> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getoneprofile.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Out-of-office replies

> When a contact's out-of-office reply says when they're back, the sequence holds their next step until then.

When an out-of-office reply says when the contact is back, their sequence waits for them. The next step goes the day they return, or a few business days later if you choose.

![A sequence's Settings tab with the Out-of-office replies section: the Wait until they're back switch turned on, and a Send next step menu set to The day they're back.](https://mintcdn.com/oneprofile/XLfJE7R7rltoKmr6/images/outreach/out-of-office-replies.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=XLfJE7R7rltoKmr6\&q=85\&s=2e5937a7234062503bd3dd199fade0ed)

The Out-of-office replies section of a sequence's Settings tab.

## Choose when the next step goes

Open a sequence from [Sequences](https://app.getoneprofile.ai/sequences) and go to its **Settings** tab. The **Out-of-office replies** section holds two controls:

* **Wait until they're back** is on for every sequence. Turn it off and the cadence carries on as planned.
* **Send next step** picks **The day they're back**, or 1 to 5 business days after it.

The step goes at the first opening of the sequence's sending window on that day. The message is sent as written.

## Know which steps move

Only a next step due before they're back moves. A step already due later keeps its date.

* A return more than 30 days away counts as 30 days.
* A reply naming no date waits 7 days.
* Every sequence the contact is in waits, if its setting is on.
* Email and LinkedIn steps wait alike.

## See who is away

On the **Audience** tab, a waiting contact reads **Out of office**, and the **Next step** column shows when it goes. A banner above the list says "Contacts are out of office." Choose **Resume all 3**, counted for your sequence, to send to them now.

## Good to know

> **Why didn't the next step move?**
>
> It was already due after their return, or the sequence's **Wait until they're back** is off. A step already in a sender's LinkedIn queue, or waiting for approval in Tasks, also keeps its place.
>
> The reply must also be read as an out-of-office reply. Check that its conversation carries the **Out of office** label in the Inbox.

> **What counts as a business day?**
>
> Monday to Friday. Public holidays are not skipped, so a step set for one business day after a Friday return goes on Monday.

> **Which timezone is the return day read in?**
>
> The one the sending window reads its hours in for that contact's sender. With no sending hours set, the step goes at 9:00 in the morning in the window's timezone.

> **What happens if I turn the setting off?**
>
> Later out-of-office replies leave the cadence alone. Contacts already waiting keep their new date. Choose **Resume all 3** on the **Audience** tab to send to them now.

> **What if they write back before the date?**
>
> A reply from the contact themselves stops their follow-ups, as any reply does. Read it in the [Inbox](https://docs.getoneprofile.ai/outreach/inbox.md).

> **Can the AI Assistant change this?**
>
> Yes. Ask it to stop waiting for out-of-office contacts, or to send two business days after they're back, and it shows the change for you to approve.

## Next steps

> **[Reply with AI](https://docs.getoneprofile.ai/outreach/reply-with-ai.md)**
>
> What each kind of reply does to a contact's follow-ups.

> **[Schedule and sending window](https://docs.getoneprofile.ai/outreach/schedule-and-sending-window.md)**
>
> The hours and days a sequence sends in.


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