How to set up an autoresponder

This guide shows how to set up an automatic reply, such as an out-of-office message, using Autoresponders in cPanel.

Create an autoresponder

1. Log in to cPanel. See how to log in to cPanel.
2. Open Autoresponders in the Email section.
3. Click Add Autoresponder.
4. Leave Character Set as it is unless you have a reason to change it.
5. Set Interval. This is how many hours to wait before replying to the same sender again. A value of 24 means each person gets one reply a day, however many times they write. If you set it to 0, every email gets a reply, which we don’t recommend.
6. In Email, type the part of the address before the @ and pick the domain.
7. In From, type the name you want shown on the reply.
8. Type a Subject, for example “Out of office”.
9. Type your message in Body. Say when you’ll be back and who to contact if it’s urgent.
10. Under Start, choose Immediately or pick a date and time.
11. Under Stop, choose Never or pick a date and time.
12. Click Create.

Using a stop date means you won’t forget to turn it off when you get back.

Change or remove an autoresponder

1. In cPanel, open Autoresponders.
2. Find the address in the list at the bottom of the page. If you have several domains, you may need to choose the domain first.
3. Click Edit to change it, or Delete to remove it.

Test it

Send an email to the address from a different email account, such as a personal Gmail. You should get the reply within a few minutes. If you test again from the same address, you won’t get a second reply until the interval has passed.

If it doesn’t work

• No reply arrives. Check the start date hasn’t been set in the future and the stop date hasn’t already passed. Check your test message didn’t land in the junk folder of the account you sent it from.
• The original email never reaches the mailbox. An autoresponder doesn’t stop mail being delivered. If mail isn’t arriving at all, see why is my email not arriving.
• People get lots of replies. Increase the interval.

Good to know

Keep the message short and plain. Autoresponders reply to everyone who writes, including spammers, so avoid putting phone numbers or personal details in the message that you wouldn’t want made public.

Some email programs, such as Outlook, have their own automatic reply setting. Those only work while the program is open, so the cPanel autoresponder is more reliable.

Still stuck? Open a support ticket and we’ll help.