Ultimate Keyboard Shortcut Guide for Microsoft Outlook Mail

Shortcuts for basic navigation

Create an item or file

Format text

This table lists the keyboard shortcuts for formatting text in email messages, appointments, or meeting invitations in Outlook.

Use search

Print items

Use flags

Use color categories

Mail keyboard shortcuts

Check for new emails and send outgoing messages (Send/Receive)

Calendar keyboard shortcuts

People keyboard shortcuts

Tasks keyboard shortcuts

Open the Visual Basic Editor

Play macros

Work with item groups

Create or close an InfoPath email form in Outlook 2007, 2010, or 2013

Work in windows and dialog boxes

To do this	Press
Go to Mail view.	+1
Go to Calendar view.	+2
Go to Contacts view.	+3
Go to Tasks view.	+4
Go to Notes view.	+5
Open the Sync Status window or make it the active window.	+7
Open the Sync Errors window or make it the active window.	+8
Open the Contacts Search window.	+0
Open the Outlook Preferences dialog box.	+Comma (,)
Cycle forward through open windows.	+Tilde (~)
Cycle backwards through open windows.	Shift++Tilde (~)
Close the active window.	+W
Open the selected item.	+O
Move forward through controls in a window.	Tab key
Move backwards through controls in a window.	Shift+Tab
Move forward out of a compose window.	Control+Option+Tab

Use Search

To do this	Press
Search the current folder	Option++F
Do an advanced search in Outlook (add Item Contains filter for searching).	Shift++F
Find text within an item.	+F
Find the next instance of the text you searched for in an item.	+G
Find the previous instance of the text you searched for in an item.	+Shift+G

Send and receive mail

To do this	Press
Create a new message.	+N
Send the open message.	+Return
Send all messages in the Outbox and receive all incoming messages.	Control++K
Send all the messages in the Outbox.	Shift++K
Save the open message and store it in the Drafts folder.	+S
Add an attachment to the open message.	+E
Open the Spelling and Grammar dialog box.	+Colon (:)
Check the recipient names in the open messages.	Control++C
Reply to the sender of the message or, if the message is from a mailing list, reply to the mailing list.	+R
Reply to all.	Shift+ +R
Forward the message.	+J
Open the selected message in a separate window.	+O
Clear the flag for the selected message.	Option++Apostrophe (‘)
Mark the selected message as junk email.	+Shift+J
Mark the selected message as not junk email.	+Shift+Option+J
Display the previous message.	Control+Left bracket ([)
Display the next message.	Control+Right bracket (])
Navigate to the previous pane in the Mail view.	Shift+Control+Left bracket ([)
Navigate to the next pane in the mail view.	Shift+Control+Right bracket (])
Move the selected message to a folder.	Shift++M
Decrease the display size of text in an open message or in the reading pane.	+Hyphen (-)
Increase the display size of text in an open message or in the reading pane.	+Plus sign (+)
Scroll down to the next screen of text or, if you are at the end of a message, display the next message.	Spacebar
Scroll up to the previous screen of text or, if you are at the beginning of a message, display the previous message.	Shift+Spacebar
Delete the selected message.	Delete
Permanently delete the selected message.	Shift+Delete
Delete the current message, and, if the message window is open, close it.	+Delete
Mark selected messages as read.	+T
Mark selected messages as unread.	Shift++T
Mark all messages in a folder as read.	Option++T
Archive a selected message.	Control+E

Use the Calendar

To do this	Press
Open the calendar view.	+2
Create a new appointment.	+N
Open the selected calendar event.	+O
Delete the calendar event.	Delete
Switch the view to include today.	+T
In Day view, move to the previous day. In Week and Work Week views, move to the previous week. In Month view, move to the previous month.	+Option+Left arrow key
In Day view, move to the next day. In Week and Work Week views, move to the next week. In Month view, move to the next month.	+Option+Right arrow key
Navigate to the previous pane in the calendar view.	Shift+Control+Left bracket ([)
Navigate to the next pane in the calendar view.	Shift+Control+Right bracket (])

Work with people and contacts

To do this	Press
Create a new contact.	+N
Open the selected contact.	+O
Delete the contact.	Delete
Close the current open contact and open the previous contact.	Control+Left bracket ([)
Close the current open contact and open the next contact.	Control+Right bracket (])
Navigate to the previous pane in the People view.	Shift+Control+Left bracket ([)
Navigate to the next pane in the People view.	Shift+Control+Right bracket (])

