Here in this series of articles, we'll be sharing three simple tactics to reduce the time you spend on your inbox.
Let's go with the first one: Gmail shortcuts!
We'll cover all 45 Gmail shortcuts that you can use to master your inbox.
How much time do you spend daily looking at your email?
A simple way to calculate this is to assign a fixed time spent per email (like 10 secs per incoming email, 2 minutes for each email sent), and then count the total number of emails using our Email Meter tool.
What's your number? Mine is roughly 2 hours. 2 hours a day, wow. That's 25% of my time, so I want to try to reduce it. That way I have more time for other stuff and I can be more productive.
How to use Gmail Shortcuts
Increase your productivity with this updated list of Gmail shortcuts. Last update: September 2019.
I've marked my favorites with an emoji (✨) because it's hard to learn all of them, so I usually only use a handful that integrates perfectly with my email routine.
✍🏻 Compose & Chat
ActionShortcutPrevious message in an open conversationpNext message in an open conversationnFocus main windowShift + EscFocus latest chat or composeEscAdvance to the next chat or composeCtrl + .Advance to previous chat or compose `Ctrl> +`
,✨ Send⌘/Ctrl + >EnterAdd cc recipients⌘/Ctrl + Shift + cAdd bcc recipients⌘/Ctrl + Shift + bAccess custom from⌘/Ctrl + Shift + f✨ Insert a link⌘/Ctrl + kGo to next misspelled word (Mac only)⌘ + ;Open spelling suggestions⌘/Ctrl + m
🎨 Formatting text
ActionShortcutPrevious font⌘/Ctrl+Shift + 5Next font⌘/Ctrl+Shift + 6Decrease text size⌘/Ctrl+Shift + -Increase text size⌘/Ctrl+Shift and +✨ Bold⌘/Ctrl+b✨ Italics⌘/Ctrl+i✨ Underline⌘/Ctrl+uNumbered list⌘/Ctrl+Shift+7Bulleted list⌘/Ctrl+Shift+8Quote⌘/Ctrl+Shift+9Indent less⌘/Ctrl+[Indent more⌘/Ctrl+]Align left⌘/Ctrl+Shift+lAlign center⌘/Ctrl+Shift+eAlign right⌘/Ctrl+Shift+rRemove formatting⌘/Ctrl+\
📤 Actions
ActionShortcutMove focus to toolbar,Select conversationxToggle star/rotate among superstarss✨ ArchiveeMute conversationmReport as spam!✨ Delete#✨ ReplyrReply in a new windowShift+r✨ Reply allaReply all in a new windowShift+a✨ ForwardfForward in a new windowShift+fUpdate conversationShift+nArchive conversation and go previous/next] or [Undo last actionz✨ Mark as readShift+i✨ Mark as unreadShift+uMark unread from the selected message_✨ Mark as important+ or =Mark as not important-Snoozeb✨ Expand entire conversation;✨ Collapse entire conversation:Add conversation to TasksShift+t
🏃♀️ Jumping
ActionShortcut✨ Go to Inboxg+iGo to Starred conversationsg+s✨ Go to Sent messagesg+t✨ Go to Draftsg+dGo to All mailg+aSwitch between the Calendar/Keep/Tasks sidebar and your inbox.⌘/Ctrl+ Alt + ,⌘/Ctrl+ Alt + .Go to Tasksg+kGo to labelg+l
🗂 Threadlist selection
ActionShortcutSelect all conversations* + aDeselect all conversations* + nSelect read conversations* + rSelect unread conversations* + uSelect starred conversations* + sSelect unstarred conversations* + t
➡️ Navigation
ActionShortcutGo to next pageg + nGo to previous pageg + pBack to threadlistuNewer conversationkOlder conversationjOpen conversationo or EnterGo to next Inbox section`Go to previous Inbox section~
👨🏻💻 Application
ActionShortcut✨ ComposecCompose in a new tabd✨ Search mail/Search chat contactsgOpen "more actions" menu.✨ Open "move to" menuv✨ Open "label as" menulMake sure you have enabled all these shortcuts in your Gmail preferences! You can also customize them to use your own key combinations.
Full documentation from Google can be found here.
PS: Btw, did you know that if you press '?' while in Gmail, you'll see the full list of shortcuts right in the Gmail UI?
