Pages

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Email Vacation Mode

If you are going to be away from your email for a lengthy period of time, this tip is for you.

By activating "vacation mode," anyone who emails you will get a message stating that you're away from email.  This message can say things like, "I'll be away for the next week.  If you need a reply before then, contact my coworker at..."

Setting this up is quite easy.


  1. Login to your email.
  2. Click on the gear icon above your inbox on the right side.
  3. Select "Settings" from the menu.
  4. Scroll down to "Vacation responder" and fill things out.
  5. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "Save Changes"


Make sure that you fill in start and end dates in "First Day" and "Ends."  By doing this (and checking off the box next to "Ends") the system will kick in for your vacation.

I recommended starting this on your first day before you leave, just in case someone emails you late that afternoon and you don't have a chance to respond.  Likewise, you may wish to set "Ends" to the day you come back, in order to let people know that you're working to catch up with your backlog.

A great time to use this is during any school recess, so that people know you might be slow in getting back to them.