How to set out of office in Slack

Dedicated Slack option

Set Slack’s Enterprise out-of-office status

These desktop steps follow Slack’s dedicated out-of-office help page. Slack lists the feature for members on Enterprise plans.

1. 01

   Open your status editor.

   On Slack desktop, click your profile picture in the sidebar, then click Update your status.

2. 02

   Choose Out of office.

   Select the dedicated ⛔ Out of office option from Slack’s suggested statuses.

3. 03

   Choose when it should clear.

   Open Remove status after… and set the end of your time away. This tells Slack when to remove the status.

4. 04

   Decide whether to pause notifications.

   If you want a quiet break, select Pause notifications. Slack documents this as an optional setting in the dedicated out-of-office flow.

5. 05

   Add a useful out-of-office message.

   Include when you will return and, when needed, who can help while you are gone.

6. 06

   Save the status.

   Slack displays the ⛔ emoji by your name and makes the full message available from your profile.

Custom status alternative

Set an out-of-office custom status

If the dedicated option is not in your workspace, use Slack’s standard status controls. This communicates the absence but does not add the Enterprise mention response.

1. 01

   Open Update your status.

   On desktop, click your profile picture and Update your status. On mobile, tap your profile picture, then tap the status field.

2. 02

   Write a clear message.

   Use wording such as “Out of office · Back Monday” and choose an emoji such as 🌴, ✈️, or 🏖️.

3. 03

   Set the clearing time.

   Choose Remove status after… on desktop or Clear after on mobile, then select when you expect to return.

4. 04

   Save it.

   Select Save on desktop or Done on mobile. Change your availability or notification settings separately if needed.

Before you leave

Schedule the out-of-office status in advance

For planned PTO, Slack’s desktop scheduler can turn on a custom status at a future time and clear it at the end of your absence.

1. Open your profile picture and select Update your status.
2. Write the out-of-office message and choose an emoji.
3. Open Duration, then choose Choose a start and end time.
4. Select the start and end dates, then save.

Need more detail? Read the complete Slack status scheduling guide.

Calendar option

Sync an out-of-office event from your calendar

Slack documents out-of-office syncing with its Google Calendar and Outlook Calendar apps. This is useful when your calendar is already the source of truth for time away.

Make it useful

What to put in a Slack out-of-office status

A good status answers the next practical question without turning your profile into a full handoff document.

Looking for more wording? Browse out-of-office, vacation, and PTO status examples.