A few unique ideas for your ‘Out of Office’ auto reply email this year

Are you taking vacation leave this December? As many of us have several days left up to use, it’s high time to kick back and relax at the end of the year. To minimise disruptions from work, it is also very important to set up an Out of Office auto reply email. Here’s a bit of inspiration for what to write, according to X (formerly Twitter).

As technology makes us evermore accessible and your boss can reach you at almost every hour at almost any place, it’s important to set boundaries when you indulge in your much-deserved break from work. As we discussed with an HR professional, an Out of Office (or OOO) reply email is an important part of this.

Normally, the Out of Office response details your return date, and who to contact in case of emergencies or urgent matters. Sometimes, it’s a little cheekier.

Here, we lean into the latter, and seek inspiration from social media for the best, most hilarious OOO responses. Straight to the point, somewhat passive aggressive, and very inspiring if you really want your colleagues and clients to leave you alone — until 2 January, at least.

[Hero and Featured Image Credit: Ian Dooley/Unsplash

How to craft the perfect Out of Office reply email, according to the internet

This is what it feels like

Putting my Out Of Office on like pic.twitter.com/rrunq8gULa

— The Bubbles Tickle My Tchaikovsky (@TheTchaikovsky) December 22, 2023

True story

Setting my out of office email for the holidays pic.twitter.com/dA24JMj9e3

— I Think You Should HBO 💦🥩 (@itysHBO) December 20, 2023

Mind games

My Gen Z colleagues will not kill me 🤣

This Out of office notice almost gave me a panic attack! pic.twitter.com/o8tfGOvEiQ

— Confidence Staveley (@sisinerdtweets) December 19, 2023

Short and to the point

I might change my out of office email to just “Not now.”

— VeryBritishProblems (@SoVeryBritish) December 19, 2023

Real footage

I’m out of office for the next 18 days pic.twitter.com/EWWX4kHdFV

— tutu (@SatinTweety) December 15, 2023

So unfortunate. 

Thank you for your email. As you are likely aware, I am mentally checked out until 2024 and will be unable to provide a response to your inquiry until then. If you have any questions, that’s unfortunate.

— Matt Margolis (@ItsMattsLaw) December 13, 2023

Reminds us of the emoji menu from Gaggan

What is the best "out of the office" email response you've gotten? My in below. pic.twitter.com/7N9rVRmDVR

— Ben Stapley (@benstapley) July 31, 2017

A little Mary Poppins never killed nobody

Coworkers are gonna howl when they see my Outlook out-of-office reply. #ChristmasVacationStartsNow pic.twitter.com/iydV8PseZp

— Max (@ArbiterDroid) December 16, 2022

This very accurate timeline of events

Best out of office email I've received in a while… pic.twitter.com/cKau0N59Kd

— Francesca Gino (@francescagino) July 12, 2017

Fair logic

An out-of-office reply from a female Assistant Professor that warrants a tweet- “I do not respond to emails on weekends. If this is an emergency, please call my mobile. If you do not have my mobile number, then you do not have a weekend emergency.”

— Stephana Julia Moss (@stephanajulia) October 6, 2019

For literature lovers

New out of office reply pic.twitter.com/ke9vqkSf6A

— Kamran Javadizadeh (@kjavadizadeh) December 10, 2022

#CatchMeIfYouCan

December out of office replies be like:

"thank you for your mail, I will be out of office until July 2026 with intermittent access to emails. For urgent queries please contact switchboard on XXXX or hire a private investigator"

— Koshiek Karan (@iamkoshiek) December 15, 2022

Cheat code?

pro tip: if you set your out of office reply to "this message is undeliverable" you never have to reply

— Koshiek Karan (@iamkoshiek) December 15, 2022

A child’s honesty beats all

I asked my 11 yo to help me write my vacation away message, and she suggested “I AM ON VACATION SO YOUR EMAIL WILL BE DELETED”

— Kristen Bottema-Beutel (@KristenBott) August 2, 2022