How to set up vacation message in gmail

You’re probably familiar with Gmail’s out-of-office responder. It’s that automatic email that you can switch on whenever you go on holiday. It informs your friends and colleagues that you’re not next to your computer, and you’ll answer them when you get back.

As useful as this feature is, sometimes it’s not enough. For instance, if you have a regular day off during the week, you may want an out-of-office notification to always run on this day.

While Gmail can’t do that by itself, here are two other ways to achieve that auto-recurring email.

Use Auto Reply Pro for Your Out-Of-Office Email

The first option is a Google Marketplace add-on called Auto Reply Pro. Although it’s a paid feature, it also has a free tier, which allows you to send 50 automatic emails per month. If your inbox doesn’t tend to get that much traffic, it could be the perfect solution for you.

Follow these steps to configure it:

1. Install the app and connect it to the desired Gmail account.
2. In your Gmail account, press the Auto Reply Pro icon on the right side of the screen. It looks like a blue, square happy face.
3. In the window that pops up, click Get Started.

4. Click Add / Manage Rules in App. This will launch a new window.
5. Press Skip to land on the app’s home screen.
6. On the left-hand side, click Auto Reply, and in the menu that opens, click Add New Out Of Office.

7. Name the rule and click Next.
8. On this screen, you can choose conditions. For instance, only emails with a certain topic, or from specific recipients. Since we want to send this to all emails, we didn’t mark anything and pressed Next.
9. Mark Enable Only for Specific Date & Time.
10. Here is where you can set when the email will be sent. However, it’s a bit tricky. You can choose Enable Daily, which will send the email at specific hours each day (like lunchtime and after work).
11. If you want to block a whole day, you’ll need to pick Enable for Calendar Events. Here you have two options. Either you choose your regular calendar and also block your days off on it on a regular basis, or you create a new calendar, dedicated just to blocking the days off. Keep in mind that if you choose the former, the email will be sent every time you have an event, even if not on your day off.

12. After you hit Next, click Add New Action>Create & Send New Email (In New Thread).
13. This is where you finally get to customize your email. Add content, press Mail Additional Settings to set the Subject and any other customization you want. Once you’re done, click Create Out Of Office Reply at the bottom of the screen.

That’s it, you’re all set. If you’re a little confused about how to set your calendar in order to work with the auto-responder, read more about how to block time on Google Calendar. You can also set specified working hours if you have an account through an organization.

How to Set a Regular Auto-Responder With Zapier

Another good option to set a recurring auto-responder is Zapier. This option requires a paid subscription; however, it may be worth it for some people. It is a lot more flexible and allows you to automate many parts of your workflows, not just emails.

This is how you create the out-of-office after you sign up for the service:

Create a New Trigger

To get the ball rolling, you need to tell Zapier when you want an action to take place. This is called a trigger.

1. Click Create Zap on the top left-hand side of the home screen.

2. Pick Gmail as the Trigger for the Zap.
3. From the dropdown menu under Trigger Event, choose New Email and press Continue.

4. Sign in to your Gmail account, to allow access, and once done, press Continue.
5. Choose the folder you want to apply this to. Usually, sending the auto-responder to your inbox is enough. However, if you have a filter where new emails go to different labels directly, you may want to choose those as well. The default option is for all emails. Press Continue.
6. Press Test Trigger to ensure the connection is working and Continue.

Apply a Filter

Next, you need to ensure that Zapier doesn’t send the response to every new email, but only to those sent on a specific date. A Filter helps to set this up.

1. Under Action, choose Filter.
2. Under Only continue if…, pick from the dropdown menus Date>(Text) Starts With and on the last box write the three letters of the day you want it to be sent. In our example, we put Sat or Sun, to include the entire weekend.

3. After the software tests the filter, press Close, and then the + to add the action.

Set Your Responder

Time to finally set your email responder and get this baby to work.

1. Pick Gmail again as your App Event.
2. Choose Sent Email as your Action Event and press Continue.

3. Since you’ve already signed in to your account, you just need to pick it from the menu now and continue.
4. On this screen, you can customize your email to your liking. The two fields that are required are Subject and Body. We’ve also added our regular signature, to look more professional.

5. Again, after you hit Continue, you get to test the email, to ensure it looks good in Gmail. Check your Sent folder to see if you approve.
6. If you’re happy with the result, click Turn On Zap.

Learn to Enjoy Automation

The option to send a recurring out-of-office message can be extremely helpful for freelancers and small businesses. You don’t want to be tied to your computer, and this helps ensure that your clients that you will get back to them at some point.

With these two apps, you can also automate other processes and emails, to make your life easier in the long run. You’ll soon find out that once you try automation, it’s easy to get addicted.