As manually navigating around the Outlook interface takes longer, many professionals prefer using keyboard shortcuts whenever possible.
While learning shortcuts may seem like an extra task, it ultimately boosts productivity in the long run. That said, don’t try to memorize them all at once. Initially, it’s better to start off with learning basic shortcuts and then gradually increase your shortcuts knowledge.
In this article, I have curated a list of the most common and useful keyboards used by almost every Outlook professional. As I have divided the shortcuts into different sections, feel free to skip to the ones you need.
Since memorizing every keyboard shortcut isn’t convenient, I have a few pointers for you to make this process easier.
- Any action you want to perform like selecting, creating, inserting, etc involves the Ctrl key.
- Any part of the Outlook interface you want to view or navigate to uses the Alt key.
- Most parts of the Outlook interface will display the keyboard shortcut if you hover them. So, if you don’t know a shortcut for an item in Outlook, just hover over it.
Navigation Bar Related Shortcuts
You can use these shortcuts to switch across different tabs in the Navigation bar in Outlook. They work irrespective of the location of the navigation bar.
| Description | Windows Shortcut |
| Switch to the Mail tab | Ctrl + 1 |
| Switch to the Calendar tab | Ctrl + 2 |
| Switch to the Contacts tab | Ctrl + 3 |
| Switch to the Tasks tab | Ctrl + 4 |
Ribbon Bar Related Shortcuts
Similar to the tabs, the ribbon options are one of the most frequent items we need to access in Outlook. So, you can use the shortcuts below to easily switch across them.
| Description | Windows Shortcut |
| Go to the File menu | Alt + F |
| Go to the Home menu | Alt + H |
| Go to the Send / Receive menu | Alt + J + S |
| Go to the Folder menu | Alt + O |
| Go to the View menu | Alt + V |
| Go to the Help menu | Alt + E |
| Collapse or Expand the ribbon/menu bar | Ctrl + F1 |
Mail Related Keyboard Shortcuts
Whether you need to compose, reply, send, or forward a message, you can use the following shortcuts to perform the most common tasks related to Outlook email.
| Description | Windows Shortcut |
| Compose new email | Ctrl + Shift + M |
| Delete the selected message | Delete |
| Delete the selected message permanently | Shift + Delete |
| Review spelling errors in the message body | F7 |
| Open the selected email message | Enter |
| Send the email after composing | Ctrl + Enter |
| Reply to the selected message | Ctrl + R |
| Reply All (reply to all emails in the CC field of a group message) | Ctrl + Shift + R |
| Forward the email message | Ctrl + F |
| Forward the email message as an attachment | Ctrl + Shift + F |
| Flag a message | Ctrl + Shift + G |
Text Editing Related Shortcuts
While composing a message, you may need to copy/paste its text. Also, if you accidentally delete text, you certainly need to undo it. For such cases, I have listed the shortcuts below.
| Description | Windows Shortcut |
| Copy selected text | Ctrl + C |
| Cut selected text | Ctrl + X |
| Insert an attachment in the form of hyperlinks to files like URLs, images, documents, etc | Ctrl + K |
| Insert special characters like copyright and trademark symbols | Alt + N + U + M |
| Redo the most recent action (s) | Ctrl + Y |
| Undo the most recent action (s) | Ctrl + Z |
Special Characters Shortcuts
Sometimes you may have to include special characters like the trademark sign while composing messages. To insert such symbols, you can use the shortcuts below.
| Description | Windows Shortcut |
| Copyright symbol | Ctrl + Alt + C |
| Trademark symbol | Ctrl + Alt + T |
| Insert special characters like copyright and trademark symbols | Alt + N + U + M |
Text Formatting Shortcuts
Like any other application, Outlook also provides text format options like bold, underline, and italic options. You can access them with the following shortcuts.
| Description | Windows Shortcut |
| Bold text | Ctrl + B |
| Underline text | Ctrl + U |
| Italicize text | Ctrl + I |
Calendar Related Shortcuts
As we frequently view and work with the calendar in Outlook, I personally recommend you learn the shortcuts related to it. However, make sure you have selected the Calendar tab before using them.
| Description | Windows Shortcut |
| Create an appointment | Ctrl + Shift + A |
| Create a meeting request | Ctrl + Shift + Q |
| View all events of the selected day in the calendar (Day View) | Ctrl + Alt + 1 |
| View all events of a work week (Work-week view) | Ctrl + Alt + 2 |
| View all events of the selected week (Week view) | Ctrl + Alt + 3 |
| View all events of a month (Month view) | Ctrl + Alt + 4 |
| View events in Schedule View | Ctrl + Alt + 6 |
| Print a calendar | Ctrl + P |
Outlook Folders Related Shortcuts
More often than not, we need to navigate around different folders like Inbox, Drafts, Sent Items, or others. Also, these folders contain a list of specific email messages. To jump around such items, you can use the shortcuts below.
| Description | Windows Shortcut |
| Create a new folder | Ctrl + Shift + E |
| Jump directly to the topmost message of the selected folder (must be in expanded form) | Home |
| Jump directly to the last message of the selected folder (must be in expanded form) | End |
| Collapse or expand a folder/ sub-folder | Left arrow/ Right arrow |
| Select the previous/next message | Up arrow/ down arrow |
Tasks and Contacts Related Shortcuts
| Description | Windows Shortcut |
| Create new contact | Ctrl + Shift + N |
| Search contacts (make sure you have selected the contacts tab) | Ctrl + E |
| Create new tasks from anywhere | Ctrl + Shift + K |
Related Questions
Can You Create a Custom Keyboard Shortcut?
As of now, Outlook doesn’t provide any option to create and assign a personalized keyboard shortcut on a Windows system.
However, for the Outlook application on Mac, you can assign a new shortcut, given that it doesn’t conflict with the existing ones.
For that, go to System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts. Click the Add button and assign the desired shortcut for the Outlook application.