Manage tasks

To do this	Press
Move to the Task window.	+4
Create a new task.	+N
Open the selected task.	+O
Delete the task.	Delete
Close the current open task and open the previous task in the Tasks list.	Control+Left bracket ([)
Close the current open task and open the next task in the Tasks list.	Control+Right bracket (])
Navigate to the previous pane in the Tasks view.	Shift+Control+Left bracket ([)
Navigate to the next pane in the Tasks view.	Shift+Control+Right bracket (])

Use Notes

To do this	Press
Move to the Notes window.	+5
Create a new note.	+N
Open the selected note.	+O
Delete the note.	Delete
Close the current open note and open the previous note in the Notes list.	Control+Left bracket ([)
Close the current open note and open the next note in the Notes list.	Control+Right bracket (])
Navigate to the previous pane in the Notes view.	Shift+Control+Left bracket ([)
Navigate to the next pane in the Notes view.	Shift+Control+Right bracket (])
Send a note as an email.	+J
Send a note as an HTML attachment to an email.	With the focus on the note in the list of notes, press Control++J

Edit and format text

To do this	Press
Cut the selected text to the clipboard.	+X
Copy a selection to the clipboard.	+C
Paste a selection from the clipboard.	+V
Paste a selection from the clipboard and match the destination style.	Shift+Option++V
Make the selected text bold.	+B
Make the selected text italic.	+I
Underline the selected text.	+U
Strike through the selected text.	Shift++X
Insert a hyperlink.	+K
Move the cursor left one character.	Left arrow key
Move the cursor right one character.	Right arrow key
Move the cursor up one line.	Up arrow key
Move the cursor down one line.	Down arrow key
Move the cursor to the beginning of the current paragraph.	Option+Up arrow key
Move the cursor to the end of the current paragraph.	Option+Down arrow key
Move the cursor to the beginning of the current word.	Option+Left arrow key
Move the cursor to the end of the current word.	Option+Right arrow key
Decrease indent.	+Left brace ({)
Increase indent.	+Right brace (})
Delete the character to the left of the cursor, or delete the selected text.	Delete
Delete the character to the right side of the cursor, or delete the selected text.	or Fn+Delete
Insert a tab stop.	Tab key
Move the cursor to the beginning of the line.	+Left arrow key
Move the cursor to the end of the line.	+Right arrow key
Move the cursor to the top of the message body.	+Up arrow key
Move the cursor to the bottom of the message body.	+Down arrow key
Move the cursor to the beginning of the selected text.	+Home
Move the cursor to the end of the selected text.	+End
Scroll the view up.	Page up
Scroll the view down.	Page down

Flag messages, contacts, and tasks for follow up

To do this	Press
Flag the selected item for follow up, with Today as Due Date.	Control+1
Flag the selected item for follow up, with Tomorrow as Due Date.	Control+2
Flag the selected item for follow up, with This Week as Due Date.	Control+3
Flag the selected item for follow up, with Next Week as Due Date.	Control+4
Flag the selected item for follow up, with No Due Date.	Control+5
Flag the selected item for follow up, and add a custom Due Date.	Control+6
Flag the selected item for follow up, and add a reminder.	Control+Equal sign ( = )
Mark the selected item as complete.	Control+Zero (0)
Clear the selected item’s follow-up flag.	Option++Apostrophe (‘)

Work with messages on the iPad

To do this	Press
Open Quick Reply.	+Q
Open the Reply dialog box to reply to a message.	+R
Open the Reply All dialog box to reply to all recipients in a message.	Shift++R
Open the Forward dialog box to forward a message.	+J
Delete a message.	Delete or Backspace
Schedule a message.	+S
Archive a message.	+A
Mark a message as unread.	+U
Flag a message.	+L
Undo an action.	+Z

Search in Outlook for iPad

Edit text

The text editing keyboard shortcuts in Outlook on the web and Outlook.com are the same as those in other Microsoft products.

Format text

The text formatting keyboard shortcuts in Outlook on the web and Outlook.com are the same as those in other Microsoft products.

Mail keyboard shortcuts

Calendar keyboard shortcuts

Use keyboard shortcuts to add accent marks and special characters

To add accents or special characters, use the number pad on your keyboard with Num Lock turned on.

1. Press and hold Alt.
2. Type the numeric code on the number pad and release Alt.