Handy Outlook keyboard shortcuts for Windows and Mac

Outlook’s Ribbon interface is great for finding everything you might ever want to do in the email, contacts, and calendaring program — particularly things you don’t do frequently, like using the mail merge feature.

But if you’re looking to do common tasks fast, you’ll find keyboard shortcuts far more useful. Why bother to lift your hands from the keyboard if you want to create an email message or a meeting, or switch to the calendar?

There are keyboard shortcuts to accomplish a vast array of tasks in the Outlook desktop client, in both the Windows and Mac versions. (Fewer shortcuts are available for the Mac, but you can create your own custom keyboard shortcuts if you like.)

We’ve listed the shortcuts we’ve found the most useful below. Most work whether you’re using a subscription (Microsoft 365/Office 365) or non-subscription version of Outlook. For even more shortcuts, see Microsoft’s Office site.

Note: On Macs, the ⌘ key is the same as the Command or Cmd key.

Useful Outlook keyboard shortcuts

General shortcuts

Action	Windows key combination	Mac key combination
Open selected item	Ctrl-O	⌘-O
Close an open item (message, appointment, contact, task, etc.)	Esc	⌘-W
Delete selected item	Ctrl-D	Delete
Select all items	Ctrl-A	⌘-A
Copy selected item	Ctrl-C	⌘-C
Cut selected item	Ctrl-X	⌘-X
Paste item from the clipboard	Ctrl-V	⌘-V
Undo last action	Ctrl-Z	⌘-Z
Save	Ctrl-S	⌘-S
Print	Ctrl-P	⌘-P
Flag an item for follow-up	Ctrl-Shift-G	Control-5
Go to the Search box	F3 or Ctrl-E	⌘-Option-F
Use Advanced Find	Ctrl-Shift-F	⌘-Shift-F
Search for text within an open item	F4	⌘-F
Check spelling and grammar	F7	⌘-:
Make text bold	Ctrl-B	⌘-B
Make text italic	Ctrl-I	⌘-I
Add bullets	Ctrl-Shift-L	⌘-Shift-L
Switch to Mail	Ctrl-1	⌘-1
Switch to Calendar	Ctrl-2	⌘-2
Switch to Contacts	Ctrl-3	⌘-3
Switch to Tasks	Ctrl-4	⌘-4
Switch to Notes	Ctrl-5	⌘-5
Go to the Home tab on the Ribbon	Alt-H

Email shortcuts

Action	Windows key combination	Mac key combination
Create a new message (when in Mail)	Ctrl-N	⌘-N
Create a new message (from any Outlook view)	Ctrl-Shift-M
Go to the previous / next message (in the email list)	↑ (up arrow) / ↓ (down arrow)	↑ (up arrow) / ↓ (down arrow)
Go to the previous / next message (when you have a message open)	Ctrl-. (period) / Ctrl-, (comma)
In the Reading Pane, move one page down through text	Spacebar	Page down
In the Reading Pane, move one page up through text	Shift-Spacebar	Page up
Mark message as read	Ctrl-Q	⌘-T
Mark message as unread	Ctrl-U	⌘-Shift-T
Move message to a folder	Alt-H, MV	⌘-Shift-M
Send a message	Alt-S	⌘-Return
Send/Receive mail	F9 or Ctrl-M	⌘-Control-K
Reply	Ctrl-R	⌘-R
Reply All	Ctrl-Shift-R	⌘-Shift-R
Forward	Ctrl-F	⌘-J
Attach a file to a message	Alt-H, AF	⌘-E
Create a folder	Ctrl-Shift-E	⌘-Shift-N
In the Folder pane, go to a different folder	Ctrl-Y
Collapse / expand a conversation group in the email message list	← (left arrow) / → (right arrow)	← (left arrow) / → (right arrow)

Calendar shortcuts

Action	Windows key combination	Mac key combination
Create a new appointment (when in Calendar)	Ctrl-N	⌘-N
Create a new appointment (from any Outlook view)	Ctrl-Shift-A
Create a meeting request	Ctrl-Shift-Q
Snooze a reminder	Alt-S
Forward an appointment or meeting	Ctrl-F
Reply to a meeting request with a message	Ctrl-R
Reply All to a meeting request with a message	Ctrl-Shift-R
Go to a date	Ctrl-G
Show 1, 2, etc. days in the calendar	Alt-1, Alt-2, etc.
Switch to Work Week view	Ctrl-Alt-2 or Alt– (minus sign)
Switch to Full Week view	Ctrl-Alt-3
Switch to Month view	Ctrl-Alt-4 or Alt-= (equals sign)
Go to the previous / next day	← (left arrow) / → (right arrow)	⌘-Option-← (left arrow) / ⌘-Option-→ (right arrow) (in Day view)
Go to the previous / next week	Alt-↑ (up arrow) / Alt-↓ (down arrow)	⌘-Option-← / ⌘-Option-→ (in Week or Work Week view)
Go to the previous / next month	Alt-Page Up / Alt-Page Down	⌘-Option-← / ⌘-Option-→ (in Month view)
Go to the previous appointment	Ctrl-. (period)
Go to the next appointment	Ctrl-, (comma)

Contacts shortcuts

Action	Windows key combination	Mac key combination
Create a new contact (when in Contacts)	Ctrl-N	⌘-N
Create a new contact (from any Outlook view)	Ctrl-Shift-C
Create a new contact group	Ctrl-Shift-L
Find a contact	F11
Open the Address Book	Ctrl-Shift-B

Tasks shortcuts

Action	Windows key combination	Mac key combination
Create a new task (when in Tasks)	Ctrl-N	⌘-N
Create a new task (from any Outlook view)	Ctrl-Shift-K
Create a new task request	Ctrl-Shift-Alt-U
Accept a task request	Ctrl-C
Decline a task request	Ctrl-D

Notes shortcuts

Action	Windows key combination	Mac key combination
Create a new note (when in Notes)	Ctrl-N	⌘-N
Create a new note (from any Outlook view)	Ctrl-Shift-N

Looking for more help with Outlook for Windows? If you have Microsoft 365 or Office 365 subscription, see “Outlook for Microsoft 365 cheat sheet.” If you have a non-subscription version of Office, see “Outlook 2016 and 2019 cheat sheet.” We’ve also got tips and cheat sheets for an array of Microsoft products, including older versions of Office.

Related:

• Handy Word keyboard shortcuts for Windows and Mac
• Handy Excel keyboard shortcuts for Windows and Mac
• Handy PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts for Windows and Mac