- Login to your Gmail account and click on the gear icon (top right) - choose "Settings":
- Scroll down until you see the "Vacation responder" text box (third section from the bottom).
- Click "Vacation responder on": it is set by default to start on the current date. To pick a future start date, click in the first date field and pick another day / month from the calendar:
- The auto-responder remains turned on indefinitely: to set a fixed duration, check the "Ends" checkbox and pick an end date in the second text field (you can change any of this later on).
- Now explain the reason for your absence: "Subject" will appear as the responder's title (subject line), and "Message" as the body. If you are using this feature with a professional email account, be sure to supply your replacement's contact information, including full name and job title.
Tip: Gmail auto-replies to all incoming mail - great for a business account, but check "Only send a response to people in my Contacts" for a personal account: the automated reply lets spammers know that your account is active (and you don't want to share details with them!)
- Scroll to the bottom and click "Save Changes": your vacation responder is now enabled. As reminder, Google shows a yellow notification bar at the top of your inbox screen:
- To discontinue the automatic reply, click "End now": you won't get a confirmation message before Gmail turns it off, but all settings but "On / Off" are left as you set them earlier.
- To edit your responder, click "Vacation Settings" (same as going through Gear > Settings > ...)
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