Out of office message examples: 15 templates for holidays, sick days and travel
Short, professional out-of-office messages for email, Slack and Teams — holidays, sick leave, parental leave, travel and public holidays — with 15 templates.
A good out-of-office message says three things in the first two lines: that you are away, when you are back, and who to contact if it cannot wait. Leave out why you are away unless it helps the reader, keep it under 60 words, and turn it on the evening before you leave. Set a matching status in Slack or Teams so colleagues see it before they write.
What every out-of-office message needs
- You are away — and roughly how long.
- The date you are back. A date, not "next week". If you will be slow to catch up, say so.
- Who to contact instead, with an email address, for anything urgent.
- What happens to their email. Will you read it when you are back, or should they resend?
Everything else is optional. You do not need to say where you are going or why, and a joke can land badly with a customer having a bad day.
Holiday and annual leave (4 templates)
Thank you for your email. I'm on holiday until Monday 14 October with limited access to email. For anything urgent, please contact Sara Khan at sara@example.com. Otherwise, I'll reply when I'm back.
I'm out of the office until 14 October. For urgent matters, please contact sara@example.com.
Thanks for your message. I'm away until 4 November and won't be reading email. If your message is still relevant then, please resend it after the 4th. For anything urgent, contact our team at support@example.com.
Hi! We're closed for a short break and back on Monday 14 October. Orders placed now will ship that day. Thank you for your patience!
Sick leave and personal leave (3 templates)
Thank you for your email. I'm out sick today and will reply as soon as I can. For anything urgent, please contact Tom at tom@example.com.
I'm currently out of the office and expect to return on 21 October. During this time, please contact Aisha Malik at aisha@example.com, who is covering my work.
Thank you for your message. I'm on parental leave until March 2027. For anything about the website project, please contact David at david@example.com; for everything else, our team inbox is hello@example.com.
Travel, conferences and training (3 templates)
I'm travelling for work until Thursday and will have limited access to email. I'll reply within a day of getting back. For anything urgent, call the office on 020 7946 0000.
Thanks for your email. I'm at the Web Summit until 15 November. If you're there too, I'd love to meet — reply with a time. Otherwise, I'll get back to you the week after.
I'm in training today and will check email after 5 pm. If it's urgent, please message me on Teams.
Public holidays, customers and teams (5 templates)
Thank you for contacting us. Our office is closed for the public holiday on Monday and reopens on Tuesday at 9 am. We'll reply to every message in the order it arrived.
Thanks for reaching out! Our support team is away until 2 January. You can find answers to common questions in our help centre at example.com/help. We'll reply to your message as soon as we're back.
Thank you for your interest. I'm away until 14 October. If you'd like to talk sooner, my colleague James (james@example.com) can help, or you can book a call with our team here: example.com/demo.
On holiday until 14 Oct — Sara is covering the launch.
Thank you for your email. I have left Example Ltd. Please contact Maria Lopez at maria@example.com, who now looks after my accounts.
Common mistakes
- No return date. "I'm away for a while" leaves everyone guessing.
- Naming a colleague without asking them first. Tell them before their inbox fills up.
- Too much personal detail. "In Bali until the 14th" is information your customers do not need.
- Forgetting to turn it off. Set an end date when you set the message, so it switches off by itself.
- Different messages in email and chat. Update your Slack or Teams status too.
Gmail and Outlook on the web both let you set start and end dates for an automatic reply, and send it only to people in your organisation or contacts if you prefer.
Catching up when you are back
The real cost of time off is the inbox afterwards. AI Reply Writer drafts replies in Gmail, Outlook, Slack and Teams: open a thread, press ✦ AI Reply, and it reads the conversation you missed and writes the answer, which you edit and send. The free plan includes 20 replies a month.
For the messages that went unanswered while you were away, see follow-up email templates.
Frequently asked questions
What should I write in my out of office message?
Say that you are away, the date you are back, and who to contact for anything urgent. Two or three sentences is enough.
Do I need to say why I am out of the office?
No. "I'm out of the office until Monday" is professional and complete. Add a reason only if it helps the reader, such as a conference they might attend.
How do I write a short out of office message?
For example: "I'm out of the office until 14 October. For urgent matters, please contact sara@example.com."
Should my out of office message go to external senders?
If customers or partners email you, yes. Give external senders a contact who can actually help, and keep personal details out of it.
