Setting an Out of Office Message

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Question

How do I set an Out of Office message for my email account?

Automatic Replies

  1. In a web browser, navigate to https://go.westernu.edu 
    1. If prompted to log in, please use your full WesternU email address and current password. You will then be prompted to verify the login using your preferred MFA method
  2. Once logged in, click the icon for Outlook
  3. Once in your mailbox, click the Settings wheel in the top-right
  4. In the Search Outlook Settings box, type in Automatic Replies and select the option that appears
  5. Input the required information below:
    1. Turn on automatic replies: Toggle this option to turn automatic replies on or off
      • You will be provided a text field to input the message you would like to be sent automatically.
    2. Send replies only during a time period: This option allows you to set a time frame where the automatic replies will be sent
      • You will need to input both a date and time for start and end of this period
    3. Send replies outside your organization: This will enable automatic replies to be sent to email addresses that do not end in @westernu.edu. This is helpful for users/departments that regularly deal with outside users
      • If this option is selected, you will be prompted with a new box to type an automatic reply that will be sent specifically to the addresses that do not end in @westernu.edu. 
    4. Send replies only to contacts: If the above option is checked, you can select this option to send automatic replies to email addresses that do not end in @westernu.edu, but only if the address is saved in your Outlook Contacts
  6. Once the information is inputted, click Save in the top-right of the window

Congratulations, you have now set up automatic replies for your WesternU email account.

To turn off automatic replies, follow the steps above and toggle the Turn on automatic replies switch to disable the automatic replies. The information that stays in the boxes is irrelevant, and will be greyed out while they are disabled. 

Replies from a shared mailbox/other users' mailbox

If you wish to set up automatic replies for a different user or shared mailbox, you can do so using the steps below. 

Please note: You must have full access to the mailbox (view emails and send as) to set an automatic reply.

  1. In a web browser, navigate to https://go.westernu.edu 
    1. If prompted to log in, please use your full WesternU email address and current password. You will then be prompted to verify the login using your preferred MFA method
  2. Once logged in, click the icon for Outlook
  3. Once in your mailbox, click the icon with either your initials or profile picture and select Open another mailbox
  4. Input the email address of the account you wish to access and click Open
  5. In the new tab, you may follow the same steps as above to set an automatic reply.
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