What should I say in an out-of-office message?

Four things: that you are away, until when (the date you are back), whether you will read email in the meantime, and who to contact for urgent matters, with their email or phone number. A reason is optional. Keep it to a few lines.

How do I set an out-of-office message in Teams?

On desktop, select your profile picture, choose Set status message, then Schedule out of office, turn on automatic replies and type your message. In the mobile app, tap your profile picture, select your status, choose Out of office and turn on Set auto reply. Microsoft says the status syncs with automatic replies in Outlook.

Does Gmail send my vacation reply to everyone every time?

No. Google says that in most cases your reply is only sent the first time someone messages you. The same person gets it again if they write after four days while the reply is still on, or after you edit the reply.

Should I write my out-of-office message in two languages?

If you get email from people who speak different languages, yes. Put the main language first and the second version below it, with the same dates and contact details in both.

Out-of-Office Message: What to Say + Templates

An out-of-office message says four things: that you are away, the date you are back, whether you will check email in the meantime, and who to contact if it cannot wait. A reason is optional, and a few lines are enough. Copy one of the templates below, fill in your dates and contact, and switch the reply on in Gmail, Outlook or Teams.

Include	Example
That you are away	"I'm out of the office"
Until when	"until Monday, October 12" (the day you are back)
Whether you read email	"with no access to email" or "checking email occasionally"
Who to contact	"For urgent matters, contact Sam Lee at sam.lee@example.com"
Optional	The reason (vacation, conference, leave), a second language

Out-of-office email template

Copy this and replace everything in square brackets.

Subject: Out of office until [date]

Hello,

Thank you for your email.

I'm out of the office until [day, date] and [will have limited access to email / won't be checking email].

For urgent matters, please contact [Name] at [email] or [phone number].

Otherwise, I'll reply as soon as I'm back.

Best regards,
[Your name]

Short version

Thanks for your message.
I'm away until [date] and will reply when I'm back.
For urgent matters, please contact [Name] at [email].

Vacation

Hello,

Thank you for your email.

I'm on vacation until [date] and won't be checking email.

For anything urgent, please contact [Name] at [email], who is covering for me.

I'll answer your message after I'm back on [date].

Best regards,
[Your name]

Conference or business trip

Hello,

I'm at [event] until [date] and will reply with some delay.

If your message is time-sensitive, please call [Name] at [phone number].

Thank you for your patience,
[Your name]

Longer leave

For parental leave, a sabbatical or any longer absence, name a person who takes over, not only a date.

Hello,

I'm on leave until [date].

During this time, [Name] is looking after [my projects / your account].

You can reach [him / her / them] at [email] or [phone number].

Your email will not be forwarded, so please resend it to [Name] if it needs an answer.

Thank you,
[Your name]

You never have to give a reason for being away. "I'm out of the office" is enough, and it is the safer choice when you are off sick or away for personal reasons.

Out-of-office message in two languages

If you get email from people who speak different languages, write the message twice: main language first, second version below, with the same dates and contact in both.

I'm out of the office until Monday, October 12.
For urgent matters, please contact Sam Lee at sam.lee@example.com.

Estoy fuera de la oficina hasta el lunes 12 de octubre.
Para asuntos urgentes, contacte con Sam Lee en sam.lee@example.com.

Have a native speaker check the second language if you can, or at least check that dates and names match in both versions.

Out-of-office message in Teams

Microsoft's help page describes two ways:

Desktop: select your profile picture at the top of Teams, choose Set status message, then Schedule out of office. Turn on the toggle next to Turn on automatic replies and type your message.
Mobile app: tap your profile picture in the upper left corner, select your current status and choose Out of office. Turn on Set auto reply, write your message and set the start and end dates.

According to Microsoft, "your out of office status will also sync with automatic replies in your Outlook calendar", and the message "will also be sent as an automatic reply in Outlook." The message people see in Teams can be shorter than your email version: "Out until Oct 12. Urgent: Sam Lee."

