Like lots of computer users, Mac Geek Gab listener Michael wants to spend his summer vacation away from his email inbox, but he doesn't want his contacts to think he's ignoring them. In Outlook, click on File, Info then select Automatic Replies (Out of Office). Click on Send Automatic Replies and check the Only send during this time range check box. Specify a start and end time for the reply to activate and deactivate using the Start time and End time fields.
![How to add an away message in outlook How to add an away message in outlook](http://www.montana.edu/uit/email/images/mac-outlook-forwarding-3.png)
In Outlook 2016 (I assume it is the same for earlier versions), un-checking both 'Mark item' options will leave the message as unread until you manually mark it as read or take some other kind of action. This is useful if you want to keep messages unread until you reply. I wanted to be able to set up individual mail folders with different reading pane options and could never figure it out. In the end, it's really just as easy to set up a shortcut key in Quick Steps to mark something as 'read' and configure your reading pane options as shown. This gives you more control IMO.