Outlook Keyboard Shortcuts: 25 Essentials and Free PDF

The Outlook shortcuts that save the most time: Ctrl + Enter to send, Ctrl + Shift + R to reply all, Ctrl + Q to mark as read and Ctrl + 2 to jump to the calendar. All 25 below come from Microsoft's official list for classic Outlook on Windows, sorted by task, with the Mac equivalents at the end and a printable PDF.

Email

• Ctrl + N - New message (in Mail)
• Ctrl + Shift + M - New message from any view
• Ctrl + R - Reply
• Ctrl + Shift + R - Reply all
• Ctrl + F - Forward
• Ctrl + Enter - Send
• Ctrl + Q - Mark as read
• Ctrl + U - Mark as unread
• Insert - Quick flag
• Ctrl + E - Search
• Delete - Delete

Navigation

• Ctrl + 1 - Mail
• Ctrl + 2 - Calendar
• Ctrl + 4 - People
• Ctrl + 8 - Tasks
• Ctrl + O - Open the selected message

Calendar

• Ctrl + Shift + A - New appointment
• Ctrl + Shift + Q - New meeting request
• Ctrl + Alt + 1 - Day view
• Ctrl + Alt + 2 - Work week view
• Ctrl + Alt + 4 - Month view

Writing & general

• Ctrl + K - Check names / insert link
• Ctrl + Shift + B - Address book
• Ctrl + S - Save
• Ctrl + P - Print

Mac

• Cmd + N - New email
• Cmd + R - Reply
• Shift + Cmd + R - Reply all
• Cmd + J - Forward
• Cmd + Return - Send
• Cmd + T - Mark as read
• Shift + Cmd + T - Mark as unread
• Cmd + 1 - Mail
• Cmd + 2 - Calendar
• Option + Cmd + F - Search the folder
• Cmd + E - Add an attachment

Pro tip

Make Ctrl + Enter and Ctrl + Q a habit first: send without the mouse, clear the inbox without opening every message. Learn three shortcuts a week. Shortcuts that work in every program are on the Windows shortcuts sheet.

FAQ

What is the shortcut to send an email in Outlook?

Ctrl + Enter on Windows (or Alt + S), Cmd + Return on a Mac.

Do the shortcuts work in the new Outlook?

Most of them, yes. Send, reply, reply all, forward, insert link and quick flag use the same keys in classic and new Outlook. Some differ: in the new Outlook, Shift + Enter opens a message in a new window, and there is no shortcut for tasks, new meetings or printing.

How do I mark an email as unread?

Ctrl + U on Windows, Shift + Cmd + T on a Mac.

Is Ctrl + F search in Outlook?

No. In Outlook, Ctrl + F forwards the message. Search is Ctrl + E or F3.

Next step

Shortcuts save clicks. Touch typing saves time on every email you write. Measure your typing speed in one minute, then see how the touch typing guide closes the gap.

Matching sheets

Two more sheets for the office: Excel keyboard shortcuts and Word keyboard shortcuts. If email takes up your day, AI made typing the bottleneck shows what faster typing saves. Using Gmail instead? Here are the Gmail keyboard shortcuts.

Sources

• Microsoft Support: Keyboard shortcuts for Outlook - tabs for classic Outlook, new Outlook and Outlook on the web.
• Microsoft Support: Keyboard shortcuts in Outlook for Mac