Mail Automatically Quotes and Attaches
Unfortunately, Mac OS X Mail may insert too much of a good thing. Quoting the complete message just to say you're on vacation is usually not necessary, and Mail automatically sends attachments back with these automatic replies, too.
Fortunately, you can apply some AppleScript magic to your auto-responder rule to make it more simple and smaller, sending just a quick note back to the sender.
Set Up a Non-Quoting Autoresponder in Mac OS X Mail
Note: the script below does currently not work in Mail 3 (Mac OS X 10.5).
To create automatic replies in Mac OS X Mail that do not quote the original message:
- Download this zipped AppleScript file: SimpleAutoresponderRule.zip.
- Extract the "SimpleAutoresponderRule.scpt" file to your Home/Library/Scripts folder.
- Double-click the downloaded file to open it in Script Editor.
- Look for "###enter message content here###" and replace it with the text you want in the body of your reply.
- Exit Script Editor saving your changes.
- Select Mail | Preferences... from the menu in Mac OS X Mail.
- Go to the Rules category.
- Click Add Rule.
- Give your autoresponder a descriptive name under Description:.
- The criterion lays down what messages Mail will send a reply to automatically. You may select a special Subject line, for example, or a specific To: address.
- Select Run AppleScript under Perform the following actions:.
- Click Choose....
- Locate the "SimpleAutoresponderRule" script.
- Click Choose File.
- Finally, Click OK.
- Close the Rules dialog.
