Can Slack send an automatic reply while I am away?

Not out of the box. Slack has no per-person auto-responder for DMs; your status with an expiry date is the built-in signal. Workspace owners can script Slackbot responses or use third-party apps, but for one person the status is the practical answer.

What is the difference between away and out of office?

Setting yourself to "away" only turns off the green presence dot. It says nothing about when you are back and does not stop notifications. For real time off, combine a status with an expiry and paused notifications.

Can my Slack status update itself when my leave starts?

Not yet through Time Out Zone; the Slack integration is planned and shows as coming soon in the Integrations modal. Until then, set the status by hand and let the ICS calendar feed handle your calendars automatically.

Set out of office in Slack

Slack has no single out-of-office switch. A proper Slack OOO is three small settings: a status that tells people you are away and until when, paused notifications so the trip stays a trip, and, if you like, an away message people see when they DM you.

All three take about two minutes. Here they are, plus copy-paste message templates.

Set an out-of-office status

Click your profile picture, then "Update your status".
Pick an emoji (the palm tree is the convention) and write the status, for example "On vacation, back Mon Aug 3".
Set "Remove status after" to a custom date and time: your first day back. The status then clears itself.
Optionally check "Pause notifications" right in the status dialog while setting it.

The expiry is the important part. A status without an end date is how people end up looking on vacation two weeks after they came back.

Pause notifications for the whole absence

Click your profile picture, then "Pause notifications".
Choose "Custom" and select the full range of your absence.
If something is truly urgent, senders can still choose to notify you anyway; Slack asks them first, which filters out almost everything.

Out-of-office message templates

Status (short): "OOO until Aug 3".
Status (helpful): "On vacation, back Mon Aug 3. For anything urgent, ask @maria."
DM auto-context (put it in your status so it shows above the message box): "Away until Aug 3, replies will be slow. @maria covers approvals."
Team channel note before you leave: "I am out Jul 28 to Aug 3. @maria approves requests, the runbook is in #ops-handbook. See you on the 3rd."

Slack itself does not auto-reply to DMs for you. Your status is what people see when they message you, so put the return date and the covering person there.

Where the leave itself lives

The Slack status covers the messaging side; the absence itself should live where your team plans coverage. In Time Out Zone, your approved request already shows in the team calendar, and your personal ICS feed puts it into Google Calendar or Outlook automatically.

A native Slack integration (status set for you automatically while you are on approved leave) is on the roadmap; the Integrations modal in the product lists Slack as coming soon.

Frequently asked questions

Can Slack send an automatic reply while I am away?: Not out of the box. Slack has no per-person auto-responder for DMs; your status with an expiry date is the built-in signal. Workspace owners can script Slackbot responses or use third-party apps, but for one person the status is the practical answer.
What is the difference between away and out of office?: Setting yourself to "away" only turns off the green presence dot. It says nothing about when you are back and does not stop notifications. For real time off, combine a status with an expiry and paused notifications.
Can my Slack status update itself when my leave starts?: Not yet through Time Out Zone; the Slack integration is planned and shows as coming soon in the Integrations modal. Until then, set the status by hand and let the ICS calendar feed handle your calendars automatically.