Nora Brown Design

Setting up an email auto-responder

Most major email providers (though conspicuously not Hotmail) make it easy to set up an email auto-responder, which is very handy when you’ll be on vacation or otherwise not checking email. It is the email provider (like Gmail, Yahoo!, MobileMe) that allows you to auto-respond, not the email client/program (like Outlook, Mail, etc.).

Gmail

In Gmail, click on the settings link in the upper right corner. This takes you to whole page with several tabs of settings. On the first tab — “General” — you will find the Vacation Responder settings, including start date, end date, and message.

Yahoo! Mail

In Yahoo! Mail, there is an small link, also in the upper right corner, labeled “Options”. Clicking on this brings up a popup menu, and if you select “More Options” it will take you to a new page with several different settings. On the left select “Vacation Response” and select your settings.

MobileMe

The far right button is the Prefences button.

In MobileMe, click on the button that looks like a gear in the middle of the screen. Select Preferences from the pull-down menu, and then go to the “Other” tab. The options are more basic here—just On or Off, no dates.