How to Turn Off Suggested Replies in Outlook 365: Quick Guide

Microsoft Outlook is a widely used email client for sending and receiving messages. For running businesses, there is a large number of emails, and replying to them is the most hectic task. To reduce the workload of replying, Outlook came up with a feature that suggests replies for emails. It is a helpful feature to reply to emails quickly in case of yes/no questions or generic responses and saves time. Sometimes, this feature becomes annoying because it gives suggestions for emails that do not require any reply or suggests just basic replies that do not match the intent of the email. This guide will explore the working, benefits, and steps to turn off suggested replies in Outlook 365.

Working of Suggested Replies in Outlook 365

•  It uses machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms to analyze email content.
• The machine learning model runs on the same servers to make sure your data is within your organization.
• Based on the analysis, the three responses are suggested.
• Users can use the most suited response for their email.

Advantages of Suggested Replies in Outlook

• Saves time by responding quickly using suggested replies.
• Acknowledge emails quickly for basic responses yes/no, thank you, etc.
• Easy to turn on/off suggested replies. Turn off, if they are distracting.
• Provides flexibility as users can use suggested replies for writing a custom email.
• Easily edit suggested responses to write a custom response.
• You can attach a file with suggested replies and schedule meetings easily. These features are only available for English worldwide in Outlook Web and the new Outlook app.

Disadvantages of Suggested Replies

• Every time short replies are not appropriate for the email content.
• Sometimes, provided suggestions are not enough for your email content. Generic suggested replies can cause misunderstanding.
• Limited customization, as only three suggestions are provided for replying to emails.
• They can cause unnecessary disruption. Communication might seem less effective.

Also Read: How to Enable Modern Authentication in Office 365?

Steps to Turn Off Suggested Replies in Outlook 365 Desktop Application

1. Open your Outlook desktop application and sign in using your credentials.
2. Click on the “File” tab from the left-hand side and choose “Options” in the Outlook window.
3. Select “Mail tab” from the options menu. Navigate to the “Show Suggested Replies” option using the “Replies and Forwards” section.
4. Uncheck the “Show Suggested Replies” box. Click “OK” to save the changes.

Using Outlook Web App

1. Log in to your Outlook account using https://outlook.live.com.
2. Select the “Settings” option from the top of the page. Choose the “Mail” option.
3. Click on “Smart Suggestions”. You will see two options” Show suggested Replies”  and “Text predictions”. The enabled “Show Suggested Replies” option shows the reply suggestions when you click on reply. Enabled “Text Predictions” option shows the suggested words and para for the email intent. You can use “tab” or “right arrow” to accept the text predictions.
4. Uncheck the “Show Suggested Replies” checkbox. Click on “Save” to make the changes.

Using Outlook Mobile App

1. Open your Outlook mobile application. Tap on the “Profile” icon in the top left corner. Click on “Settings”.
2. Select the mailbox for which you want to turn off suggested replies. You will see two options “Suggested Replies” and “text predictions”.
3. You can easily turn off your suggested replies in the Outlook mobile application by using the “Suggested Replies” option.

Conclusion

In this article, we have seen how suggested replies can be time-saving for some people while for some it can cause distraction to their personalized experience. Also, discussed the advantages and disadvantages of suggested replies and steps to disable them in both Outlook Web, Desktop, and mobile applications. Users can easily make changes according to their requirements, and customize their email replying experience using Outlook suggested replies.

FAQs

1. How do I turn off auto-replies in Outlook 365?

Firstly, sign in to your Outlook web app and go to settings, navigate to “Automatic replies” and then choose “Don’t send automatic replies”. Now, automatic replies are turned off successfully.

2. How to change reply options in Outlook Web?

You can change reply settings in Outlook Web by following the below steps:

• Go to settings from the top of the page. Choose Mail and then “Compose and reply”.
• Under “Reply” or “Reply all”, select your default reply option when you choose the “Reply” option: your reply is sent to the sender. Choose “Reply All”: your reply is sent to everyone on the “To” and “Cc”.

3. Can I customize auto reply in Outlook?

Yes, you can customize auto-replies in Outlook. Choose the Turn on automatic replies toggle select send replies and enter start and end time. Choose the option “Send automatic replies inside your organization” to send replies within your organization when you are away. To send replies outside the organization, choose the option “Send replies outside your organization”.

4. Is there any need for admin rights to disable Suggested Replies in Outlook 365?

No, you don’t need admin rights to disable suggested replies, any user can turn off this setting in their own Outlook account easily.

5. How can I re-enable Suggested Replies after turning them off?

You can easily re-enable Suggested Replies by using the same steps used to enable them, reverse steps, and easily disable suggested replies in either the Outlook web or desktop app.