Set it up in Gmail and Outlook

Gmail app on Android (from Google's help page): open the Gmail app, tap Menu, then Settings, choose your account and tap Vacation responder. Turn it on, fill in the date range, subject and message, and tap Done. You can also send the reply to your contacts only.

Google explains that "in most cases, your reply is only sent to people the first time they message you." Someone gets it again if they contact you "after four days" while the reply is still on, or after you edit the reply.

Outlook (from Microsoft's help page): in Outlook on the web, go to Settings, Account, Automatic replies, turn on the toggle, tick Send replies only during a time period, enter the start and end time, type your message and select Save. In new Outlook for Windows, the same settings are under View, View settings, Accounts, Automatic Replies. Work and school accounts can also send replies outside the organization; Microsoft points out that this reaches newsletters and junk email too, and suggests Send replies only to contacts. Microsoft also notes that automatic replies "are not supported for Gmail, Yahoo, or other POP or IMAP accounts" in Outlook.

Example: from a voice note to an out-of-office message

We wrote this example ourselves to show the idea. It is not real app output, and your results will look different.

What you might say into your phone:

Out of office message.
I'm off from the second to the ninth of October, back on Monday the twelfth.
No email at all, I'm properly offline.
Jordan covers the client stuff, jordan.p@example.com, and for invoices it's accounts@example.com.
Keep it friendly and short.
And I need a Spanish version too, a lot of our suppliers are in Mexico.

The finished message (Email, Friendly), then the language switched to Spanish:

Subject: Out of office until October 12

Hi,

Thanks for your email!

I'm away from October 2 to October 9 and won't be checking email.

For client questions, please contact Jordan at jordan.p@example.com.

For invoices, please write to accounts@example.com.

I'll get back to you after I return on Monday, October 12.

Best,
[Your name]

Hola:

¡Gracias por su correo!

Estaré fuera del 2 al 9 de octubre y no revisaré el correo.

Para consultas de clientes, escriba a Jordan a jordan.p@example.com.

Para facturas, escriba a accounts@example.com.

Le responderé a mi regreso, el lunes 12 de octubre.

Saludos,
[Your name]

Both versions carry the same dates and addresses. The voice note mixed the away dates and the return date; the message separates them, so nobody expects an answer on the 10th.

Dictate your out-of-office message with Retexta

Retexta is a cloud voice to text and AI writing app for Android. You say your dates and who covers for you, and it writes the message, in more than one language if you need it.

Open Retexta and tap New task.
Under What do you want to do?, tap Write a message.
Under What kind of message?, choose Email (or Work chat (Slack, Teams) for a short status text) and a writing style such as Professional or Friendly. Tap Next.
Tap Record audio and say when you are away, when you are back, whether you read email and who to contact.
Stop the recording. Retexta writes the message.
For a second language, change the language on the result screen. Retexta offers 50+ output languages.
Check every date and address, then copy the text into Gmail, Outlook or Teams.

Write a message is part of Retexta Pro, and copying or sharing results needs Retexta Pro or credits. The app is free to try: new users get a few free Pro results to view in the app, and everything after them needs Retexta Pro or credits. Retexta marks results with "AI-generated. Check important details." Retexta does not switch on the automatic reply for you; you paste the text into your email or Teams settings.

Keep reading

More email guides: how to dictate an email on Android, the follow-up email for when you are back, and the meeting request email. More about the app: Retexta, voice to text for Android.

Sources

Checked by FLAME Apps on September 25, 2026.

Gmail Help, Send automatic replies (vacation responder), Android: steps, when replies are sent again.
Microsoft Support, Send automatic out of office replies from Outlook: steps for Outlook on the web and new Outlook, outside the organization, unsupported account types.
Microsoft Support, Schedule an out of office status in Microsoft Teams: desktop and mobile steps, sync with Outlook.
Retexta: names of goals, message types, writing styles and plans as shown in the app (release 2026.1.23) and on its Google Play listing.
Templates and the example: written by FLAME Apps.

Out-of-office message: what to say, with templates