18 Funny Out-of-Office Messages to Inspire Your Own [+ Templates]

Click here to access our generator of hilarious and entertaining OOO emails.

When it comes to the final days before vacation, people tend to fall into one of two camps: 1) those who watch the clock incessantly, and 2) those who are so busy before they leave, they might even forget to put up an out-of-office (OOO) email message.

If you’re anything like I am, you probably fall into team two. That doesn’t leave a lot of time to get creative. But if you plan ahead, you might be able to craft some hilarity.

In this post, I’ll go over what an OOO message is and share some of the best examples I’ve found on Google, as well as a few from my coworkers).

Also known as “autoresponder emails,” out-of-office messages run the gamut. From funny, to clever, to snarky, this message can both show your personality and let senders know that, well, you’re out of office.

While you can keep it simple, you can also have some fun with it.

What should I put on my out-of-office message?

First things first: let’s go over the basics of an OOO email. In your away message, you typically include the following:

A quick “I’m out of the office” phrase.
The date or time range you’ll be out.
Who to reach out to in case the sender needs immediate attention.
A sign-off.

Putting it all together, your autoresponder would read something like:

“Hi there,

Thanks for your email. I’m currently out of office until mm/dd/yyyy. If you need help, email my colleague at colleague@example.com.

Best,

[Name]”

But that sounds boring, right? Luckily, there are ways to spice up your OOO message by adding humor in just the right places.

If you’re feeling stuck, try our free OOO email generator to draft a message that perfectly captures who you are and where you’re going.

Featured Resource: OOO Email Generator

Create your OOO email by clicking here.

Out-of-Office Messages for Vacation

1. “I’ll email you back once I’ve defrosted.”

Most times, when people go on vacation, they travel to a warm, tropical place…

But some of us just aren’t as lucky. Or if we’re traveling during the winter and heading up north — well, we’re going to run into some snow, aren’t we?

While this may not prove so fortunate for us, we can use the poor weather for comedic relief. You can even include a screenshot of the weather forecast for a sense of realism. Not only will it give senders a chuckle, but it’ll also generate a certain amount of empathy — which is often the key to good content.