Set Up an Autoresponder

An autoresponder sends a short reply as soon as mail arrives at that address. Use it for leave, holidays, or a "we received your message" note. Incoming mail is not deleted. It still lands in the mailbox if one exists.

This article is for addresses on shared hosting (cPanel). If you have LochStudios Mail (hosted business email), set the out-of-office reply in WebMail instead. See Set up an out-of-office auto-responder in Axigen.

Need the address first? Create an email account.

Open cPanel from the portal. Do not guess a hostname.

Open Autoresponders

1. Sign in at the portal.
2. Open the hosting service for the domain.
3. Click Log in to cPanel.
4. In the Email section, open Autoresponders.

The list shows every auto-reply on this hosting account: the address, subject, and start and stop times.

Add an autoresponder

1. Click Add Autoresponder.
2. Fill in the form:

1. Click Create.

The autoresponder is active from the start time. Send a test from another address to confirm the reply.

If you set Stop to Never, come back and delete the autoresponder when you no longer need it.

Create the mailbox first if you want to read the mail later. An autoresponder on an address with no mailbox still sends a reply, but the original message has nowhere to live.

What the interval does

Interval is measured in hours, per sender.

• 24 - someone who emails you twice in one day gets one auto-reply. A message the next day gets another.
• 0 - every incoming message gets a reply. Use this only if you truly want one reply per message.

cPanel remembers each sender for that interval so the same person is not flooded.

Write a useful reply

Keep it short. Say you are away, when you will be back, and who to contact if it cannot wait.

Leave:

Thank you for your email. I am out of the office until 15 July and will reply when I return.

For anything that cannot wait, please contact [colleague] at [email] or [phone].

Holiday:

Hello,

Thank you for your message. I am on leave until 15 July and have limited access to email.

I will reply as soon as I am back.

[Your name]

Do not put passwords, account numbers, or anything you would not want forwarded.

Manage existing autoresponders

On the Autoresponders list:

• Edit changes the message, interval, or start and stop times.
• Delete stops the replies immediately.

There is no separate off switch. Delete it, or set a Stop time before you leave.

You can add more than one autoresponder on the account. Use a different address for each.

Autoresponder, forwarder, or filter?

• An autoresponder sends a reply. Mail still arrives in the inbox.
• A forwarder sends a copy of every message to another address.
• A filter files, copies, or discards only the messages that match a rule. Filters do not send a reply.

Use a mailbox plus an autoresponder when you want to read the mail later.

Tips

• Always set a Stop time if you know when you return.
• Incoming mail still counts toward the mailbox quota. See Check Disk Usage.
• Mail has to arrive at this hosting account. If MX for the domain points somewhere else, the autoresponder never sees the message. See MX records and how email routing works.
• Shared hosting allows 1000 emails per hour from the account. A busy inbox plus a low interval can use that quickly. Prefer 24 unless you have a reason not to.
• Test from a second address before you leave. Check both the auto-reply and that the original landed in Webmail (Roundcube).

If replies do not go out

• Nothing arrives: confirm you added the autoresponder for the same address people write to, including the right domain.
• Start is in the future: check Start. A custom start date that has not arrived yet will not send anything.
• You are still sending after you returned: Edit the stop time, or Delete the autoresponder.
• The same person gets a reply every time: raise Interval (try 24).
• The same person never gets a second reply: that is the interval doing its job. Lower it only if you want more frequent replies.
• Unsure which product or DNS the domain uses: open a support ticket and we will check with you.

Related

• Create an email account
• Access Webmail
• Set up email forwarders
• Create email filters
• Set up an out-of-office auto-responder in Axigen
• MX records and how email routing works
• Email is not sending or receiving