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With absentify, HR admins can centrally manage Outlook out-of-office message templates for individual users and specific leave types. This allows precise communication while offering optional user-level customization of the automatic reply sent during an absence. Compare individual and centralized template availability in the plan feature matrix. On non-Plus plans, a banner appears at the top of the tab. You can edit templates, but Save, Send test email, and Delete open an upgrade modal. The Outlook out-of-office reply permission must be active under Settings > Microsoft. The user needs a linked Microsoft account, and the mailbox permission must be available for their Microsoft tenant. If these conditions are not met, a banner in absentify explains why the feature is unavailable for the selected user. Users can still set their own replies in Your Preferences > Automatic replies on any plan.

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Admin control and user permissions

As an HR admin, you can:
  • Fully manage the out-of-office message template contents for each user and leave type.
  • Decide per leave type whether users may customize their automatic reply.
  • View the user’s personal message template as long as customization by the user is not disabled for the selected leave type. For details on how users manage their own messages, see the employee guide on automatic replies.
  • Edit out-of-office messages for multiple users in bulk. For more information, see the bulk edit out-of-office messages guide.
  • Manage the same messages from another system through the REST API.

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Edit a user’s Outlook out-of-office template

1

Navigate to user settings

Go to Settings > Users, then select the user you want to manage. This opens the user profile where you can configure Outlook out-of-office message templates.
2

Open the OOO message template section

In the user profile, open the OOO Templates tab. You will see a dropdown to select one or more leave types and the message editor for the templates.
3

Select leave types

Select one or multiple leave types from the dropdown (for example, Vacation or Sick Leave).If you select multiple leave types, the same template will be applied to all selected leave types.
To use different templates per leave type, edit one leave type first and select Save. Then remove it from the selection and select the next leave type you want to edit.
4

Manage Outlook synchronization or delete templates

Use Outlook synchronization active to pause or resume synchronization for this user and the selected leave types. Pausing prevents absentify from pushing automatic replies to Outlook while preserving the user’s stored messages; if a reply is active for a current absence, absentify removes it from Outlook.While synchronization is paused for all selected leave types, the editor is dimmed and Send test email and Save are unavailable. If the selection contains both active and paused leave types, absentify shows a partial-pause hint; changes you save still apply to all selected leave types.To remove the user’s stored messages permanently instead, select Delete templates and confirm the deletion. This cannot be undone. If a reply is already active in Outlook for those leave types, absentify also turns it off.
5

Allow or restrict user customization

Decide whether users are allowed to customize their out-of-office message with Allow customization of the out-of-office message by employees:
  • Check the box if customization should be allowed. Share this guide with them for more information on the setup.
  • Clear the box to strictly enforce the admin-defined template.
The Allow customization of the out-of-office message by employees setting only controls whether the message can be edited in absentify. It does not stop the user from changing the message directly in Outlook.
6

Edit the message using the template editor

Use the rich text editor to format the message (font, size, bold, lists, and links). Insert values by selecting the variables below the editor.User and leave information:
  • First name, Last name, Full name
  • Leave type name
  • Start date, Start time
  • End date, End time
  • Date of return, Time of return
Approver variables:
  • Approver name and Approver email insert the first approver.
Representative variables:These placeholders appear only when every selected leave type requires a representative or makes one optional. You can find more information in the representative requirement guide.
  • Representative Name and Representative Email insert the first representative.
When Outlook sends the reply, it names the representatives on that user’s leave request who are still pending or already approved, in the same order as on the request. If a representative is replaced, the replacement appears in that person’s place. Archived users are left out. If none remain, the reply uses the representatives from the user’s profile, in the order set there. Approvers follow the order on that request.
7

Use conditional templates

Open Conditional Templates to insert a block that only appears when the data exists.
  • If Representative: Shows the block only when at least one representative is named.
  • If Approver: Shows the block only when at least one approver is named.
  • Multiple Representatives: Lists every representative, in the same order as the live reply.
  • Multiple Approvers: Lists every approver, in the same order as the live reply.
8

Edit templates for internal and external senders

For each leave type, you can configure two versions of the message:
  • Inside organization template: Sent to colleagues within your organization.
  • Outside organization template: Sent to external senders.
    • Once enabled, you can also select Send replies only to contacts.
9

Preview and test the message

Select Send test email. absentify saves the template and sends the message to your inbox. The test uses that user’s profile representatives and approvers, not a specific leave request. Archived users are left out. The live Outlook reply still uses the representatives and approvers on the leave request.
10

Save your changes

Select Save to apply the updated out-of-office message templates.
Want to update templates for multiple users at once?
Check out our guide on centrally managing out-of-office messages in bulk.

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How out-of-office replies work

absentify writes a scheduled reply into Outlook from the selected leave type and template. Outlook then sends the reply. absentify does not send the messages itself. If you save a template while an absence is already running, absentify updates the Outlook reply to match.
absentify does not send out-of-office messages itself.
All replies are triggered and handled by Microsoft Outlook and Azure after absentify applies the settings.

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Common issues and how to troubleshoot them

  • Manual changes in Outlook
    If someone changes the reply in Outlook, absentify does not read that change back; the next sync may overwrite it with the absentify template.
  • Unable to apply automatic reply
    If absentify cannot apply the automatic reply, the affected user will receive an email with instructions to set it manually.
    Admins are also notified of the failed attempt via email.
  • Out-of-office message not being sent
    If no out-of-office replies are being sent from a user’s mailbox, but the sync log shows a successful configuration, the issue lies with Microsoft Outlook, not absentify.     Follow these steps to investigate:
    1. Go to Settings > Microsoft > View Sync Logs, or open the Microsoft sync logs directly.
    2. Locate the log for the user and the relevant date of the approved leave request.
    3. If the log shows Success, this confirms absentify has correctly applied the out-of-office configuration in Outlook.
    In this case, you can:
    • Check mail flow rules, mailbox permissions, or conditional settings in Outlook.
    • Escalate the issue internally to your Microsoft 365 administrator or to Microsoft/Azure support, as this is beyond absentify’s control.