team inbox where auto-replies can be set centrally and route to whoever is on duty.