Microsoft Outlook is one of the most widely used email clients on the market. Many companies use it because of all of the tools and signature customizations it includes, while some people use it for their personal email because you can combine up to 20 email addresses into a single Outlook account and access them all simultaneously. What’s more, Outlook includes many other productivity tools, like a calendar, task manager, and note-taking.
While there are definitely benefits to using Outlook, it sometimes takes forever to navigate through the endless menu options to perform simple functions. Luckily, there are keyboard shortcuts to perform nearly every function within Outlook if you learn them. Of course, you don’t have to master them all right away – you can just take advantage of this list of Microsoft Outlook keyboard shortcuts.
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| Windows | macOS | Function |
|---|---|---|
| Navigating Outlook | ||
| Alt + H | Go to the Home tab. | |
| Ctrl + 1 | Command + 1 | Switch to Mail. |
| Ctrl + 2 | Command + 2 | Switch to Calendar. |
| Ctrl + 3 | Command + 3 | Switch to Contacts. |
| Ctrl + 4 | Command + 4 | Switch to Tasks. |
| Ctrl + 5 | Command + 5 | Switch to Notes. |
| Ctrl + Shift + I | Switch to Inbox. | |
| Ctrl + 8 | Open Journal. | |
| Ctrl + Shift + B | Command + 0 | Open Address Book (contact search in MacOS). |
| Alt + B or Alt + Left arrow | Shift + Ctrl + [ | Go back to previous view. |
| Alt + Right arrow | Shift + Ctrl + ] | Move forward to next view. |
| Down arrow | Ctrl + ] | Switch to next message. |
| Up arrow | Ctrl + [ | Switch to previous message. |
| Esc | Command + W | Close a window or menu. |
| Creating Items in Outlook | ||
| Ctrl + Shift + M | Command + N | Create Message. * |
| Ctrl + Shift + C | Command + N | Create Contact. * |
| Ctrl + Shift + L | Create Contact Group. | |
| Ctrl + Shift + A | Command + N | Create Appointment. * |
| Ctrl + Shift + N | Command + N | Create Note. * |
| Ctrl + Shift + Q | Create Meeting Request. | |
| Ctrl + Shift + E | Shift + Command + N | Create Folder. * |
| Ctrl + Shift + K | Command + N | Create Task. * |
| Ctrl + Shift + H | Create MS Office Document. | |
| Searching In Outlook | ||
| Ctrl + E (or F3) | Option + Command + F | Go to search field. |
| Ctrl + Shift + F | Shift + Command + F | Use Advanced Find. |
| F4 | Command + F | Search text within open item. |
| Ctrl + Alt + K | Option + Command + F | Expand search to current folder. |
| Ctrl + Alt + Z | Expand search to subfolders. | |
| Ctrl + Alt + A | Expand search to All. | |
| Ctrl + Shift + P | Create a search folder. | |
| Esc | Clear search results. | |
| Mail Shortcuts | ||
| Ctrl + Shift + I | Switch to Inbox. | |
| Ctrl + Shift + O | Switch to Outbox. | |
| Ctrl + Shift + I (within message) | Display blocked content. | |
| Alt + S | Command + Return | Send a message. |
| Ctrl + F | Command + J | Forward a message. |
| Ctrl + Alt + F | Forward a message as an attachment. | |
| Ctrl + R | Command + R | Reply to a message. |
| Ctrl + Shift + R | Shift + Command + R | Rely all. |
| Ctrl + Alt + R | Reply to a meeting request. | |
| Ctrl + Alt + J | Command + Shift + Opt + J | Mark as not junk. |
| Ctrl + Shift + D | Delete | Delete a conversation. |
| Ctrl + Q | Command + T | Mark as read. |
| Ctrl + U | Shift + Command + T | Mark as unread. |
| Ctrl + Shift + G | Ctrl + 5 | Flag a message. |
