Gmail Keyboard Shortcuts That Save Hours

Turn shortcuts on first

Gmail on a computer → Settings (gear) → See all settings → General → Keyboard shortcuts on → Save changes.

On a Mac, use Cmd wherever you see Ctrl below.

Basic actions

• c – compose
• Ctrl + Enter – send
• r – reply
• a – reply all
• f – forward
• e – archive
• # – delete
• Shift + u – mark as unread
• Shift + i – mark as read
• z – undo last action

Navigation (press one key, then the other)

• g then i – Inbox
• g then s – Starred
• g then d – Drafts
• g then t – Sent
• g then a – All Mail

Managing email

• x – select a conversation
• v – move to a label
• l – add a label
• j / k – next / previous conversation

Search

• / – jump to the search bar
• Esc – leave the search bar

Formatting while writing

• Ctrl + B – bold
• Ctrl + I – italic
• Ctrl + U – underline
• Ctrl + Shift + 7 – numbered list
• Ctrl + Shift + 8 – bulleted list

See them all

Press ? (Shift + /) in Gmail for the full list.