Boost Your Work Efficiency! A Summary of Shortcut Keys Usable in the macOS Mail App
As a standard app on macOS, the Mail app offers excellent usability. Assigned shortcut keys differ slightly from those in Gmail and other services, but by learning them, you can dramatically reduce the time spent checking and replying to emails.
Posted at: 2025.1.13
Operations in the New Message Window
First, let's look at the basic operations in the new message window when composing an email.
Basically, by combining Command with Shift or Option, various actions become possible, and the combination keys use the first letter of words like "Attach" or "Reply," making them easy to remember.
A subtly useful one is Shift + Command + D (send mail = D for Deploy). By using this, you can complete sending an email using only the keyboard without the mouse, which improves work efficiency.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Command + N | Create a new email |
| Shift + Command + A | Attach a file to the email |
| Shift + Command + V | Paste text as a quote in the email |
| Option + Command + I | Add the selected email to the end of the email |
| Option + Command + B | Show the Bcc address field in the email |
| Option + Command + R | Show the reply-to address field in the email |
| Shift + Command + D | Send the email |
| Command + Z | Undo sending the email |
| Shift + Command + T | Format the current email as plain text or rich format |
Operations in the Mail List
When checking emails, operations in the mail list are convenient. There are many shortcuts you can use when selecting, deleting, or archiving emails in the list.
For those who handle a large number of emails in a day, just remembering these shortcuts can drastically reduce the need to use a mouse or trackpad, thereby improving work efficiency.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Control + Command + A | Archive the selected email |
| Command + R | Reply to the selected email |
| Shift + Command + R | Reply to all for the selected email |
| Option + Command + J | Erase junk mail |
| Shift + Command + J | Move the selected email to the junk mailbox |
| Shift + Command + F | Forward the selected email |
| Shift + Command + E | Redirect the selected email |
| Shift + Command + U | Mark email as read or unread |
| Option + Command + U | View the source of the email |
| Option + Command + F | Search the mailbox |
Window Operations
Window-related shortcuts are also subtly convenient. In particular, opening the mail viewer window in a tab or in a new window is highly efficient, so it is recommended.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Option + Command + N | Open a new mail viewer window |
| Option + Shift + Command + N | Open a new tab in the mail viewer window |
| Shift + Command + N | Receive new mail |
| Control + Command + S | Show/hide the Mail sidebar |
| Command + L | Enable/disable message filters in the current mailbox |