How to setup and use custom multiple Automatic Reply templates in Outlook

If you want to set different auto-reply rules for different email senders, this article will help you. You can set up and use a custom automatic reply template in Outlook by following this tutorial. For this, you must use the Outlook desktop client on your computer.

Send different responses to different people

It is straightforward to set up automatic replies in Outlook. However, the problem starts when you wish to send different responses to different people simultaneously. The above-mentioned guide will let you send the same message to everyone that falls into the filter. However, if you want to use a custom Automatic Reply template, you will have to follow this guide.

How to create an Auto Reply template in Outlook

To create an Automatic Reply template in Outlook that will send different responses to different people, follow these steps-

1. Open Outlook on your computer.
2. Click on the New Email button.
3. Compose a new email without entering the recipient’s email address.
4. Click on File > Save As.
5. Select Outlook Template (*.oft) from Save as type.
6. Enter a name.
7. Click the Save button.

You will have to create a template that you want to send. For that, open the Outlook app on your computer and click on the New Email button visible in the top left corner. Following that, start composing a new email that you want to send. You can write down the subject line and body of the email. Now click on the File option and select Save As on the next page.

It will open a popup window. Expand the Save as type drop-down list and select Outlook Template (*.oft), enter a name, and click the Save button.

It will save the template. Now you can close or discard the New Email window.

How to use custom Automatic Reply template in Outlook

To use a custom Automatic Reply template in Outlook, follow these steps-

1. Open Outlook on your computer.
2. Click on File > Manage Rules & Alerts.
3. Click on New Rule.
4. Select Apply rule on messages | receive and click the Next button.
5. Select the email condition and click on Next.
6. Select reply using a specific template in the action window.
7. Click on a specific template link and select your template.
8. Click on Next and select exceptions.
9. Click the Finish button.

If you want to know more about these steps, keep reading.

At first, open Outlook on your computer and go to File > Manage Rules & Alerts.

It will open a popup window. Click on the New Rule option in the Email Rules tab.

On the next window, select Apply rule on messages | receive and click the Next button.

After that, you will have to select a condition. Let’s assume that you want to send an automatic reply to some specific people. If so, make a tick in the from people or public group checkbox.

Then, click on people or public group in the Step 2 box and select the contact list. Once done, click on the Next button. On the next window, you will have to choose the reply using a specific template option. 

Next, it is required to choose the template you created earlier. For that, select a specific template link and select the template accordingly. Then, click the Next button.

Now you can select some exceptions if you want. For instance, if you want to send the automatic reply to some specific people only when a bunch of selected words is in the email body or something like that. At last, click on the Finish button.

After that, your Automatic Reply template will be ready to work. In case you want to delete this template, go to the same Manage Rules & Alerts window, and remove the rule.

Hope it helps.