Home › Free tools › Out-of-office reply generator

Out-of-office reply generator

Write an out-of-office auto-reply for your email or a text auto-reply: holidays, bank holidays, training days or illness. Say when you're back, who to contact if it's urgent and, for trades, the right emergency numbers. It runs in your browser and nothing is stored.

How to use it

1. Pick why you're away and your return date. For illness you can just say you're away.
2. Add someone urgent customers can contact, but ask them first.
3. Paste the email version into Gmail (Settings, then Vacation responder) or Outlook (Automatic replies), and the short one into your phone's or WhatsApp Business's away message.
4. Change your voicemail too: the voicemail greeting generator writes a matching holiday greeting.

Worked example

A heating engineer is on holiday from Saturday 24 October to Monday 2 November. The email reply says so, gives a local engineer for urgent jobs, tells anyone who smells gas to call 0800 111 999, and links to the booking page for jobs after the break.

Safety numbers behind it

• Gas. If you smell gas or suspect a carbon monoxide leak, HSE says to call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 (HSE, checked 18 October 2026).
• Power cuts. 105 is the free number for power cuts in England, Scotland and Wales (powercut105.com).
• Danger. Anyone in immediate danger should call 999.

More: email signature generator · voicemail greeting generator · AI voicemail greetings · AI email assistants · holiday entitlement calculator

Questions

What should an out-of-office reply say?

That you're away, when you're back, when you'll reply, and who to contact if it's urgent. Trades should add the right emergency number, such as 0800 111 999 for a gas smell.

Should I say why I'm away?

You don't have to. 'I'm away until Monday 2 November' is enough. For illness especially, there's no need to explain.

How do I set an out-of-office in Gmail or Outlook?

In Gmail, use the Vacation responder in Settings. In Outlook, use Automatic replies. Paste in the text from this tool and set the dates.

Can I set an away message on WhatsApp?

Yes, WhatsApp Business has an away message. Use the short text version from this tool.

Is there a free out-of-office generator?

Yes. This page writes an email and a text version in your browser, free and with no sign-up, with a ChatGPT prompt to vary the wording.