Out of office messages (automatic replies)

An out of office message is an automatic response sent by UQ's mail system to any email you receive.

You can turn on automatic replies in two ways:

• through the Outlook Web App in the my.UQ dashboard, or
• via the Outlook program installed on your device.

An out of office message can be customised to suit a UQ audience or external audience, and can be turned on for a specified period of time or until you manually turn it off.

How to turn on automatic replies

• Outlook for Windows
• Outlook for Mac
• Outlook Web App on desktop
• Outlook Web App on mobile
• Automatic replies for shared mailboxes

Outlook for Windows

1. Click the ‘File’ tab and then select 'Info' from the menu.
2. Select 'Automatic Replies (Out of Office)'.
3. Select the ‘Send automatic replies’ tick box.
4. If you want to specify a time and date range, select the 'Only send replies during this time period' tick box. Otherwise, automatic replies will send until you manually turn them off.
5. In the 'inside my organization' tab, write a message suitable for a UQ audience.
6. In the 'outside my organization' tab, write a message for an external audience. Make sure you select ‘Auto-reply to people outside my organization' to activate this option.
7. Click 'OK' to turn on your out of office.

Outlook for Mac

1. Go to the 'Tools' menu at the top of your screen and select 'Out of office'.
2. Select the ‘Send automatic replies for account...’ tick box.
3. If you want to specify a time and date range, select the 'Only send replies during this time period' tick box. Otherwise, automatic replies will send until you manually turn them off.
4. In the 'inside my organization' tab, write a message suitable for a UQ audience.
5. In the 'Reply once to each sender with' box, write a suitable out of office message.
6. In the 'Reply once to each external sender' box, write a message for an external audience. Make sure you select ‘Also send replies to senders outside my organization' to activate this option.
7. Click 'OK' to turn on your out of office.

Outlook Web App on desktop

1. Log in to the my.UQ dashboard and click 'Email'.
2. Click the cog icon to open your settings, then click ‘Automatic replies’.
3. Select ‘Send automatic replies’.
4. If you want to specify a time and date range, select the 'Send replies only during this time period' tick box. Otherwise, automatic replies will continue sending until you manually turn them off.
5. In the 'inside my organization' tab, write a message suitable for a UQ audience.
6. In the 'outside my organization' tab, write a message for an external audience. Make sure you select ‘Send automatic reply messages to senders outside my organization' to activate this option.
7. Click 'OK' to turn on your out of office.

Outlook Web App on mobile

1. Log in to the my.UQ dashboard and tap 'Email'.
2. Tap the menu icon (three lines), then select the cog icon to open your settings.
3. Tap ‘Automatic replies’, then tap the 'Send automatic replies' tick box.
4. In the 'inside my organization' tab, write a message suitable for a UQ audience.
5. In the 'outside my organization' tab, write a message for an external audience. Make sure you also select ‘Send automatic replies outside my organization’ to activate this option.
6. Tap 'Done' to turn on your out of office.

Automatic replies for shared mailboxes

The easiest method to enable automatic replied for shared mailboxes is to use the web version of Outlook.

1. Visit https://outlook.office.com/mail/ and log in with your own UQ email address and associated login credentials.
2. Click on your profile icon at the top right of the interface, then select 'Open another mailbox'.
3. Enter the email address of the shared inbox, then click 'Open'.
4. Click on the Setting cog icon at the top right of the interface.
5. Select the 'Account' menu tab, then select the 'Automatic replies' tab.
6. Toggle the 'Turn on automatic replies' option, then update the available automatic reply options as required.