How to configure groups in Microsoft 365 to receive messages sent by Autoresponder

Problem:

Automatic replies sent by Autoresponder aren’t delivered to Microsoft 365 groups or distribution lists in your organization.

Solution:

By default, groups in Microsoft 365 do not accept emails from outside of your organization. And auto-reply messages sent by Autoresponder are treated as external emails as well.

To make auto replies reach the mailbox of a group, you need to enable the Allow external senders to email this group option for that group in the Microsoft 365 admin center. Read on to learn how to do it for:

• Microsoft 365 groups
• Distribution lists

Configuring a Microsoft 365 group mailbox to receive auto replies

To complete these steps, you need to be assigned the Global Administrator, Exchange Administrator, or Group Administrator role.

1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center.
2. Go to Teams & groups > Active teams & groups in the left-hand navigation menu, click the Microsoft 365 tab, and choose the group you want to receive auto replies (Fig. 1.).

Fig. 1. Accessing the Microsoft 365 group settings.

3. In the pane that opens on the right, select the Settings tab, enable the Allow external senders to email this group option, and click Save (Fig. 2.).

Fig. 2. Configuring Microsoft 365 group’s settings to receive auto replies.

Now that the group accepts emails from external addresses, auto replies sent by Autoresponder should reach its mailbox without any problems. Be sure to add the group’s email address in the To field in the Design step when configuring an autoresponder rule. Learn more

If you want auto replies to reach mailboxes of other Microsoft 365 groups, simply repeat the procedure above for these groups.

Configuring a distribution list mailbox to receive auto replies

To complete these steps, you need to be assigned the Global Administrator, Exchange Administrator, or Group Administrator role.

1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center.
2. Go to Teams & groups > Active teams & groups in the left-hand navigation menu, click the Distribution list tab, and choose the group you want to receive auto replies (Fig. 3.).

Fig. 3. Accessing the distribution list settings.

3. In the pane that opens on the right, select the Settings tab, enable the Allow external senders to email this group option, and click Save (Fig. 4.).

Fig. 4. Configuring distribution list’s settings to receive auto replies.

Now that the group accepts emails from external addresses, auto replies sent by Autoresponder should reach its mailbox without any problems. Be sure to add the group’s email address in the To field in the Design step when configuring an autoresponder rule. Learn more

If you want auto replies to reach mailboxes of other distribution list groups, simply repeat the procedure above for these groups.