An auto reply email template is the message a mailbox sends on its own when mail arrives: the out of office, the support ticket confirmation, the holiday closure notice. A good one tells the sender three things. The message landed, a person will look at it by a stated time, and here is what to do if it cannot wait.
This guide covers when an automated email response helps and when it harms, what a good one contains, and 16 templates you can copy. Setup notes for Gmail, Outlook, Microsoft 365 shared mailboxes, WhatsApp Business and shared inbox rules close it.
Send an auto reply when the sender would otherwise wonder whether anyone saw the message: a shared mailbox, an absence, a closure or a backlog. Say what was received, when a person will reply, and the route for urgent matters. Send it once per sender, never in reply to automated mail, and keep the tone plain.
When an auto reply helps
- Confirmation that a message landed. A shared mailbox such as support@ or hello@ gives the sender no sign that a person is behind it. One line saying the message arrived does.
- Hours. If the team answers 9 to 6 and the message arrives at 11pm, the sender should know a reply comes in the morning.
- Out of office. Who is covering, and when you are back.
- A reference number. A ticket or case number gives the sender something to quote and shows the message is in a queue.
- What happens next. The step after the acknowledgment, with a time attached: a reply within one working day, a call from sales, a decision on an application.
When an auto reply harms
An automatic reply costs the reader a few seconds each time, so it harms in four cases.
- Every message. An acknowledgment on the fifth reply in a thread reads as noise and trains people to ignore the mailbox.
- Replying to replies. An auto reply to a newsletter, a receipt or a bounce goes nowhere useful, and sometimes to a list of thousands.
- Loops. Two autoresponders that answer each other trade messages until a mailbox fills. Any auto reply needs a guard that skips automated mail and sends once per sender.
- Fake warmth. 'We are thrilled to hear from you!' from a system at 2am tells the reader they are a queue entry. Plain words from a system read better than warm ones.
The anatomy of a good auto reply
Every template below has these four parts, in this order.
| Part | What it does | Example line |
|---|---|---|
| What we received | Confirms the message landed, plus any reference | We have your message about your order, reference {reference}. |
| When to expect a human | A time or day, in a stated time zone | A person will reply within one working day, 9 to 6 {time zone}. |
| What to do if urgent | A route that reaches a person | If it cannot wait, call {phone number} and ask for the duty manager. |
| No fake warmth | Plain words, no exclamation marks, no 'valued customer' | Thanks, and we will be in touch. |
Sign it with the team name, since a first name on an automatic message reads as pretend. And say that replies reach the same queue, so the sender does not start a second thread.
16 auto reply email templates
Placeholders are in curly braces. Replace every one, including {hours} and {time zone}, before switching the reply on.
Shared mailbox received
Thanks, your message has reached the {team name} team at {company}. A person will reply within {time}, {hours} {time zone}. If it cannot wait, {urgent route}. Replies to this email reach the same place, so there is no need to write again.
We have your message. The {team name} team reads this inbox {hours} {time zone} and answers in the order messages arrive. You will hear from a person by {time}. For anything urgent, {urgent route}.
Out of office, short and long
I am out of the office until {return date} and not reading email. For anything that cannot wait, contact {cover person} at {cover email}. I will reply to everything else when I am back.
I am away from {start date} to {end date} and will read email again on {return date}. {cover person} is covering {area} at {cover email} and has access to our open threads. For {other area}, write to {other contact}. If something needs a decision before I am back, forward it to {cover person} and copy me.
Outside business hours
Thanks for writing. Our team answers {hours}, {days}, in {time zone}, and your message arrived outside those hours. A person will reply by {time} on {next working day}. If it is urgent, {urgent route}.
Holiday closure
{company} is closed from {start date} to {end date} for {holiday}. We are reading email again on {return date} and will answer in the order messages arrived. {what still runs, such as orders placed before a cutoff}. For emergencies, {urgent route}.
High volume delay
We have your message. We are answering more mail than usual this week, so replies are taking up to {time} instead of our usual {usual time}. Your place in the queue is kept from the moment you wrote. If it cannot wait, {urgent route}.
Sales inquiry received
Thanks for your interest in {product}. Someone from the sales team will reply within {time}, {hours} {time zone}, with answers to what you asked and a time to talk if you want one. Plans and prices are on {pricing page}.
We have your demo request. {name or team} will write within {time} to confirm a slot, and the invite will come from {calendar address}. If you would rather pick a time now, use {booking link}. Reply here with anything you want covered on the call.
