How to Say “I am out of the office” in Chinese
Work and study · HSK 3
"I am out of the office" in Chinese is 我不在办公室 (Wǒ bù zài bàngōngshì). 不在 literally means not at; 在 is the locative verb, and negating it with 不 is the natural way to say not here/there. Chinese work culture doesn't really have the Western out-of-office auto-reply; people just reply on WeChat 我现在不在公司 with the reason.
Primary translation
我不在办公室
Wǒ bù zài bàngōngshì
Traditional: 我不在辦公室
Variants by register
Formal
我目前不在办公室
Wǒ mùqián bù zài bàngōngshì
Casual
我出去了，不在公司
Wǒ chūqù le, bù zài gōngsī
When to use it
不在 literally means not at; 在 is the locative verb, and negating it with 不 is the natural way to say not here/there. Chinese work culture doesn't really have the Western out-of-office auto-reply; people just reply on WeChat 我现在不在公司 with the reason. 办公室 is the physical office room, while 公司 is the company/workplace more broadly; Chinese speakers often use 公司 where English would say the office. Add 临时 (línshí, temporarily) if you'll be back soon: 我临时不在.
Example sentences
抱歉，我现在不在办公室，有事请发微信。
Bàoqiàn, wǒ xiànzài bù zài bàngōngshì, yǒu shì qǐng fā wēixìn.
Sorry, I'm out of the office right now, please WeChat me if anything comes up.
经理不在办公室，您下午再来吧。
Jīnglǐ bù zài bàngōngshì, nín xiàwǔ zài lái ba.
The manager is out of the office, please come back in the afternoon.
我出去开会了，不在公司。
Wǒ chūqù kāihuì le, bù zài gōngsī.
I went out for a meeting, I'm not at the company.