Keyboard shortcuts for Outlook for Mac

Many users find that using an external keyboard with keyboard shortcuts for Outlook 2016 for Mac helps them work more efficiently. For users with mobility or vision disabilities, keyboard shortcuts can be easier than using the touchscreen and are an essential alternative to using a mouse. This article itemizes the keyboard shortcuts for Outlook 2016 for Mac.

Notes: 

• The shortcuts in this topic refer to the US keyboard layout. Keys for other layouts might not correspond exactly to the keys on a US keyboard.

• If a shortcut requires pressing two or more keys at the same time, this topic separates the keys with a plus sign (+). If you have to press one key immediately after another, the keys are separated by a comma (,).

• The settings in some versions of the Mac operating system and some utility applications might conflict with keyboard shortcuts and function key operations in Office for Mac. For information about changing the key assignment of a keyboard shortcut, see Mac Help for your version of the Mac operating system or see your utility application.

• To create your own shortcuts in Office for Mac, see Create a custom keyboard shortcut for Office 2016 for Mac

2016 2011

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In this topic

• Frequently used shortcuts

• Work in windows and dialogs

• Use Search

• Send and receive mail

• Use the Calendar

• Work with people and contacts

• Manage tasks

• Use notes

• Edit and format text

• Flag messages, contacts, and tasks for follow up

Frequently used shortcuts

The following table shows frequently used shortcuts in Outlook 2016 for Mac.

To do this	Press
Save an item	+ S
Print an item	+ P
Undo the last action	+ Z
Redo the last action	+ Y
Minimize the active window	+ M
Create a new folder in the navigation pane	Shift + + N
Create new email (in Mail view)	+ N
Hide the reading pane or show it on the right	+ Backslash ( \ )
Hide the reading pane or show it below	Shift + + Backslash ( \ )
Move the selected item to a different folder	Shift + + M
Copy the selected item to a different folder	Shift + + C
Select all items in the item list, if the item list is the active pane	+ A
Minimize or expand the ribbon	Options + + R
Hide Outlook	+ H
Quit Outlook	+ Q
Start dictation	Fn + Fn
Insert emoji	Control + + Space

Work in windows and dialogs

To do this	Press
Go to Mail view	+ 1
Go to Calendar view	+ 2
Go to Contacts view	+ 3
Go to Tasks view	+ 4
Go to Notes view	+ 5
Open the Sync Status window or make it the active window	+ 7
Open the Sync Errors or make it the active window	+ 8
Open the Contacts Search window	+ 0
Open the Outlook Preferences dialog box	+ Comma ( , )
Cycle forward through open windows	+ Tilde ( ~ )
Cycle back through open windows	Shift + + Tilde ( ~ )
Close the active window	+ W
Open the selected item	+ O
Move forward through controls in a window	Tab
Move back through controls in a window	Shift + Tab

Use Search

To do this	Press
Search current folder	Option + + F
Do an advanced search in Outlook (add Item Contains filter for searching)	Shift + + F
Find text within an item	+ F
Find the next instance of the text you searched for in an item	+ G
Find the previous instance of the text you searched for in an item	+ Shift + G

Send and receive mail

To do this	Press
Create a new message	+ N
Send the open message	+ Return
Send all messages in the Outbox and receive all incoming messages	+ K
Send all the messages in the Outbox	Shift + + K
Save the open message and store it in the Drafts folder	+ S
Add an attachment to the open message	+ E
Open the Spelling and Grammar dialog box	+ Colon ( : )
Check recipient names in the open messages	Control + + C
Reply to the sender of the message or, if the message is from a mailing list, reply to the mailing list	+ R
Reply to all	Shift+ + R
Forward the message	+ J
Open the selected message in a separate window	+ O
Clear the flag for the selected message	Option + + Apostrophe ( ' )
Mark the selected message as junk mail	+ Shift + J
Mark the selected message as not junk mail	+ Shift + Option + J
Display the previous message	Control + Opening bracket ( [ )
Display the next message	Control + Closing bracket ( ] )
Navigate to the previous pane in the Mail view	Shift + Control + Opening bracket ( [ )
Navigate to the next pane in the Mail view	Shift + Control + Closing bracket ( ] )
Move the selected message to a folder	Shift + + M
Decrease the display size of text in an open message or in the reading pane	+ Hyphen ( - )
Increase the display size of text in an open message or in the reading pane	+ Plus sign ( + )
Scroll down to the next screen of text or, if you are at the end of a message, display the next message	Spacebar
Scroll up to the previous screen of text or, if you are at the beginning of a message, display the previous message	Shift+ Spacebar
Delete the selected message	Delete
Permanently delete the selected message	Shift + Delete
Delete the current message, and, if the message window is open, close it	+ Delete
Mark selected messages as read	+ T
Mark selected messages as unread	Shift + + T
Mark all messages in a folder as read	Option + + T

