Keyboard Shortcuts for Gmail – Smart Emailing!

Last week I wrote about Advanced Search in Gmail, as a productive tip for Gmail usage. Now let us look at the tips for saving emailing time itself. Use the smart keyboard shortcuts provided in Gmail. To turn these case-sensitive shortcuts on or off, go to Settings, and make your preference.

While you are in Gmail or Google Apps domain email, you cna press ? (question mark) to see a list of commonly used shortcuts. So question mark is the shortcut to see the list of shortcuts.

[advt]

Shortcut Key Definition Action
c Compose Allows you to compose
a new message. <Shift> + c allows you to compose
a message in a new window.
r Reply Reply to the message sender.
<Shift> + r

allows you to reply to a message in a new window.

size=”-2″>(Only applicable in ‘Conversation View.’)
a Reply all Reply to all message recipients.
<Shift> +a
allows you to reply
to all message recipients in a new window.

size=”-2″>(Only applicable in ‘Conversation View.’)
f Forward Forward a message. <Shift>
+ f
allows you to forward a message in a new
window.

size=”-2″>(Only applicable in ‘Conversation View.’)
<Ctrl> + s Save draft Holding the <Ctrl> key while pressing s

face=”Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif”>when composing a message will save the current text as a draft. Make sure your cursor is in one of the text fields — either the composition pane,
or any of the To, CC, BCC, or Subject fields — when using this shortcut.

# Delete Moves the conversation to Trash.
<Shift> + i Mark as read Mark your message as ‘read’ and skip to the next message.
/ Search Puts your cursor in the search box.
k Move to newer conversation Opens or moves your cursor
to a more recent conversation. You can hit <Enter> to expand
a conversation.
j Move to older conversation Opens or moves your cursor
to the next oldest conversation. You can hit <Enter> to expand
a conversation.
n Next message Moves your cursor to the
next message. You can hit <Enter> to expand or collapse a message.
(Only applicable in ‘Conversation View.’)
p Previous message Moves your cursor to the
previous message. You can hit <Enter> to expand or collapse
a message.
(Only applicable in ‘Conversation View.’)
o or <Enter> Open Opens your conversation.
Also expands or collapses a message if you are in ‘Conversation View.’
u Return to conversation list Refreshes your page and returns you to the inbox, or list of conversations.
y Archive*
Remove from current view
Automatically removes the message or conversation from your current view.

  • From ‘Inbox,’ ‘y’ means Archive
  • From ‘Starred,’ ‘y’ means Unstar
  • From ‘Trash,’ ‘y’ means Move to inbox
  • From any label, ‘y’ means Remove the label

* ‘y’ has no effect if you’re in ‘Spam,’ ‘Sent,’ or ‘All Mail.’

m Mute Archives the conversation, and all future messages skip the Inbox unless sent or cc’d
directly to you.
x Select conversation Automatically checks and
selects a conversation so that you can archive, apply a label, or choose
an action from the drop-down menu to apply to that conversation.
s Star a message or conversation Adds or removes a star
to a message or conversation. Stars allow you to give a message or conversation
a special status.
! Report spam Marks a message as spam
and removes it from your conversation list.
<Esc> Escape from input field Removes the cursor from your current input field.
<Shift> + u Mark as unread Mark your message as ‘unread’ so you can go back to it later.
[ Archive and previous Archive your conversation and move to the previous one.
] Archive and next Archive your conversation and move to the next one.
z Undo Undo your previous action if possible (for actions with an ‘undo’ link).
<Shift> + n Update current conversation Update your current conversation when there are new messages.
<tab> then <Enter> Send message After composing your message,
use this combination to send it automatically. (Supported in Internet Explorer and Firefox, on Windows.)
y then o Archive and next Archive your conversation and move to the next one.
g then a Go to ‘All Mail’ Takes you to ‘All Mail,’ the storage site for all mail you’ve ever sent or received (and have
not deleted).
g then s Go to ‘Starred’ Takes you to all conversations you have starred.
g then c Go to ‘Contacts’ Takes you to your Contacts list.
g then d Go to ‘Drafts’ Takes you to all drafts you have saved.
g then i Go to ‘Inbox’ Returns you to the inbox.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply