How to Set Up an Auto Responder

If you are tired of trying to keep up with email messages, then setting up an email auto responder may be the answer. Auto responders are like an answering service or office assistant. You can use them to send an automatic reply to emails even when you're on vacation. An auto responder is easy to set up and the process is similar for different email providers.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Set Up Auto Responder in Yahoo! Mail

1. Go to mail.yahoo.com and log on.

2. Choose the "Options" link and click on "Mail Options." Select the "Vacation Response" link and pick "enable auto-response during your vacation."

3. Select the start and end dates for the duration of your auto responder. Add a generic or special response that includes up to 10 lines of text.

4. Place a check mark beside "Send a sample copy of this message to my Inbox" if you want this option. Otherwise, leave it off.

5. Click on the "Turn Auto-Responder On" button to enable it.

Set Up Auto Responder in Google Webmail

6. Go to mail.google.com and log on.

7. Click on "Settings" to be directed to the settings page, and scroll down to the section on "Vacation Responder." Choose the "Vacation responder on" option.

8. Add a subject and message for your responder and place a check mark beside "Only send a response" for this option. Otherwise, leave it blank. Your auto responder is now ready.

Set Up Auto Responder in Outlook Express

9. Create the text for your auto responder and save it as a .txt file using Word or Notepad. Then, open Outlook, select "Tools" and choose "Message Rules." Then select "Mail." In the "Mail Rules" tab, click the "New" button.

10. Place a check mark beside "For all messages" under "1. Select the Conditions for your rule." To send your message to a different group of people, scroll down the list under condition #1 and place a check mark beside the applicable group.

11. Place a check mark beside "Reply with message" under "2. Select the Actions for your rule."

12. Double-click the "message" link under "3. Rule Description (click on an underlined value to edit it)," and browse to find the auto responder file you created. (Note: If you cannot find your file, make sure the file format is visible by selecting the correct file type from "Files of type" in the "Open" dialog box.)
    Hit "OK" in the "New Mail Rule" dialog box.

13. Make sure that the new mail rule you just created is selected in the "Mail Rules" dialog box and hit "OK." Your Outlook Express auto responder is now ready to go.

References

• How to Set Up Outlook Express
• Yahoo! Mail
• Google Mail