Thunderbird automatic “I’ll be away” replies: how to set them up?

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[OscarCP]

I cannot find anything looking around on the Web that answers this question:

How can one use Thunderbird to setup an automatic response of the kind “I’ll be away for several days and unable to reply to your message until such and such date”?

I’ll be most thankful for useful, practical answers that do not involve switching to a different email client. Thanks in advance for any such answers.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

• This topic was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by OscarCP.

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Fundamental consideration –
In order for TB to do a reply:
a) your computer will be on the entire time you are gone*, and
b) TB will be Open, and each email account has to be set automatically to ‘Check for new messages every [x] minutes’.
* – IF the computer should go dark, is there someone who will boot it again?

I haven’t tried this, but it may be possible to create a Filter to accomplish this.
Filter Rules:
– Match all messages
– Perform these actions: Reply with Template
— where the Template is your “I’m away” message.

Alternative, guaranteed to work —
Using your email account Webmail access via a browser, set up the “I’m away” message. Just where you get to this setting depends upon your mail service. { me@service.com }
Remember that if you have multiple email accounts that each account has to be so set.

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OscarCP

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https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1073671

How do I set up a auto reply message

It is best to do this via logging on to your webmail account using a browser.
There is usually an option to use an ‘Out of Office’ type of message.

However, Thunderbird can do an ‘Out of Office’ response, but I would not advise it because it means you have to leave your computer on, logged on and Thunderbird running. This is not the most secure method because anyone can get access to everything if they access your computer.

In Thunderbird.
You would need to create a Template email and store in the Templates folder. Leave the TO field empty. Subject: Out of Office.
You would then need to create a Message Filter which filters after junk classification and checks that each incoming email address is in your address books…

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OscarCP

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Automatic replies to incoming messages are normally not handled by mail-clients, they are handled by the mail-provider. That’s because the servers are running 24/7.

So my advise is open the mail-providers web-interface and start looking in the settings there.
This has to be done for every mail-account you want to change.

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PL1

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Thanks! I gather from your answers that the best way to do this is to set up the automatic response in my account at my email service. Once I am able to start answering my email again I can turn this off.

So I already checked and it seems that I can do this with my email service provider, AOL.

During the period the automatic reply is on because I am not able to answer emails, these will accumulate in the AOL server and I’ll get them from there when I am able to do email once more. In this way there is no need to leave my computer on all the time.

I imagine that doing this is also possible with many other email service providers.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Alex5723

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Definitely agree that you should NOT do it as a template in TB as it leaves your email unsecured and if your computer shuts off, your OOF message won’t be sent anyways until you log back into TB.  Best to do so through your webmail service.

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