First and foremost, we do not recommend the use of an autoresponder. Autoresponders reply to all emails, including spam. That tells the spammer and the phisher that there really is someone at the other end of the email address, just not at this moment. An autoresponder, therefore, has the potential to substantially increase your spam and malware infection.
If an autoresponder is required, it can be done through the email server simply by emailing your IT administrator. The spam and malware issue still exists.
An autoresponder can also be created within Outlook as follows:
1. Open a new Outlook message formatted as plain text.
2. Type the information that you want to have in your reply message.
3. On the File menu, click Save As.
4. In the Save As dialog box, click to select the Outlook Template check box in the Save As Type list.
5. Type a name for your reply template in the File Name box, and then click Save.
6. On the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts.
7. In the Rules and Alerts dialog box, click the New Rule button on the E-mail Rules tab.
8. In the Rules Wizard, click the Start from a blank rule button, click Check messages when they arrive, and then click Next.
9. Under Which condition(s) do you want to check?, click to select the Sent Only To Me check box or any other check box that you want, and then click Next.
10. Under What do you want to do with the message?, click to select the Reply using a specific template check box.
11. On the Step 2: Edit the Rule Description page of the wizard, click the underlined phrase a specific template.
12. In the Select A Reply Template dialog box, click the template that you saved in step 5 of the “How to Define an Automatic Reply Template” section, and then click Open.
13. Complete the Rules Wizard instructions, click Finish, and then click OK.
You must leave your email open for the auto responder to work.