We have a confession:
We’re keyboard shortcut junkies.
And email productivity addicts, in general. But emailing already takes up too many hours in our day, so beyond our own Apple Mail email tool, we also want to share the following Apple Mail tips to help you read, write, and send emails faster.
We organized these keyboard shortcuts according to the three types of views in Apple Mail: Inbox View, Conversation View, and Compose View.
Here are the Apple Mail shortcuts that will let you send emails faster, organize your inbox, and save time.
Apple Mail Shortcuts for the "Inbox View"
The Inbox View in Apple Mail is where we can see all of our read and unread messages.
Get new mail
When I'm ready to refresh my inbox to check for new mail, I simply press "Command" + "Shift" + "N" to see what's new.
New message
I'm ready to send an email. I simply hit "Command" + "N" to open a new window and compose my message.
Open the message viewer window
If I want to see a preview of the email that I've selected in the Inbox, I press "Command" + "O" to open the message viewer window.
Mark as read / unread
If I want to triage my inbox quickly, I can hold down "Command" to select a random series of messages, and then use Command + Shift + U to mark them all as read or unread. This helps me avoid opening emails I don't need to read and reminds me to come back to the important ones later.
Flag a message
Similarly, if I can use "Command" + "Shift" + "L" to flag a message if want to come back to it later.
Jump to the search field
When I need to find something quickly, I'll use "Command" + "Option" + "F" to put my cursor in the search field, so I can start typing my search terms without my fingers leaving the keyboard.
Select all highlighted messages
When I want to select all my highlighted messages, I press "Command" + "Shift" + "K."
Show or hide deleted messages
Usually I prefer not to view deleted messages in my inbox, but sometimes it's helpful to be able to view all of my messages. I just use "Command" + "L" to show or hide deleted messages.
Show or hide the mailbox list in the sidebar
The Mail sidebar lists all mailboxes, folders, and flagged items, making it easy to jump to the right location. If I want to show or hide this list, I use "Command" + "Shift" + "M."
Apple Mail Keyboard Shortcuts for the "Conversation View"
We can view the content of our emails in Conversation View, after clicking on them in the Inbox View:
Forward message
When I want to forward a message, I use "Command" + "Shift" + "F."
Reply
To reply to a message, simply hit "Command" + "R."
Reply All
To reply all, use "Command" + "Shift" + "R." But when should you use reply all? Find out here.
Mark as junk mail
Too much clutter in your inbox? I use "Command" + "Shift" + "J" to quickly mark an item as junk mail.
Select all messages in thread
If I want to select all the messages in a given email thread, I'll use "Command" + "Shift" + "K."
Go to inbox
Sometimes I need a quick way to hop back to my inbox. "Command" + "1" does the trick.
Go to other favorite mailboxes
Similarly, I can set up "Command "+ 2, "Command" + "3," and so on as shortcuts to jump to my other favorite mailboxes.
Apple Mail Shortcuts for the "Compose View"
In Compose View, we type and send our emails.
Send message
When I'm done composing a new message, I'll use "Command" + "Shift" + "D" to send it.
Save as draft
Not quite done with your message yet? I use "Command" + "S" as a simple way to save an email as a draft and come back to it later.
Attach file to message
I send a lot of attachments in my emails, so one of my favorite shortcuts is "Command" + "Shift" + "A," which lets me select a file to attach.
Add link
I'm also constantly adding links to my emails. Another favorite shortcut is "Command" + "K" to add a hyperlink to a selection of text.
Show fonts panel
Need to change the font in your email? Just hit "Command" + "T" to display the fonts panel. Should you change the font in your email? That's a whole other concept discussed here.
Left / center / right align text
A quick way to format your email text is to use:
Find misspelled words in the message
Want to run a quick spellcheck before you send your email? Just hit "Command" + ";" (semicolon). Otherwise you might end up looking like the goon making any of these 10 spelling mistakes.
Copy style
Use "Command" + "Option" + "C" to copy a selection of stylized text.
Paste style
Use "Command" + "Option" + "V" to paste the stylization you copied onto another selection of text. For example, if you're sending a recipe and you want to italicize all the measurements, you can italicize the first one, then copy the style, and paste it to all the other measurements.
Not using Apple Mail? Check out our posts on Gmail shortcuts and Outlook shortcuts instead.
