Set Up an Out-of-Office Auto-Responder in Axigen

An out-of-office auto-responder 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.

This article is for LochStudios Mail (hosted business email on Axigen). Set the reply in WebMail so it runs on the server even when your laptop or phone is off. Outlook, Apple Mail, and phone apps do not send this reply on their own for this mailbox.

If the address lives on shared hosting (cPanel) instead, use Set up an autoresponder. Unsure which product you have? Open a support ticket and we will check with you.

Open WebMail

Use the portal first. You do not need to guess a hostname.

1. Sign in at the portal.
2. Open the mail service for the domain.
3. Click Log in to WebMail.

Once DNS and MX for the domain are on our mail, you can also open https://mail.yourdomain.com (swap in your domain) and sign in with the full email address and mailbox password. Confirm the hostname on the mail service in the portal if you are unsure.

Need a refresher? What is Axigen webmail and how to sign in.

Open the auto-responder

1. In WebMail, click Settings (gear, usually top-right).
2. Open Out of office autoresponder.
3. Click Configure autoresponder.

The same reply also appears in Settings → Filters as Out of office. You can enable, disable, or change its order among other filters from that list.

If you cannot see those labels, open a support ticket and we will walk through it with you.

Turn it on

1. Tick Turn on autoresponder.
2. Fill in the form:

1. Click Save changes.

The reply is active as soon as you save, or from the start date if you set one. Send a test from another address (not this mailbox) and wait a few seconds.

If you leave Respond only between off, come back and turn the auto-responder off when you no longer need it.

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.

How often people get a reply

The wait is measured in days, per sender.

• 1 (or more): someone who emails you twice in one day gets one auto-reply. A message after the wait gets another.
• 0: every incoming message gets a reply. Use this only if you truly want one reply per message.

WebMail remembers each sender for that wait so the same person is not flooded. A busy inbox plus a 0 wait can generate a lot of outbound mail. Prefer 1 unless you have a reason not to. This product allows 2000 emails per hour.

Turn it off

When you are back:

1. Open Settings → Out of office autoresponder (or Settings → Filters).
2. Untick Turn on autoresponder, or wait for the end date if you set Respond only between.
3. Click Save changes.

Automatic replies stop as soon as you save, or when the end date passes.

You can change the subject or message while you are away. Sign in the same way, edit the text, and save. New incoming mail uses the updated reply straight away.

Tips

• Set the reply the day before you leave, or the morning you go, so early mail is covered.
• Always set Respond only between if you know the return date.
• Incoming mail still counts toward the mailbox quota. See Managing your mailbox storage and quota in Axigen.
• Mail has to arrive at this mailbox. If MX for the domain points somewhere else, the auto-responder never sees the message. See MX records and how email routing works.
• Test from a second address before you leave. Check both the auto-reply and that the original landed in WebMail.
• Our spam filtering still applies. Mail that never reaches the mailbox will not trigger a reply.

If replies do not go out

• Nothing arrives: confirm Turn on autoresponder is ticked and you clicked Save changes. Confirm people are writing to this address (or an alias listed under Also respond to messages sent to).
• Start is in the future: check Respond only between. A start date that has not arrived yet will not send anything.
• Today is after the end date: the date range has already finished. Extend it, or turn the reply on without a range.
• You are still sending after you returned: open Settings and untick Turn on autoresponder, then save.
• The same person gets a reply every time: raise Wait _ days (try 1).
• The same person never gets a second reply: that is the wait doing its job. Lower it only if you want more frequent replies.
• Only some senders get a reply: check Respond to senders in my domain and Respond to senders not in my domain. Tick both if everyone should get one.
• You only set it in Outlook or on a phone: that does not run on the server for this mailbox. Set it in WebMail.
• Unsure which product or DNS the domain uses: open a support ticket and we will check with you.

Related

• What is Axigen webmail and how to sign in
• Webmail basics: compose, reply, folders, search
• Create filters and rules in Axigen Webmail
• Managing your mailbox storage and quota in Axigen
• Set up an autoresponder
• MX records and how email routing works
• Email is not sending or receiving