Create email autoresponders in cPanel

An autoresponder sends an automatic reply to anyone who emails a given address. The usual uses are out-of-office notices and "we have received your message" replies for a support address. This guide shows how to create one in cPanel, schedule it, stop it from causing reply loops, and test it.

Before you start

• A cPanel login for the account.
• The address the autoresponder is for. It can be a mailbox or just an address with no mailbox.
• A second email account at another provider, for testing.

Create an autoresponder

1. In cPanel, open Email » Autoresponders.
2. If the account has several domains, choose the domain, then click Add Autoresponder.
3. Fill in the form:

• Character Set: leave as UTF-8.
• Interval: hours to wait before replying again to the same sender. More on this below.
• Email: the local part, for example info, and the domain.
• From: the name shown on the reply, such as Example Support.
• Subject: for example Thanks for your message. You can include %subject% to repeat the original subject.
• This message contains HTML: tick only if you write the body in HTML.
• Body: the reply text. %from% inserts the sender's name and %email% their address.

1. Set Start and Stop (see the next section).
2. Click Create.

A short, plain out-of-office body is best:

Hello %from%,

I am out of the office until 18 November and will reply when I return.
For urgent matters, please contact support@example.com.

Regards,
Alex

Schedule start and stop times

• Start: choose Immediately or a custom date and time.
• Stop: choose Never or a custom date and time.

For holidays, set a stop time so the reply ends automatically. The times use the server time zone, so check it if the switch-over hour matters.

When the stop time passes, the autoresponder stays in the list but no longer replies. Edit it to reuse it next time, or delete it.

Use the interval to avoid loops

Without a limit, two autoresponders can reply to each other forever, or a mailing list can receive dozens of replies. The Interval prevents that: the server replies to a given sender only once in that many hours.

• For out-of-office, 24 hours is sensible. Each sender gets one notice per day.
• For "message received" replies on a support address, a few hours works.
• 0 means reply to every message. Avoid it.

cPanel's mail server also skips replies to messages that look automatic, such as bounces and many mailing lists, but the interval is your main protection.

Check it works

1. From your outside test account, send a message to the address.
2. You should receive the auto-reply within a minute.
3. Send a second message straight away. You should not get a second reply if the interval is above zero.

If nothing arrives, open Email » Track Delivery, search for your test account's address, and check whether the reply was sent and accepted.

Edit or remove an autoresponder

On Email » Autoresponders, the Current Autoresponders list shows each one with Edit and Delete. Editing lets you change the dates and text for the next trip. Deleting removes only the auto-reply, not the mailbox or its mail.

Troubleshooting

• No reply at all: the start time is in the future or the stop time has passed. Check both dates and the server time zone.
• Only the first message got a reply: this is the interval working as intended.
• Reply goes to spam at the other end: the domain lacks SPF or DKIM. See SPF, DKIM and DMARC in cPanel.
• Replies sent to spam senders: turn on Spam Filters so spam is caught before the autoresponder sees it.

Next steps

• Add or change mailboxes: create and manage email accounts in cPanel.
• Trace replies: track email delivery in cPanel and WHM.