How do you set up an out-of-office message in Thun­der­bird?

Informing others when you’re tem­porar­i­ly un­avail­able is part of good email com­mu­ni­ca­tion. This guide explains step by step how to set up your Thun­der­bird out-of-office messages using the available templates in Thun­der­bird.

Not available by email? Thun­der­bird lets people know!

The Thun­der­bird email client, created by the Mozilla Foun­da­tion, is com­pat­i­ble with various operating systems. Its user-friendly design follows familiar con­ven­tions, making it easy to get started. You can also set up out-of-office messages in Thun­der­bird, though the process is slightly different from other email services like Microsoft Outlook or Gmail.

How to set Thun­der­bird out-of-office message quick guide

To add a Thun­der­bird out-of-office notice in Mozilla Thun­der­bird, proceed as follows:

1. Compose your out-of-office message in Thun­der­bird as a new email and save it as a template.
2. Open the filters section via the settings.
3. Create a new filter for the desired mailbox and give it a clear, rec­og­niz­able name.
4. Configure the filter so that it runs without any con­di­tions and performs the action “Reply with Template”.
5. Enable or disable the filter using the checkbox in the filter dialog.

How to set Thun­der­bird out-of-office message step by step

In the following sections, we’ve sum­ma­rized each step for creating your own Thun­der­bird away message in more detail.

Step 1: Compose the out-of-office message

Compose your Thun­der­bird away message like a new email by clicking the “New Message” tab.

It’s best to write the message in a clear and struc­tured way, including a greeting, the period of absence, and your email signature.

However, the next step differs from composing a regular email.

Saving the out-of-office email as a “Template” ensures that Thun­der­bird can access this text later.

Step 2: Set the correct filter

To use the saved template for an actual absence, you need to apply it through a filter for the relevant mailbox. To activate the filter, click the hamburger menu in the top-right corner, then select “Tools” from the dropdown menu.

Here, select the “Message Filters” option.

Click “New…” to create a new filter for your Thun­der­bird out-of-office notice.

You can now set up your Thun­der­bird out-of-office reply. Choose a filter name that clearly reflects the situation, such as “Vacation absence” or “Business trip.” Then enable the “Getting New Mail” option and select “Filter after Spam Clas­si­fi­ca­tion” to ensure no automatic replies are sent to spam senders. Make sure the “Match all messages” option is selected.

In the lower section, define the action to be performed. By selecting “Reply with Template”, Thun­der­bird will use the template you created earlier, which you can choose from the list on the right. Finally, click “OK” to save the filter. It will then appear in your filter overview.

Step 3: Activate the absence filter

To activate the filter, you also need to select the mailbox it should apply to. Then enable the checkbox next to the desired filter to start sending your Thun­der­bird out-of-office replies. You can close the menu af­ter­wards. Once you’re available again, return to this menu and de­ac­ti­vate the filter so Thun­der­bird stops sending automatic replies.

Key con­sid­er­a­tions for Thun­der­bird out-of-office messages

When setting up automatic replies in Thun­der­bird, there are a few important points to consider based on the official doc­u­men­ta­tion:

• Thun­der­bird must be running: Automatic replies are only sent if Thun­der­bird is open and actively checking the account. If the computer is turned off or the program is closed, the out-of-office reply won’t be sent.
• Built-in anti-loop pro­tec­tion: Thun­der­bird can be con­fig­ured to send only one automatic reply per sender and session. This helps prevent endless reply loops, for example when both parties use auto-replies.
• IMAP vs. POP dif­fer­ences: With POP accounts, filters usually work reliably because emails are down­loaded locally. With IMAP accounts, automatic replies are only sent while Thun­der­bird is actively syncing. In some cases, server-side filters from the email provider may also block these replies.
• HTML emails may trigger spam filters: Some mail servers classify automatic replies in HTML as sus­pi­cious. For external re­cip­i­ents, plain text messages are often the safer option.
• Security con­sid­er­a­tions: Automatic replies can reveal that you are currently un­avail­able. For this reason, many or­ga­ni­za­tions restrict out-of-office replies to internal contacts.
• Handling mailing lists: Thun­der­bird may also respond to messages from mailing lists or newslet­ters. To avoid unwanted replies, consider setting up an ad­di­tion­al filter to exclude these senders.

How to set up an out-of-office message directly with your email provider

If you don’t want to keep your PC running while you’re away just to send an out-of-office reply with Mozilla Thun­der­bird, there is another option. Many email providers offer this feature as well. Below, you’ll see how it works with some major providers.

Set up an out-of-office message in IONOS Webmail

If you get your email address from IONOS, use the cor­re­spond­ing web function to set up an out-of-office notice. Start by opening the IONOS Webmail login page and clicking the gear icon to go to the settings.

In the dropdown menu, you will now see the submenu item “Vacation notice.” Click it to open the detailed settings.

With the slider at the top enabled, all senders of incoming emails will be notified of your absence. To do this, enter an ap­pro­pri­ate subject line and the text of the actual notice in the “Message” field.

Set up an out-of-office message in Microsoft Outlook

In order to set up an out-of-office message in Microsoft Outlook, simply click on the “File” tab.

Then find the menu item entitled “Automatic Replies” and click on it.

A pop-up window will appear. Click on “Send automatic replies,” then create your out-of-office message. Next, choose whether it should be shown only to col­leagues (Inside My Or­ga­ni­za­tion) or to anyone who messages you (Outside My Or­ga­ni­za­tion).

After you have composed your message, click on “OK” to activate it.