The holiday season is here and if you want to keep your mind at ease and get ready for the coming work week, you might consider letting other people know that you won’t be checking emails for the next few days. After all, we all want a distraction-free holiday to get rid of all the fatigue, after the hard and stressful year. 

We’ve put together an awesome list of out of office messages for the holidays, 12 to be specific.‍

What is OOO?

Out of message or OOO is a simple, indicative message to clearly inform your colleagues and clients that you’ll not be in the office and replying to the mails or messages might take longer than usual. Even though this looks uncomplicated, people tend to mess it up and not communicate the intent clearly causing confusion to the responders.

OOO is considered a must-follow work etiquette to explain the reason and elucidate what steps the mailer should follow. Auto reply mailer is used to ensure that your colleagues and clients don’t misunderstand you taking time to reply, which might have consequences on your relationship with them.

Read also: 129 This or That Questions For Adults, Students & Friends‍

What is the purpose of an OOO email?‍

As mentioned already, OOO is an essential hygiene factor in workplace. There are several reasons one should leave an auto reply setting when taking absence leaves from work:

1. Clear communication
2. Acknowledge that you have received the email
3. Avoid any misunderstanding for the late reply
4. Avoid work related disruptions

When to write an auto reply OOO?

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1. When you’re on a holiday
2. Holiday Season
3. Conference
4. Personal emergency
5. Sabbatical or long leave of absence‍

What to include in an OOO email?

1. Why?‍

This is crucial in an auto reply message. You can very briefly mention the reason for your absence. Ideally, you should not dive deep into the reason if it is personal. The ‘why’ part will address the curiosity of the mailer as to your delay and will help them decide whether to proceed with their plan or project.

2. When?‍

This is the most important part of the mail and must be included in your OOO. This is the primary reason why OOO exists, If you are working on a project with a client and your presence is needed to take some key decisions, the ‘when’ part will let them anticipate your arrival and plan accordingly so that there are no overall disruptions.

3. What to do?‍

You should include ‘what to do incase this is a work related emergency’. Either give a personal contact, or list out steps to be taken if it is an extremely specific task. You can also include ‘people to contact’ in case they can help the respondents figure things out. 

What to avoid in an OOO email?

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1. Don’t be overly casual
2. Don’t include personal details: readers don’t want to know where you are holidaying or what you are drinking
3. Don’t make it a lengthy novel, keep it short and simple
4. Don’t set unrealistic expectations with respect to timelines
5. Don’t forget to inform your colleagues (Personal assistant, reportee, etc) before you include their details in the email. 

Standard out-of-office messages

Out of office template 1: Standard fit all‍

Dear Client,

I will be away from the office for the next two weeks and will return by <Date>. If you need anything urgently, please contact my assistant (Contact details).

Sincerely,

My Name

Read also: 150+ Positive Wednesday Motivation Quotes For Work
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Out of office example 2: Client specific‍

Subject: Out of office

Dear client,

Thank you for your interest in my services. I am out of the office for the next few days till ____________. Please reach out on my personal number if it is extremely important.

Sincerely,

Name

Out of office example 3

Dear ________,

Please excuse me for not being available to answer emails until ________. I will be out of the office for a meeting. Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,

[insert your name]

  

Out of office example 4

Hi ________,, 

I am currently on vacation till _________. If you need anything, please contact my colleague <contact details>.

Thank you,

[insert your name]

Out of office template 5 

Dear ________,

Thank you for contacting me. I understand that your mail is important. However, I will be out of the office from __________, until ___________.
__________ will be available in my absence (Contact details).

Regards,

Name

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Out of office example 6

Dear ________,,

Thanks for your email. I’m currently out of the office, but I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. I’ll return on ______________.

In the meantime, here are some resources that might help:

Until then, check out our __________________ (Link). You might find an answer to your question there.

Still have questions? Feel free to reach out to _______________ for more information.

