Outlook Shortcuts: 39 Keyboard Shortcuts To Save You 15 Minutes A Day

Attention Microsoft Outlook users: These Outlook shortcuts will change the way you email.

It's great to have a mouse on hand, but with a little learning, you can work faster by using your keyboard for many of your inbox tasks. In fact, after taking just a few minutes to learn some shortcuts, you and your team can save 15 minutes or more every day.

Start with the best Outlook shortcuts, or jump to the shortcuts you're looking for below:

• Outlook Keyboard Shortcuts for Navigation
• Outlook Shortcuts for the "Inbox View"
• Outlook Keyboard Shortcuts for the "Conversation View"
• Outlook Shortcuts for the "Compose View"
• Outlook Shortcuts for Calendar
• How to Create Customized Outlook Shortcuts

Respond more efficiently, navigate your inbox with ease, and increase email productivity with these Outlook keyboard shortcuts.

Enabling Outlook Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are usually standard features for both Macs and PCs running Outlook. But if you've turned off those features at some point, you may need to check your settings.

Also, keep in mind that the shortcuts below are for a U.S. keyboard layout. So, if your computer doesn't fit that layout, some of these keyboard shortcuts might not work for your computer.

Best Outlook Shortcuts: Short List

Outlook Keyboard Shortcuts for Navigation

When you’re multitasking and on the go, it’s helpful to have quick keys to quickly jump between your inbox, calendar, and other Microsoft features.

1. Go to the Inbox

Mac: Hold Command and press 1.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press 1.

2. Go to Calendar View

Mac: Hold Command and press 2.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press 2.

3. Go to Contacts View

Mac: Hold Command and press 3.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press 3.

4. Go to Tasks

Mac: Hold Command and press 4.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press 4.

Note: This action will open a new application, not a new window within Outlook.

5. Go to Notes

Mac: Hold Command and press 5.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press 5.

Note: This action will open a new application, not a new window within Outlook.

6. Print

Mac: Hold Command and press P.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press P.

Outlook Shortcuts for the "Inbox View"

Inbox View is the default view in Outlook where you can see read and unread messages in your inbox.

7. Create a New Message

Use this Outlook shortcut when you’re ready to create a new email.

Mac: Hold Command and press N.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press N.

8. Open a Message

This is a quick way to open a selected message.

Mac: Hold Command and press O.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press O.

9. Select All

Use this keyboard shortcut if you want to select all your messages in Outlook. This is a quick way to delete batches of emails at a time.

Mac: Hold Command and press A.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press A.

10. Delete Item

To delete an item or a selected group of emails, use one of these shortcuts.

Mac: Hold Command and press DELETE.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press D.

11. Mark Selected Message as Read

Mac: Hold Command and press T.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press Q.

12. Mark Selected Message as Unread

This quick key is helpful if you want to mark a selected message as unread and revisit it later.

Mac: Hold Shift and Command and press T.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press U.

13. Flag Message for Follow Up

Sometimes you'll receive an email with a request from a friend or a colleague. This Outlook shortcut can be a helpful reminder. You can also create a task if you don’t want to forget.

Mac: Hold Command and press 0.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and Shift and press G.

14. Forward an Email as an Attachment

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and Alt and press F.

15. Go to the Search Box

Need to search for something in your inbox? Just use a shortcut to bring your cursor straight to the Search box. Can't find what you're searching for? Here are more specific tips for searching in Outlook.

Mac: Hold Option and Command and press F.

Windows PC & Linux: Press F3.

16. Make Text Bigger

Mac: Hold Command and press +.

17. Make Text Smaller

Mac: Hold Command and press -.

Outlook Keyboard Shortcuts for the "Conversation View"

Conversation View groups emails by conversation for quicker inbox scanning.

18. Reply

Mac: Hold Command and press R.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press R.

19. Reply All

You can use this quick shortcut to reply to all. But should you reply all? Find out here.

Mac: Hold Command and Shift and press R.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and Shift and press R.

20. Forward

Mac: Hold Command and press J.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press F.

21. Mute Thread

Sometimes email threads can overwhelm your inbox. If a conversation is no longer relevant to you, use the keyboard shortcut below to bring up the Delete panel, and click Ignore to mute that thread.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press Del.

22. Switch to Next Message

When you already have a message open and want to read through the rest of your messages quickly, use this shortcut to switch to the next message.

Mac: Hold Control and press ].

23. Switch to Previous Message

Mac: Hold Control and press [.

Outlook Shortcuts for the "Compose View"

You type and send our emails in the Compose View in Microsoft Outlook.

24. Send

Mac: Hold Command and press Return.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Alt and press S.

25. Save as Draft

Mac: Hold Command and press S.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press S.

26. Insert Bulleted List

Mac: Hold Option and press 8.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and Shift and press L.

On a PC? You can also use an asterisk and hit "Tab" to add a bullet.

27. Insert a Hyperlink

This is a quick way to insert a hyperlink on a selection of text.

Mac: Hold Command and press K.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press K.

28. Left Align Text

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press L.

29. Center Align Text

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press E.

30. Right Align Text

Mac: Hold Command and press R.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press R.

31. Add an Attachment

Mac: Hold Command and press E.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press K.

32. Editor, Including Spellcheck

For important emails, use this shortcut to run a quick spelling and grammar check before sending.

Mac: Hold Command and Shift and press :.

Windows PC & Linux: Press F7.

33. Close the Active Window

Screen feeling a little chaotic? Hopping between tasks? Use this quick key to close an active window.

Mac: Hold Command and press W.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Alt and press F4.

Outlook Shortcuts for Calendar

34. Create an Appointment From Calendar View

Mac: Hold Command and press N.

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press N.

If you’re on a PC, You can also use "Ctrl + Shift + A" to create an appointment from the Inbox view.

35. Delete an Appointment

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press D.

36. Forward a Calendar Event

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and press F.

37. Create a Meeting Request

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Ctrl and Shift and press Q.

38. Show the Current Week in the Calendar

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Alt and press -.

39. Show the Current Month

Windows PC & Linux: Hold Alt and press =.

Looking for more ways to save time? Check out these keyboard shortcuts for Chrome, Excel, and Gmail too.

How to Create Customized Outlook Shortcuts

Outlook doesn’t let you customize shortcuts like you can in Microsoft Word. But you can create Quick Steps to combine actions. With just a little setup, this tool can help you quickly manage your emails.

For example, you can create a quick step to forward an email to your manager. Then, you can assign a keyboard shortcut to that quick step.

Save Time with these Microsoft Outlook Shortcuts

Whether you send emails to 100+ contacts or make calls while adding to your calendar, your time matters. These keyboard shortcuts can make you more effective in your role. They can help you boost your productivity and get more done faster.

So scan the quick keys in this post, bookmark this page, and start using these easy Outlook shortcuts.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in October 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.