Schedule Automatic Replies for a Microsoft 365 Mailbox

Administrators can configure a mailbox’s automatic replies through Exchange Online PowerShell. This is useful when a user is unavailable and the reply must start and stop at defined times.

Example

Set-MailboxAutoReplyConfiguration \
  -Identity [email protected] \
  -AutoReplyState Scheduled \
  -StartTime "2026-08-20 08:00" \
  -EndTime "2026-08-24 08:00" \
  -InternalMessage "I am away and will respond when I return." \
  -ExternalMessage "I am away and will respond when I return." \
  -ExternalAudience All

Verify

Get-MailboxAutoReplyConfiguration -Identity [email protected]

Check the start/end time, audience and message. Time-zone handling depends on the mailbox/session context, so confirm the displayed schedule before relying on it for an important absence.

Disable early

Set-MailboxAutoReplyConfiguration -Identity [email protected] -AutoReplyState Disabled

Avoid putting confidential details in an external automatic reply. A short return date and alternate contact is usually enough.