How to Use Vacation Responder in Gmail
Have you ever had to continuously reply to incoming emails on Gmail while you were on your leave, be it taking a sick day or just taking a break? It ruins the experience. That’s where Gmail’s Vacation Responder feature comes in. A Vacation Responder is an automated out-of-office email sent in response to incoming emails. Here is how you can set up and use a vacation responder in Gmail.
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What Is a Vacation Responder
Gmail’s Vacation Responder can be used to send a message to people who email you or send you direct messages inChat. This is a helpful feature for people who are on vacation and want to avoid distractions. We used it recently and found it to be a better alternative to sending emails to people individually notifying them of our leave status.
If you’re havingtrouble with receiving emails on Gmail, try these fixes.
Setup Vacation Responder in Gmail on Desktop
1.To turn on the vacation responder in Gmail on the desktop, click on thecogicon on the top-right of theGmail inbox pageto openSettings.
2.Then click onSee all settings.
3.In theGeneralsection in Settings, scroll down to the bottom of the page and look forVacation Responder.
4.Click onVacation responder onto turn on the vacation responder.
5.Now, enter the date from which you want the vacation responder to be active next to theFirst daycolumn from the drop-down menu.
6.If you’re taking planned holidays then you can also enter theLast dayfor the vacation responder to stay active. To enter, click on the checkbox towards the left of the columnLast day.
7.Enter theSubjectof your automated out-of-office email which will be sent to incoming emails. For example, “Out of Office till (Enter date here)”.
8.Then enter the content of the email in theMessagescolumn. It could be something like “Hey, I’m on leave for a few days and will not be able to check your emails or do that thing for a while.”
Worried about what you should write in your responder to sound professional yet not rude? You can always useHelp Me Write in Gmail and Google Docs.
9.Now, save the responder by clicking onSave Changes.
Optional Additions to Vacation Responder
10.If you don’t want to reply to everybody with a vacation responder, you can also select the option toOnly send a response to people in my contacts. It does what it says, and sends the responder replies only to the people who are in your Google contact list.
11.If you need, then you may send the responder email only to people who are in your domain by selecting the optiononly send a response to people in my domain.
12.If you select both options to send a response, then Gmail will send the vacation response only to people who are on your domain and in your contact list.
Vacation Responder in Gmail on Android
The option for Vacation Responder is tucked away in Gmail app settings on Android. This is how you may enable it.
1.To enable vacation responder in Gmail on Android, open theGmail appand tap on thehamburger iconon the top left.
2.Then scroll down in the hamburger menu and tap onSettings. Tap on youremail IDto proceed further.
3.Scroll down in the General section menu and look forVacation Responder. By default, it will be in an OFF state.
4.Tap onVacation Responderand you’ll see a similar option as seen on the Desktop. Enter theFirst day, theLast day,theSubject,and themessageyou’d like to send as a vacation responder.
5.Again, you can choose to send this responder messageonly to people in your contact liston Gmail oronly to the people in your Domain.
6.Hit onDoneto save your changes and activate the vacation responder on your Gmail ID from your Android.
Pro Tip:Used someone else’s PC to check emails? Here’s how you can quickly seewhere you are logged into Gmail and sign out. Never take privacy and security for granted.
Vacation Responder in Gmail on iPhone
Vacation Responder is known byOut of Office AutoReplyin iPhone, although functionality is the same. Let’s see how we can enable it on your iPhone. Since the ecosystem is the same with all Apple devices, this process will also be true for iPad users.
1.To enable vacation responder in Gmail on iOS, open theGmail appand tap on thehamburger iconon the top left. Then scroll down in the hamburger menu and tap onSettings.
2.Tap onOut of Office AutoReplyand flick the switch to enable it.
3.Enter theFirst dayandLast dayby tapping on it to get access to the drop-down menu.
4.Then enter theSubjectof the responder and yourMessageassociated with it.
5.Once done, tap on any additional settings like sending vacation responses only to people in your contact list.
6.To save the response, tap onSaveon the top right and it starts from the first day.
Did You Know:You canuse Gmail even when you are offlineon your desktop. It’s a simple setting tucked deep in the Gmail app.
Key Notes for Vacation Responder in Gmail
1.Responses to any incoming emails will be sent once every 4 days from the point of sending a response for the first time.
2.Any response you save is also sent as direct messages to users to send you messages onGoogle Chatif you have it enabled in Gmail.
3.The responder starts at 12:00 AM on the start day and ends at 23:59 PM on the last day.
4.If you edit your response while it is activated, then the updated response will be active from 12:00 AM the next day. All senders will get an updated response the very next time they send you an email, even if they got the old response recently.
5.Gmail willadd a signatureto the end of every response it sends on your behalf.
6.You can still send or reply to emails normally while the responder is active.
7.You will still get email notifications when the responder is active.
8.The responses are not sent to any senders whose emails are directly received in your Spam or Trash folder.
Responding to Gmail Emails on Autopilot
Replying to emails can be stressful at times, it can be higher if you are on leave. Glad that now you can always set up the vacation responder using our detailed guide if you ever decide to take a leave. One of the many benefits is that the person who receives your response knows that you’re unavailable right now.
If you sent a wrong email or an email to the wrong person, you canunsend emails in Gmailon both web and mobile apps.
Nitin Singh
A tech writer during the day and an anime aficionado by the night. When not in front of a screen, he can be seen playing Badminton. Appreciating the beauty of nature is a habit that has been developed since early on. Have views on tech, cars or life? Drop a text!
