Out of Office Email Examples and Templates (For VAs Managing Client Accounts)

By Tayyab Irshad · June 16, 2026 · 10 min read

Article Contents

Setting up an out of office reply for your own account is a two-minute job. Setting one up for a client is harder, because the message has to sound like them, cover their specific situation, and route contacts to the right person while they are away.

When a VA Writes the OOO vs. When the Client Should

Not every out of office message should be written by the assistant. Some situations are personal enough that the client needs to write it themselves, even if you are the one setting it up in Gmail. A few rules that most experienced VAs follow:

**The VA writes it when:** the client is on a routine vacation, at a scheduled conference, or in a predictable business trip. The OOO is functional, tells contacts when to expect a reply, and routes urgent matters to you or another team member.

**The client writes it when:** they are on parental leave, dealing with a medical situation, coping with a bereavement, or taking a sabbatical. Even if the VA sets it up technically, the actual words should come from the client because these situations affect their reputation and relationships in ways only they can judge.

**The client and VA co-write it when:** the client is on a long trip that mixes business and personal time, or when there is a specific narrative about the absence (a book launch, a company event, a founder retreat) that needs to sound authentic.

The 4 Types of Out of Office Messages (and What Each Needs)

Different absences need different messages. A one-size-fits-all OOO signals to contacts that the person did not bother to think about the specifics. The four types you will actually write for clients:

  • Standard vacation. Short, warm, gives return date, names a backup contact. This is what you will write 80% of the time.
  • Conference or business trip. Similar to vacation but signals limited availability rather than none. Client may check email once a day. Response time is delayed rather than paused.
  • Parental leave. Longer absence (weeks to months), clear routing to the backup contact, warm tone. Often set up for 3-6 months at a time.
  • Out sick or urgent personal matter. Deliberately vague on reason, gives an expected timeframe if possible, names urgent-contact backup. Never mentions specifics of the situation.

Out of Office Templates for Different Scenarios

Real templates you can adapt. Every one of these should be tone-matched to the specific client before sending. What follows are the structural bones, not the final message.

Standard vacation (5-10 days)

“Thanks for your email. I'm out of the office from [start date] through [return date] and will be checking email occasionally. If your message is urgent, please reach [assistant name] at [assistant email] who can help while I'm away. Otherwise, I'll respond when I'm back.”

Conference or business trip

“I'm at [conference name / traveling for business] from [start] to [end] and will have limited access to email. I'll respond to your message as soon as I can, likely within 48 hours. For anything time-sensitive, please contact [assistant name] at [assistant email].”

Parental leave (extended)

“I'm on parental leave through [approximate return date]. I won't be checking email during this time. For anything related to [work area 1], please contact [colleague or assistant]. For [work area 2], please reach out to [second contact]. Looking forward to reconnecting when I'm back.”

Out sick / personal (short-term)

“I'm unexpectedly out today [and possibly tomorrow] and will have limited access to email. For anything urgent, please contact [assistant name] at [assistant email]. I'll respond to non-urgent messages as soon as I'm able.”

Long personal absence (bereavement, sabbatical)

Write this one with the client. A generic template does not fit. What usually works: a short acknowledgment that they are away, a firm return date or “I'll be back in touch when I return,” and clear routing to whoever is covering during the absence.

How to Set Up Vacation Responder in Gmail (Step by Step)

Gmail calls its auto-reply feature Vacation Responder. Setup takes under two minutes once you know where to click. From your client's Gmail (or via delegate access):

  • Step 1: Open Gmail and click the gear icon in the top right, then “See all settings.”
  • Step 2: Stay on the “General” tab and scroll to the bottom.
  • Step 3: Find the “Vacation responder” section. Turn it on.
  • Step 4: Set the first day and (optional) last day. If you leave the last day blank, the responder runs until you turn it off.
  • Step 5: Add subject line (something like “Out of office until [date]”).
  • Step 6: Paste your message in the body field. Keep it under 150 words. Longer messages get truncated in some email clients.
  • Step 7: Choose who receives it. “Only send a response to people in my Contacts” hides the OOO from cold outreach and spam senders, which is often what clients want. For public-facing accounts, leave this unchecked.
  • Step 8: Click “Save Changes” at the bottom. The responder is now live.

Making Your OOO Sound Like the Client, Not Like a Template

The mistake most VAs make: writing a technically correct OOO that reads as generic. Contacts who talk to the client regularly will notice within a sentence that this does not sound like them. A few small adjustments make the difference:

  • Match the greeting style. If the client always starts emails with “Hi” rather than “Hello,” the OOO should too. This is one of the smallest signals but easily the most noticeable.
  • Use their signature phrases. If they say “I'll circle back” or “I'm happy to help” in real emails, use those phrases in the OOO. This is where a tone-matching tool helps, because it captures these patterns from real sent emails automatically.
  • Match sentence length. A client who writes in short direct sentences should not have an OOO with three long ones. If they use paragraph breaks, use paragraph breaks. If they run on, run on within reason.
  • Sign off the way they do. “Best,” “Cheers,” “Thanks,” and just the first name are all different signals. Use whichever your client actually uses in their sent emails.
  • Match their formality level with contacts. A founder who writes casually to customers should have a casual OOO. An executive who writes formally should have a formal one. Reading three or four of their recent sent emails before drafting the OOO tells you what register to use.

