# Send an automatic reply while you are away

> Turn on an out-of-office reply in webmail, choose the days it runs, and turn it off from your inbox when you are back.

Source: https://www.coritan.com/docs/mail/webmail/out-of-office/

In the dashboard:

- /webmail/settings/vacation: https://www.coritan.com/webmail/settings/vacation

While an automatic reply is on, the mailbox answers each person who writes to it with a message you set, such as the day you are back. You set it on the **Out of office** tab of webmail settings, at [www.coritan.com/webmail/settings/vacation](https://www.coritan.com/webmail/settings/vacation) for the mailbox on screen. The mail server sends the reply, so it goes out with webmail closed.

## Before you begin

- Open the mailbox in webmail as someone who manages it: its owner, or, for a mailbox that no Coritan account owns, someone who can send from it. Nobody else sees the tab ([Who sees each tab](/docs/mail/webmail/settings/#who-sees-each-tab)).
- Know the days you are away, if the reply should start or stop on its own.

## Turn on an automatic reply

1. Go to **Settings**, then the **Out of office** tab.
2. Turn on **Send an automatic reply**.
3. Enter a **Subject** and a **Message**, such as `I am away until 14 October and will reply when I am back.`
4. To start or stop the reply on its own, choose a **First day**, a **Last day**, or both.
5. Select **Save**.

We show `The automatic reply is on.` When the first day is still to come, we show `The automatic reply starts on` followed by that day.

The days run from the start of the first day to the end of the last day, in UTC. Without a first day, the reply starts at once. Without a last day, it goes on until you turn it off.

While the reply answers mail, a bar above your conversations says `Your automatic reply is on until` followed by the last day, or `Your automatic reply is on.` when it has none. Its **Settings** button opens the **Out of office** tab.

## Turn off the automatic reply

- In the bar above your conversations, select **Turn off**.
- Or, on the **Out of office** tab, turn off **Send an automatic reply** and select **Save**.

We show `The automatic reply is off.` The subject, message and days stay on the tab, so next time you only turn it back on.

After its last day, the reply stops on its own and the bar goes away. The switch on the tab stays on until you turn it off.

## Troubleshooting

There is no **Out of office** tab
: Only whoever manages the mailbox sees it. For a mailbox shared with you, ask its owner to set the reply.

`The last day is before the first.`
: Choose a **Last day** on or after the **First day**.

`Automatic replies are not available for this mailbox.`
: The mail server that holds this mailbox cannot send automatic replies for it at the moment. Reload the page later. If it stays, [contact support](/docs/support/).

A message that starts `Could not save the automatic reply`
: The mail server did not take the change, and the message says why. Try again in a moment.

The reply started or stopped a few hours from midnight
: The days count in UTC. For a reply that must start before you leave, choose a first day one day earlier.

## Related

- [Change webmail settings](/docs/mail/webmail/settings/)
- [Forward your mail to another address](/docs/mail/webmail/forwarding/)
- [Sort mail with labels and filters](/docs/mail/webmail/labels-and-filters/)