How do I send automatic replies in Gmail?

gmail auto reply
gmail auto reply

Last updated: January 2, 2023

Today, we are more and more connected and inevitably, we need our email addresses more and more for a whole host of things, especially in the professional world.

Indeed, it has become a means of contact, in the same way as a phone number. The problem is that we are not always available to answer these emails, especially if we are not working.

We can also face situations that can be solved with an answer that could be provided automatically without having to waste your time typing that same answer multiple times a day.

So, in these conditions, we say to ourselves that setting up a kind of automatic response to our emails, it can save us time. Well know that You can do it on Gmail.

Indeed, the Google mail platform offers you to set up a auto reply in gmail which can apply in several scenarios.

In this article, we will guide you step by step so that you can simply set up a auto reply in Gmail for a single contact or for several.

A manipulation that requires using the computer version of Gmail

Before we jump into the nitty-gritty, there are a few things you need to know about the automatic replies you're going to set up on Gmail. The first point is that these answers, they are only sent every 4 days.

If your correspondent tries to reach you on several days in a row, he will only receive the return email every 4 days. So remember to put your exact dates of absence in the message.

The second thing you need to know is that to set up this automatic response, you must have to go to the web version of Gmail. Indeed, it does not work on the mobile version.

This might be updated at some point, but at the moment it hasn't yet. Rest assured, if it is impossible to set up these automatic responses on mobiles, they still work if the emails you receive come from a mobile.

Allow automatic replies

Well now that we have seen that you will have to go to the web version of Gmail to set up these automatic replies, the second thing to do is simply to activate them.

Basically, automatic responses are simply deactivated on your email address. From then on, you will have to go to the settings.

To do this, follow these steps:

  • Access your Gmail account from your web browser.
  • Click on the small toothed wheel at the top right then on "See all settings".
  • You won't have to look far since everything is in the general tab. From there you just have to scroll down until you come across the menu of Gmail auto replies.
  • Once in the right place, the first thing you will have to do is click on "Auto answer enabled".

Once that's done, that's it, you've enabled the feature, but you can still make adjustments.

The first is the start date. To do this, you just have to enter the one you want. Once this is done, you also have the option of entering an end date if you wish.

If you don't, Gmail assumes you're setting these replies without an end date. Finally, be aware that the start date corresponds to a start of automatic emails from 0:01 a.m. and the end date corresponds to a stop at 23:59 p.m.

Create your automatic response email

Once you have set the start and end dates, you will simply be able to type your auto-reply email in the bar that is located just below what you have just seen.

Indeed, there, you will be able to type a classic email with a subject, a text and even attachments if you wish. In short, it's like writing a reply email yourself.

Just below, you will also have a small box that you can check and which asks you if this email, you want itsend only to people who are in your contact list.

This allows you to determine if you ever want everyone to see this email or just the people you are close enough to appear on your contact list.

Create an email template and set up filters to send it

Once you have validated, that's it, you have set up your automatic response email and it will launch during the period you have chosen. Corn it is possible to refine things even more.

Indeed, the fact of checking the box asking us to send the email only to his contacts, it is the surface of the iceberg of what it is possible to do. Indeed, you will be able to set up filters.

Thanks to these, your automatic response emails, they will only be sent in certain very specific situations that you have chosen.

Enable Templates

To be able to use the filters as an automatic response, you must first activate the templates. These are simply pre-written emails that you can send with one click.

To activate Templates, you must return to the settings of your Gmail account. Then go to the tab Advanced settings and check the option Enable to the right of Models.

Click on "Save Changes".

Create a template

We will now create an auto-response template. To do this, click on "+ New post " in the top right to create an email as you normally would.

Type your automatic response email and possibly the subject of your message.

Next, click on the three dots at the bottom right of the email. Move your cursor over Models > Save draft as template > Save new template.

Give your template a name and click "Save".

Configure the automated filter to send the email

Now that you've created your email template, you can configure the filter to send it automatically.

To do this, you must return to the settings of your Gmail account. Go this time to the “Filters and blocked addresses".

You will then have the possibility to create a new filter, do it. Once this is done, a new window opens and offers you to create a filter for a specific person, a particular object or even an email containing a particular word.

Once you have determined the criterion, validate and go to the next window.

You will then have the option of linking an automatic response email to the request you have specified. You just have to choose which one.

This will allow you to set up automatic responses to certain questions that keep coming back and if it takes a few minutes to set up, you will ultimately save a lot of time once this response email, it will turn automatically all day.