| Ctrl + P | Command + P | Print a message. |
| Ctrl + S | Command + S | Save an item. |
| Ctrl + Alt + M | Mark an item for download. | |
| Ctrl + M (or F9) | Check for new messages. | |
| Down arrow key | Go to next message. | |
| Up arrow key | Go to previous message. | |
| Calendar Shortcuts | ||
| Command + 2 | Open calendar view. | |
| Ctrl + N | Command + N | Create a new appointment. |
| Alt + O | Command + O | Open a calendar event. |
| Delete | Delete | Delete a calendar event (when selected). |
| Ctrl + G | Command + T | Switch view to today. |
| Ctrl + Alt + 3 | Command + 2 | Switch to week view. |
| Alt + Equal | Command + 3 | Switch to month view. |
| Ctrl + F | Forward an appointment or meeting. | |
| Ctrl + Left arrow | Command + Opt + Left arrow | Move to previous day (in day view). |
| Ctrl + Right arrow | Command + Opt + Right arrow | Move to next day (in day view). |
| Alt + Up arrow | Command + Opt + Left arrow | Move to previous week (in week view). |
| Alt + Down arrow | Command + Opt + Right arrow | Move to next week (in week view). |
| Alt + Page up | Command + Opt + Left arrow | Move to previous month (in month view). |
| Alt + Page down | Command + Opt + Right arrow | Move to next month (in month view). |
| Contacts Shortcuts | ||
| Ctrl + N | Command + N | Create new contact. |
| Ctrl + O | Command + O | Open a contact to edit. |
| Delete | Delete | Delete a contact. |
| Ctrl + [ | Move to previous contact. | |
| Ctrl + Shift + . | Ctrl + ] | Move to next contact. |
| Task Shortcuts | ||
| Ctrl + N | Command + N | Create a new task. |
| Ctrl + C | Accept a task request. | |
| Ctrl + D | Decline a task request. | |
| Ctrl + Shift + Alt + U | Create a task request. | |
| Insert | Mark a task as complete | |
| Text Formatting Shortcuts | ||
| Alt + O | Display the Format Text tab on the ribbon. | |
| Ctrl + Shift + P | Display the font dialog box. | |
| Ctrl + ] + > | Increase font size. | |
| Ctrl + [ + < | Decrease font size. | |
| Ctrl + B | Command + B | Apply bold formatting. |
| Ctrl + I | Command + I | Apply italic formatting. |
| Ctrl + U | Command + U | Underline text. |
| Ctrl + Shift + S | Command + Shift + X | Strike through text. |
| Ctrl + Shift + L | Create a bulleted list. | |
| Ctrl + T | Command + ] | Increase indent. |
| Ctrl + Shift + T | Command + [ | Decrease indent. |
| Ctrl + E | Command + | | Center text. |
| Ctrl + L | Command + { | Left align text. |
| Ctrl + R | Command + } | Right align text. |
| Ctrl + X | Command + X | Cut selected text. |
| Ctrl + C | Command + C | Copy selected text. |
| Ctrl + V | Command + V | Paste text. |
| Ctrl + Shift + Z | Clear formatting. | |
| Ctrl + Q | Remove paragraph formatting. | |
| Printing Shortcuts | ||
| Alt + F, then P | Open the Print page in the File menu. | |
| Alt + F, then P, P | Print an item from an open window. | |
| Alt + S | Open Page Setup dialog box on Print page. | |
| Alt + F + P + I | Select a printer from the Print page. | |
| Alt + F + P + R | Open Print Options dialog box. | |
| Ribbon Navigation (Windows Only) | ||
| Alt + H | Open the Home tab. | |
| Alt + F | Open the File menu. | |
| Alt + J + S | Open the Send/Receive tab. | |
| Alt + O | Open the Folder tab. | |
| Alt + V | Open the View tab. | |
| Ctrl + E | Open the Search tab. |
* Must have appropriate window open for Mac.
Image credit: ©monticello/123RF.COM
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