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Gmail Auto Reply Is Here!

5 Jul
2009
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I was tooling around in my email today and creating a new filter so when I got a new email from Rochenhost (my hosting company) it would get starred when I saw the most amazing thing!

Send a Canned Response as a Filter Option in Gmail

Gmail Auto Reply Is HERE!

This means you can now setup filters so when you get an email from a particular person or with a certain subject, you can send them a reply automatically!

I’m sure Microsoft is so very jealous because Outlook has nothing like this! Microsoft Exchange, eat your heart out! Okay, back to the awesomeness of Google Gmail and Google Apps.

What You Need

Canned Responses need to be enabled so you can select it as a filter option

  1. Go to Settings

    Gmail Settings
  2. Go to Labs

    Gmail Labs

  3. Enable Canned Responses

    Gmail Canned Responses

You can now send out auto replies like Merlin Mann does which provide helpful FAQ information or whatever your mind can dream up!

I could use this to say to Rochenhost, “I have received your notice. Please allow 4-6 hours for a reply.”. This is like vacation reply but much more powerful. You can choose who gets a reply and then you can create as many “canned responses” as you want.

Yes, if you’re not using Gmail or Google Apps for your email, you’re living in the dark ages while everyone else has electricity.

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View Comments to Gmail Auto Reply Is Here!

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Saqib Ali

July 6th, 2009 at 12:34 pm

This looks pretty cool. I tried to set it up for Google Apps Premier Edition, but it seems like this function is not yet available in GAPE. :(

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Adria Richards

July 6th, 2009 at 1:08 pm

It should be as I did this video from my Google Apps account. I have Google Apps Standard so pretty much anything in Google Apps Standard is also in Google Apps Premier.

Try again and let me know!

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doss

December 9th, 2009 at 7:57 pm

Great site, love your work.

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MUKESH BAFNA

June 24th, 2010 at 2:29 am

I have tried this but not succeed. I don't know that whats wrong as here nothing is given for first step of creating a FILTER. In first step what we have to do?

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Sandy Callen

July 6th, 2010 at 1:07 pm

Does Canned Responses still work? I enabled it in Labs and started to create a filter, but as soon as I get to where I should be able to select Canned Responses, even though it is in the list of options, the box is grayed out so I cannot click to checkmark it. I tried this in my work email (Google Apps for Business) and my personal Gmail account; same thing. Trying to figure this out for a colleague who would like an auto reply option other than vacation response…

Avatar

Sandy Callen

July 6th, 2010 at 2:13 pm

Okay, I've been working with this and it does work. There are three specific steps, in this order:

1. Enable Canned Responses: Go to Settings / Labs, and click to enable Canned Responses.

2. Create the message text you want to send as an auto reply: Open a mail composition window, click on Canned Responses, click on New Canned Response, type the text of the 'auto reply' message, and click OK. Then discard the draft e-mail.

3. Create a filter: Go to Settings / Filters / Create a New Filter. Enter your search criteria to have the reply sent to some or all e-mails you receive. Hint: If you want the reply to go to ALL e-mails you receive, just enter your e-mail address in the To: field. Click Next Step, check the box for Send Canned Response, and choose your response from the drop-down list. Then, click Create Filter.

As far as I can tell, this should work to create an auto-reply to go to every email you receive, as an alternative to the Vacation Responder. But I'm open to corrections and/or better ideas!

Avatar

Sandy Callen

July 6th, 2010 at 2:13 pm

See info I posted today; it may help!

Avatar

Sandy Callen

July 6th, 2010 at 7:07 pm

Does Canned Responses still work? I enabled it in Labs and started to create a filter, but as soon as I get to where I should be able to select Canned Responses, even though it is in the list of options, the box is grayed out so I cannot click to checkmark it. I tried this in my work email (Google Apps for Business) and my personal Gmail account; same thing. Trying to figure this out for a colleague who would like an auto reply option other than vacation response…

Avatar

Sandy Callen

July 6th, 2010 at 8:13 pm

Okay, I've been working with this and it does work. There are three specific steps, in this order:

1. Enable Canned Responses: Go to Settings / Labs, and click to enable Canned Responses.

2. Create the message text you want to send as an auto reply: Open a mail composition window, click on Canned Responses, click on New Canned Response, type the text of the 'auto reply' message, and click OK. Then discard the draft e-mail.

3. Create a filter: Go to Settings / Filters / Create a New Filter. Enter your search criteria to have the reply sent to some or all e-mails you receive. Hint: If you want the reply to go to ALL e-mails you receive, just enter your e-mail address in the To: field. Click Next Step, check the box for Send Canned Response, and choose your response from the drop-down list. Then, click Create Filter.

As far as I can tell, this should work to create an auto-reply to go to every email you receive, as an alternative to the Vacation Responder. But I'm open to corrections and/or better ideas!

Avatar

Sandy Callen

July 6th, 2010 at 8:13 pm

See info I posted today; it may help!

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