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How to Set Out of Office in Gmail
Gmail calls it the vacation responder. Setting it takes a minute — the harder part is the inbox waiting for you when you get back.
Try it with your GmailGmail's way: the vacation responder
- 1Settings (the gear icon, top right) → See all settings → General tab → scroll to Vacation responder.
- 2Switch it on, set the first day, and set a last day. Without a last day it runs until you remember to turn it off.
- 3Write the subject and message. The subject is what senders see, so make it say the dates.
- 4Tick 'Only send a reply to people in my Contacts' if you do not want strangers or cold email to get an auto-reply. It is off by default.
- 5Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page. The setting does not apply until you do.
- 6On Android and iOS: Menu → Settings → your account → Vacation responder. It is the same setting, so changing it in one place changes it everywhere.
- 7Two behaviours worth knowing. A given sender receives your reply once, and again only if they write to you more than four days later while it is still on. And Gmail does not reply to messages that land in Spam, or to mail addressed to a mailing list you are on.
The problem
- ✕Everyone gets the same message, whether it is a client or a newsletter
- ✕Nothing is triaged while you are away — it simply piles up
- ✕Threads that went quiet during your leave stay quiet
- ✕Your first day back is spent reading rather than working
What Clarity does about the return
- 1Set the vacation responder in Gmail exactly as above. Clarity does not replace it and does not send auto-replies.
- 2While you are away, Clarity keeps labelling what arrives by what it is.
- 3It tracks which threads are waiting on you and which of your sent mail got no reply.
- 4The morning you are back, the brief tells you what needs answering, in order, with a draft ready on the ones that matter.
What changes
- ✓The backlog arrives sorted rather than as a wall
- ✓Threads that went silent during your leave are named, not buried
- ✓Drafts are waiting in Gmail; you review and send
- ✓Runs alongside Gmail's own vacation responder, changing nothing about it
Who runs into this
Founder
Two weeks away, twelve hundred emails, and no idea which four matter.
Consultant
Enquiries arrived during leave and went cold while the auto-reply told them to wait.
Operations lead
Needs to know on the first morning back what slipped, not what arrived.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the out of office setting in Gmail?
Settings → See all settings → General, then scroll to Vacation responder near the bottom. Gmail does not call it out of office anywhere in the interface.
Does Gmail send an auto-reply to every email?
No. Each sender receives your reply once, and again only if they email you more than four days later while the responder is still on. Gmail also skips messages that go to Spam and mail sent to a mailing list you subscribe to.
Can I set out of office for only my contacts?
Yes. Tick 'Only send a reply to people in my Contacts' under the message. It is off by default, so unchecked means everyone who emails you gets it, cold senders included.
How do I set an out of office on the Gmail app?
Menu → Settings → tap your account → Vacation responder. It is the same setting as on the web, so you only need to set it once.
What happens to the mail that arrives while I am away?
Gmail just stacks it in the inbox. Clarity keeps labelling and tracking it while you are gone, so the first morning back starts with a brief of what needs you rather than the raw pile.
Looking for Google's own documentation? Google's vacation responder documentation
More Gmail guides
How to Schedule an Email in Gmail
Schedule send on every device, the 100-email cap, and using it as a longer undo window.
How to View Archived Emails in Gmail
Gmail has no Archive folder. Here is where archived mail actually goes, and how to get it back.
How to Block Someone on Gmail
Block a sender, unblock them, and when a filter or unsubscribe does the job better.
What it costs you
Roughly 9.1 hours a week
Estimate2.8 hrs of that we could cover
The rest stays yours — it is not repeatable.
106 hrs
a year, if the low end of the range holds
137
threads went quiet and nothing told you
Last 90 days · your own mail · illustrative figures
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