Gmail lets you set up a convenient vacation auto-responder that does the job fabulously. You can even restrict automatic replies to people already in your Gmail address book to avoid replying to newsletters and the occasional spam that might make it past Gmail's filters (mail rooted to the Spam folder as well as messages coming through mailing lists never get automatic responses).
Set Up an Out-of-Office Vacation Auto-Response in Gmail
To set up an out-office auto-responder that informs senders of your temporary absence and inability to get back immediately in Gmail:
- Select Settings from the top Gmail navigation bar.
- Make sure Vacation responder on is selected on the General tab.
- Enter appropriate subject and message body text.
- If you can, include approximate info on when you will be able to reply personally. An alternative contact or an alternative way of contacting you might also be appropriate.
- See below for having Gmail start and stop the auto-responder at pre-set dates.
- Click Save Changes.
Turn Off an Automatic Gmail Vacation Response
When you return, stopping the vacation auto-responder is easy:
- Follow the end now link in the vacation responder bar at the top of your Gmail screen.
Pre-Plan Your Gmail Vacation Auto-Responder
To set both a start and end date for your Gmail auto-responder and have it start and stop automatically:
- Follow the Settings link.
- Go to Labs.
- Make sure Enable is selected for Vacation Time!.
- Click Save Changes.
- Click Settings again.
- Under Vacation responder: set First day: and Last day: while setting up the auto-responder as above.
Exclude Messages from the Gmail Autoresponder
You can prevent Gmail from sending automatic replies to certain messages by setting up filters that delete (and optionally forward) these messages. If you're back before 30 days are over, you can recover these messages from the Trash folder, too...
