Creating an Out of Office or setting up a forward

Guide: Setting Out of Office and Forwarding in Outlook

This guide explains how to set up an Out of Office (automatic reply) and enable email forwarding in both Outlook (classic desktop app) and Outlook (new version / web-based).

Outlook (Classic Desktop App – Office 365 / 2019 / 2016)

1. Set Out of Office (Automatic Replies)

1.       1. Open Outlook.

2.       2. Go to the File tab (top left).

3.       3. Select Automatic Replies (Out of Office).

4.       4. Choose 'Send automatic replies'.

5.       5. Optionally, set a Start time and End time.

6.       6. Enter your message in the Inside My Organization tab (for colleagues).

7.       7. Enter your message in the Outside My Organization tab (for external contacts).

8.       8. Click OK.

2. Set Email Forwarding

9.       1. Open Outlook.

10.   2. Go to the File tab.

11.   3. Click Manage Rules & Alerts.

12.   4. In the Rules and Alerts window, click New Rule.

13.   5. Under 'Start from a blank rule', select 'Apply rule on messages I receive'.

14.   6. Click Next (leave conditions blank if you want it to apply to all).

15.   7. In Step 2, check 'forward it to people or public group'.

16.   8. Click the underlined link 'people or public group' and select or type the forwarding email address.

17.   9. Click Finish, then Apply.

18.   10. Click OK to save.

Outlook (New – Web & New Windows/Mac App)

1. Set Out of Office (Automatic Replies)

19.   1. Open the new Outlook (or go to outlook.office.com).

20.   2. Click the Settings (gear) icon at the top right.

21.   3. Select Mail → Automatic replies.

22.   4. Turn on Automatic replies.

23.   5. Optionally, set a time range.

24.   6. Enter your reply message.

25.   7. Choose if replies should go to internal or external contacts.

26.   8. Click Save.

2. Set Email Forwarding

27.   1. Open the new Outlook.

28.   2. Click the Settings (gear) icon at the top right.

29.   3. Select Mail → Forwarding.

30.   4. Turn on 'Enable forwarding'.

31.   5. Enter the email address where you want messages forwarded.

32.   6. Optionally, check 'Keep a copy of forwarded messages'.

33.   7. Click Save.