Support request received with a reference
We have your request, reference {reference}. Quote it if you write again and the message joins this case. A person will reply within {time}, {hours} {time zone}. If this is stopping you from working, reply with URGENT in the subject and we move it to the front.
Your request is logged as {reference} and is with the {team name} team. Replies come from {team address}. You will hear from a person by {time}. Everything you sent, including attachments, is on the case already.
Job application received
Thanks for applying for the {role} position at {company}. Your application has reached the hiring team and will be reviewed by {date}. We reply to every applicant, so you will hear either way. If anything changes, reply to this email and it will be added.
Vendor or unsolicited
Thanks for your message. This inbox is for customers of {company}, so sales and partnership proposals are not reviewed here. If you are offering a product or service, write to {vendor address} with pricing. We reply only if there is a fit.
WhatsApp greeting and away messages
Hi, thanks for messaging {company}. A person reads this number {hours} {time zone} and will reply within {time}. Tell us your {order number or account email} and what you need, and we will take it from there.
Thanks for your message. We are away from this number until {time} on {day}. We will reply in order when we are back. If it is urgent, call {phone number}.
Chat offline message
Nobody is on chat right now. Leave your email and your question, and a person will reply by {time} on {next working day}. If you need something before then, {urgent route}.
Setup notes for Gmail, Outlook, Microsoft 365 and WhatsApp
Gmail: the vacation responder and filters
Gmail's auto reply is the vacation responder, under Settings, See all settings, General. It takes a subject, a message, a first day and an optional last day. Google states that it sends to each sender once, and again if that sender writes after four days. It skips mailing lists and mail marked as spam.
For a reply that depends on the message instead of your absence, use a filter. Enable Templates under Advanced, save the auto reply as a template, then create a filter whose action is Send template. That is how a support@ address in Gmail sends the 'we have your message' reply.
Outlook: automatic replies and rules
Outlook with a Microsoft 365 or Exchange account has Automatic Replies. In classic Outlook they are under File. In new Outlook and Outlook on the web they are under Settings, Accounts, Automatic replies. You can set a start and end time and write separate messages for inside and outside your organization. Exchange sends the reply once per sender for as long as it is switched on.
Rules cover the other cases. The action 'have server reply using a specific message' runs on the server, so it works while Outlook is closed. The client-side 'reply using a specific template' runs only while Outlook is open, and Microsoft states it replies once per sender per session.
Shared mailbox auto replies in Microsoft 365
A shared mailbox has its own Automatic Replies. An admin sets them in the Microsoft 365 admin center: Teams and groups, Shared mailboxes, open the mailbox, edit Automatic replies. A member with full access can instead open the shared mailbox in Outlook on the web and set them under Settings.
Exchange sends the automatic reply once per sender while it is on, so a customer who writes five times gets it once. Turning it off and on resets the list. For a reply on every new case, you need a rule in the shared mailbox or a shared inbox tool on top.
WhatsApp Business greeting and away messages
The WhatsApp Business app has two auto replies under Business tools. The greeting message goes to a customer who writes for the first time, or again after 14 days of silence. The away message goes on a schedule you set: always, outside business hours, or custom times.
A number on the WhatsApp Business Platform, which is what a team inbox connects to, has neither, so the inbox's rules do the job. A reply inside the 24-hour window is free, so an away message costs nothing.
Shared inbox rules
A shared inbox replaces the per-tool settings with rules that run when a message arrives on any connected mailbox. A rule checks the message and acts: it sends a template reply, tags, assigns or snoozes. The useful checks are business hours, the inbox, the sender and domain, and whether the message is itself automated. Confirm there is a loop guard before you switch a rule on.
Where Sektra fits
We build Sektra, an AI shared inbox for client-facing teams, so weigh this section accordingly. Its rules run when a message arrives on any connected inbox, Gmail, Outlook, IMAP or WhatsApp, and can send a template reply, tag, assign or snooze. The checks are the normal kind, sender, domain, inbox, business hours and automated-mail detection, and the AI kind, such as whether a message asks for a refund.
A run-once guard stops loops: the rule fires once, so it never trades replies with another autoresponder. A rule reply is the one message that leaves Sektra without a person pressing send, and an admin set it up. Everything else is drafted for a person: the assistant writes a reply in the thread's context, and the person reads it, edits it and sends it.
The morning digest lists who owes you a reply and who you owe, so the team can see and keep the promise the auto reply made. The feature list is on /product.
Pick the two or three situations that fit your mailbox, fill the placeholders, and switch on one at a time. Check the sent folder after a week to see what each reply went to.
