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.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| New message | Cmd (⌘)N |
| Attach file | ShiftCmd (⌘)A |
| Paste as quotation | ShiftCmd (⌘)V |
| Show inspector | Option (⌥)Cmd (⌘)I |
| Show Bcc field | Option (⌥)Cmd (⌘)B |
| Show Reply-To field | Option (⌥)Cmd (⌘)R |
| Send message | ShiftCmd (⌘)D |
| Undo last action | Cmd (⌘)Z |
| Convert to plain text or rich text | ShiftCmd (⌘)T |
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.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Archive message | CtrlCmd (⌘)A |
| Reply | Cmd (⌘)R |
| Reply all | ShiftCmd (⌘)R |
| Mark as not junk | Option (⌥)Cmd (⌘)J |
| Mark as junk | ShiftCmd (⌘)J |
| Forward message | ShiftCmd (⌘)F |
| Redirect message | ShiftCmd (⌘)E |
| Mark as unread or read | ShiftCmd (⌘)U |
| Mark all messages in thread as unread | Option (⌥)Cmd (⌘)U |
| Search all mailboxes | Option (⌥)Cmd (⌘)F |
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.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| New viewer window | Option (⌥)Cmd (⌘)N |
| New tab viewer window | Option (⌥)ShiftCmd (⌘)N |
| Get all new mail | ShiftCmd (⌘)N |
| Show or hide sidebar | CtrlCmd (⌘)S |
| Toggle mail filter | Cmd (⌘)L |