Common Out of Office Mistakes That Frustrate Contacts

These are the specific patterns that make an OOO feel like a wall rather than a helpful notice. Watch for them when writing on a client's behalf:

  • No return date. “I am out of the office. I will respond when I return.” This tells contacts nothing useful. Even “returning next week” is better than no timeframe.
  • No backup contact for anything urgent. If the client is truly unreachable for a week, someone should be able to help contacts in the meantime. Naming a backup, or explicitly saying “I do not have coverage during this time,” is more honest than silence.
  • Multiple paragraphs of context nobody asked for. Long OOOs about why the person is away, where they are going, what they are doing, and how excited they are read as either bragging or oversharing. Keep it functional.
  • Vague timeline for medical or personal absences. “I will respond when I'm able” leaves contacts hanging. Even in sensitive situations, offering “I'll be back at the end of the month” or “expected return in 4-6 weeks” helps people plan.
  • Forgetting to turn it off. An OOO still auto-replying three days after the client returned is embarrassing. Set a calendar reminder to disable the responder on the return date, especially if you left the “last day” field blank when setting it up.

Advanced: OOO for Different Contact Groups

Some clients need different OOO messages for different groups of contacts. A founder might want VIP investors and board members to hear something different than customers or general inbound emails. Gmail's native vacation responder does not support this natively, but there are two ways to approach it:

  • Approach 1: One general OOO plus manual replies to VIPs. The vacation responder handles routine contacts. You (or the client) manually reply to VIP emails during the absence with a personalized note. Works if there are only a few VIPs.
  • Approach 2: Different email addresses with different OOOs. If the client has multiple addresses (info@, personal@, executive@), each can have its own responder. Route contacts accordingly.
  • Approach 3: Filters + labels + manual triage. For VAs with delegate access, set up filters to label VIP incoming emails, then triage those specifically during the absence and let the OOO handle everything else.

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FAQs about Out of Office Email Examples and Templates (For VAs Managing Client Accounts)

Everything you need to know

What is a good out of office message?

A good out of office message includes four things: a short acknowledgment that you're away, the date you'll be back, a backup contact for anything urgent, and a note about when contacts should expect a reply. Keep it under 150 words. Match the tone your client actually uses in their regular emails; a generic corporate OOO on a founder's account reads as inauthentic to contacts who know the client's real voice.

How do I write a professional out of office email?

Lead with the essential information (dates, backup contact) in the first two sentences. Then add any specific context that helps contacts understand what to expect. Skip flowery language, avoid oversharing personal details, and match your client's regular sign-off style. Professional does not mean formal; it means functional, clear, and appropriate to the relationship.

How do I set up an out of office message in Gmail?

Click the gear icon in Gmail, choose 'See all settings', stay on the General tab, and scroll down to 'Vacation responder'. Turn it on, set your dates, add a subject line and message, choose whether to reply to everyone or only contacts, and click Save Changes. The responder will send exactly one reply to each unique sender per four-day window, so people who email you repeatedly won't get flooded with auto-replies.

How long should an out of office message be?

Under 150 words for most situations. Standard vacation messages can be as short as 40-60 words. Extended parental leave or sabbatical messages may run 100-150 words because they need to route more contacts to more backups. Anything longer than 200 words starts feeling defensive or excessive.

Should I include the return date in an out of office message?

Yes whenever possible. A specific date ('back on July 15') gives contacts what they need to plan. Even an approximate timeframe ('back in early August' or 'expected return in 4 weeks') beats no date at all. The only exception is medical or personal absences where the return is genuinely uncertain, in which case name a check-in date instead ('I'll update this message by end of the month').

What is the difference between a vacation responder and an auto-responder in Gmail?

They are the same feature. Gmail calls it 'Vacation responder' in the settings menu. Other email systems call the same functionality 'auto-responder', 'automatic reply', or 'out-of-office reply'. Regardless of the name, the mechanism is identical: incoming emails receive an automated response with the message and subject line you configured.

Can I set different out of office messages for internal and external contacts in Gmail?

Yes, on Google Workspace accounts. When setting up the vacation responder, there's a checkbox for 'Only send a response to people in my Contacts' and a separate one for 'Only send a response to people in [your organization]'. Personal Gmail accounts have the contacts filter but not the org-only filter, since personal accounts don't have an organization.

How do I write an out of office message for parental leave?

Keep it warm but professional. Include the approximate return date (parents rarely know the exact return so a month is fine), route contacts to specific backups by work area rather than one generic backup, and skip specifics about the baby unless the client explicitly wants them included. Something like: 'I'm on parental leave through [month]. For [work area 1], please contact [backup 1]. For [work area 2], please reach [backup 2]. Looking forward to reconnecting when I'm back.'

Should a virtual assistant write the out of office message for a client?

For routine vacations, business trips, and conferences, yes, the VA can write it. For personal absences (medical, bereavement, sabbatical, parental leave), the client should write it or at least co-write it, because these situations affect the client's relationships in ways only they can judge. Read our [email etiquette guide for VAs](/blog/email-etiquette-for-vas-replying-on-behalf-of-clients) for the fuller rule set on when VAs write things versus when clients should.