Setup · 5 min read

Vacation responder in Slack and Teams.

Email auto-replies aren't enough anymore. Most work coordination happens in Slack and Teams. Here's how to set vacation responders, statuses, and DND in both — properly.

Quick answer

Slack: set Status with custom emoji + text + duration, enable DND for the trip dates, optionally pause notifications globally. Teams: set Status to 'Out of office' with auto-reply text, configure quiet hours. Step-by-step below for each.

→ The mechanical fix

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Slack: setting your vacation status

Step 1: Set custom status

Click your profile photo → 'Update your status.' Choose a vacation emoji (🏝, 🌴, 🌊). Status text: 'Vacation through [date], back [return date].' Set 'Clear after' to your return date.

Step 2: Enable DND

Click your profile photo → 'Pause notifications.' Set custom duration to your trip dates. This silences all notifications during the window.

Step 3: Optional — set Slack to away mode

Profile menu → 'Set yourself as away.' This shows you as inactive in everyone's view, even if Slack is technically open.

Slack: auto-replying to DMs (with apps)

Native Slack doesn't auto-reply to DMs. Two workarounds:

Microsoft Teams: out-of-office setup

Step 1: Set Out of Office reply

Profile picture → 'Set status message' → 'Schedule out of office.' Toggle on 'Send automatic replies.' Type your message. Select date range.

Step 2: Enable Outlook integration

Teams pulls from your Outlook out-of-office settings if connected. Setting OOO in Outlook automatically sets it in Teams.

Step 3: Set quiet hours

Settings → Notifications → 'Quiet hours.' Set during your trip dates to silence after-hours pings.

Sample status text

// Slack handles colleagues

OutOfOfficePro handles clients and vendors.

Slack vacation responder + OutOfOfficePro routing = full coverage. 14 days free.

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