iFastHostingHow to set up an out-of-office autoresponder
How to turn on an automatic reply for a mailbox, and the settings that stop it firing more than once per sender.
An autoresponder sends a reply automatically to anyone who emails a mailbox while it is turned on, without you doing anything for each individual message. It is the standard way to let people know you are away, or that an address is monitored differently outside certain hours.
Setting one up
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Open the email section of your control panel
Autoresponders are managed per mailbox, in the same area as forwarders and mailbox settings.
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Choose the mailbox and turn on the autoresponder
Select the account you want it active on.
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Write the subject and message
Keep it short and factual — when you will be back, and who to contact in the meantime if urgent.
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Set a start and end date if the option is available
This lets you schedule it in advance and have it switch off automatically, rather than needing to remember to turn it off yourself.
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Save
The autoresponder becomes active immediately, or at the scheduled start date if you set one.
How often it replies to the same sender
Most autoresponder systems limit replies to once per sender within a set period — commonly once every 24 hours — rather than firing on every single message from someone who emails you repeatedly. This is standard behaviour, not a fault, and stops a genuine back-and-forth conversation from being interrupted by a duplicate automatic reply on every message.
Avoid stating specific dates you will not be reachable at all combined with details that could be used against you, such as confirming a property is empty. A simple "I am away and will respond on my return" with an alternative contact for anything urgent covers most situations without oversharing.
Autoresponder versus forwarding
An autoresponder replies automatically but still leaves the original message waiting in the mailbox for you to read later. A forwarder instead copies the message on to someone else entirely. The two can be used together — an autoresponder telling the sender you are away, alongside a forwarder sending a copy to a colleague who can act on anything urgent.
Turning it off
Return to the same screen and disable it, or simply let the scheduled end date pass if one was set. It is worth checking it has actually switched off after returning, since an autoresponder left running past its purpose continues replying to everyone who emails that address, which looks unprofessional once you are clearly back.
If the mailbox is subscribed to any mailing lists, an active autoresponder can sometimes trigger automatic replies back to the list itself, depending on how that list is configured. If you use a mailbox for both personal correspondence and list subscriptions, consider whether an autoresponder there is appropriate before turning it on.
If you manage a mailbox for a whole team rather than one person going on leave, a shared mailbox is usually a better long-term setup than relying on one person's individual autoresponder to cover for the whole address.
Related reading
How to make one email address automatically forward its messages to another, without creating a separate mailbox for it.
How to use webmailHow to open and use the browser-based inbox that comes with every mailbox, without installing a mail app.
How to set up a shared mailbox for a teamTwo ways to give a team a single email address to work from, and which one suits a small team versus a larger one.
How to set up email on your domainCreate a mailbox on your domain in your control panel, then connect it to a mail app using the settings your control panel provides.