This feature applies to UKC hosted mailboxes
The mailbox must be managed on a UKC Plesk hosting service. If another provider handles the domain's email, create the automatic reply with that provider instead.
Plesk
Switch on an automatic reply
- Open My Services, choose the hosting service and select Log in to Plesk.
- Open Mail and select the email address.
- Open the Auto-Reply tab and select Switch on auto-reply.
- Enter a clear subject and message. Plain text is the safest format across mail applications.
- Set how often one sender can receive the reply. The normal default is once per day.
- Set a switch-off date if you know when the reply should end, then select OK.
Useful wording
Tell the sender what happens next
- Acknowledge
- Confirm that their message has reached the address.
- Availability
- State when messages will next be reviewed.
- Alternative
- Provide a monitored contact for genuinely urgent matters.
- Expectation
- Avoid promising a response time you cannot meet.
Do not include private travel details, personal mobile numbers or other information you would not want sent to every unknown sender.
Avoid automatic-reply loops
Keep the per-sender frequency low and do not test between two addresses that both have automatic replies enabled. Repeated automatic messages can trigger anti-spam protection.
Test and finish
Confirm the reply, then remember to switch it off
- Send one message from an unrelated external email address.
- Confirm the reply arrives and its dates, contact details and formatting are correct.
- If no scheduled end date was set, return to Mail, the email address and Auto-Reply when you are available again.
- Clear Switch on auto-reply and save.
The automatic reply is not being sent?
Tell us the mailbox address, UKC server, date and time of one external test, whether the sender received a previous reply that day, and include any bounce message. Never send the mailbox password.
Ask the Email team