Regards,
Name

Read also: 60+ Best Work Memes to Guarantee a Good Day at the Office

Funny OOO Examples‍

The conventional wisdom is that all OOO mails are to be professional and formal, but we live in a world where the richest men of the world retweet dank memes. Informal and subtle casual tone works wonders. So we have included some funny, witty and unconventional templates for out of office messages:

1. Are you sure you have made it clear enough that you are on vacation?

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2. A genuine reason for OOO template

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3. The never coming back OOO template

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4. Workaholic OOO template

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5. Being Zen and the art of OOO

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6. Ambitious resolution template

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7. Workaholic Part 2

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8. Use your pets as affiliates template

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9. Hibernation template

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10. Temporary gig with Santa

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11. Contact carrier pigeon service

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12. Unapologetic

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13. Solar conjunction

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14. Dune Vacation

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Internal out-of-office message

Internal OOO should be specific since it might help people working on projects with you. This way, they can keep track of the project and plan their timelines accordingly.

Hello, 

I'm out of the office until _________ and will respond to your emails once I return. If you need to access the__________(project resource), you should access this folder in the drive ______(link), If you need any other help with the project, you should contact _____________(contact details)

Thank you,

Name

Lead generation out of office messages‍

Out of office need not be plain and boring, since it goes out to several mailers. It can also serve a touchpoint to generate leads for your business, who knows? One of them might even convert into a prospective customer.

Dear,

I am out of office till _______and have limited access to mail.

If you need assistance, please contact _________

Meanwhile do check out our e-book on _________. We have crafted it with the help of industry experts and you might find it extremely insightful.

In case you are curious to know what we are working on currently, check out _________

Regards,
Name

Event Promotion out of office templates‍

Every mailer is a prospective attendee for your webinar or conference!

Dear,

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Since I am a keynote speaker at the __________(event details), I’ll out of office and until ___________

In case you are in the city, do drop by. I’ll be sharing important insights on ___________(topic) and we can have a chance to connect.

Regards,
Name

Social Media promotion OOO message

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It is important to link your social media handles in all the outbound mails that you send across. Hence, OOO emails are no exemption.

Hello,

I’ll out of office and not reply to your mail until ________

Meanwhile, do check out our twitter handle ______________ (Details)
______________(Industry veteran) will be a doing an AMA. It’ll be really interesting!

Regards,

Name

Networking OOO message

Hello,

I am out of office, attending __________conference (details) between _______ and _________

In case, you are around. Feel free to drop me a message at _________ (contact). I’d be glad to connect and discuss what we are building over a cup of coffee.

Thanks,

Name

Blog Traffic OOO template‍

Hello,

I have limited access to mail and will be replying to you by  ________

Meanwhile, do check out our latest blog on _________(topic), I am sure you will find it interesting.

Best,

Name

Maternity/Paternity Leave Out of office message

It is essential to drop the replacement’s contact during maternity leave as one may be on leave for 6 months.

Hello,

I’ll be away on maternity/paternity leave from ______ to _______. During this period, ________(Contact details) will be handling all my accounts. Feel free to drop her a mail.

Regards,

Name

Conclusion
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What is a better way to communicate to the clients that you are going on holiday, than with a short and sweet out-of-office message? The type of message depends on your sense of humor and the relationship you have with them.

If you are close to them, incorporate the humour into the message. You’ll want to consider just how formal or informal the culture of your office is. Creating a clever out-of-office message can be a fun way to show your personality and more closely connect with your clients and company. When in doubt, use one of these twelve examples as inspiration for your out-of-office messages.

FAQs
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How do I set up an out-of-office message on Gmail?

1. Go to Gmail and click on Settings and “See all Settings”
2. Go down to the "Vacation responder" & Switch Vacation responder on.
3. Fill in the date and content 
4. Select if you want to respond only to contacts and save changes

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

The following steps will guide you to set up an OOO on Outlook:

1. Select “File > Automatic Replies” Or “Rules and Alerts” Depending on the outlook version
2. Then select “Send automatic replies”.
3. You will be presented with two text boxes: “Inside your organisation” & “Outside your organisation”

4. Enter the text and click OK

Why is out of office message important?‍

The out-of-office message is an email that informs the mailer that you are not working from your desk. It explains when you’ll be back and who will be your substitute when you are away. ‍

Should you use more than one out-of-office email message?‍

Yes, Ideally one for colleagues and one for clients. If you manage multiple inboxes, then you’ll certainly have to make alterations to your OOO.