Use the Calendar

To do this	Press
Open the Calendar window	+ 2
Create a new appointment	+ N
Open the selected calendar event	+ O
Delete the calendar event	Delete
Switch the view to include today	+ T
In Day view, move to the previous day. In Week and Work Week views, move to the previous week. In Month view, move to the previous month.	+ Left arrow
In Day view, move to the next day. In Week and Work Week views, move to the next week. In Month view, move to the next month.	+ Right arrow
Navigate to the previous pane in the Calendar view	Shift + Control + Opening bracket ( [ )
Navigate to the next pane in the Calendar view	Shift + Control + Closing bracket ( ] )

Work with people and contacts

To do this	Press
Create a new contact	+ N
Open the selected contact	+ O
Delete the contact	Delete
Close the current open contact and open the previous contact	Control + Opening bracket ( [ )
Close the current open contact and open the next contact	Control + Closing bracket ( ] )
Navigate to the previous pane in the People view	Shift+ Control + Opening bracket ( [ )
Navigate to the next pane in the People view	Shift + Control + Closing bracket ( ] )

Manage tasks

To do this	Press
Move to the Task window	+ 4
Create a new task	+ N
Open the selected task	+ O
Delete the task	Delete
Close the current open task and open the previous task in the Tasks list	Control + Opening bracket ( [ )
Close the current open task and open the next task in the Tasks list	Control + Closing bracket ( ] )
Navigate to the previous pane in the Tasks view	Shift + Control + Opening bracket ( [ )
Navigate to the next pane in the Tasks view	Shift + Control + Closing bracket ( ] )

Use notes

To do this	Press
Move to the Notes window	+ 5
Create a new note	+ N
Open the selected note	+ O
Delete the note	Delete
Close the current open note and open the previous note in the Notes list	Control + Opening bracket ( [ )
Close the current open note and open the next note in the Notes list	Control + Closing bracket ( ] )
Navigate to the previous pane in the Notes view	Shift + Control + Opening bracket ( [ )
Navigate to the next pane in the Notes view	Shift + Control + Closing bracket ( ] )
Send a note as an email	+ J
Send a note as an HTML attachment to an email	Control + + J First place the focus on the note in the list of notes.

Edit and format text

To do this	Press
Cut the selected text to the clipboard	+ X
Copy a selection to the clipboard	+ C
Paste a selection from the clipboard	+ V
Paste a selection from the clipboard and match the destination style	Shift + Option + + V
Make the selected text bold	+ B
Make the selected text italic	+ I
Underline the selected text	+ U
Strike through the selected text	Shift + + X
Insert a hyperlink	Control + + K
Move the cursor left one character	Left arrow
Move the cursor right one character	Right arrow
Move the cursor up one line	Up arrow
Move the cursor down one line	Down arrow
Move the cursor to the beginning of the current paragraph	Option + Up arrow
Move the cursor to the end of the current paragraph	Option + Down arrow
Move the cursor to the beginning of the current word	Option + Left arrow
Move the cursor to the end of the current word	Option + Right arrow
Decrease indent	+ Opening brace ( { )
Increase indent	+ Closing brace ( { )
Delete the character to the left of the cursor, or delete the selected text	Delete
Delete the character to the right side of the cursor, or delete the selected text	If your keyboard doesn't have a key, use FN + Delete.
Insert a tab stop	Tab
Move the cursor to the beginning of the line	+ Left arrow
Move the cursor to the end of the line	+ Right arrow
Move the cursor to the top of the message body	+ Up arrow
Move the cursor to the bottom of the message body	+ Down arrow
Move the cursor to the beginning of the selected text	+ Home
Move the cursor to the end of the selected text	+ End
Scroll up	Page up
Scroll down	Page down

Flag messages, contacts, and tasks for follow up

To do this	Press
Flag the selected item for follow up, with Today as Due Date	Control + 1
Flag the selected item for follow up, with Tomorrow as Due Date	Control + 2
Flag the selected item for follow up, with This Week as Due Date	Control + 3
Flag the selected item for follow up, with Next Week as Due Date	Control + 4
Flag the selected item for follow up, with No Due Date	Control + 5
Flag the selected item for follow up, and add a custom Due Date	Control + 6
Flag the selected item for follow up, and add a reminder	Control + Equal sign ( = )
Mark the selected item as Complete	Control + Zero ( 0 )
Clear the selected item's follow-up flag	Option + + Apostrophe ( ' )

In this topic

• Common Outlook functions

• Windows and dialog boxes

• Search

• Mail

• Calendar

• Contacts

• Tasks

• Notes

• Editing and formatting text

• Flagging messages, contacts, and tasks for follow up

• Help window

Common Outlook functions

To	Press
Start Outlook without running schedules or attempting to connect to a mail server. Use this option to prevent receiving connection errors when you use Outlook while you are not connected to the network.	SHIFT (when you start Outlook)
Open the Database Utility while Outlook is closed	Hold down the OPTION key, and then click the Outlook icon in the Dock.
Save an item	+ S
Print an item	+ P
Undo the last action	+ Z
Redo the last action	+ Y
Minimize the active window	+ M
Create a new folder in the navigation pane	SHIFT + + N
Hide the reading pane or show it on the right	+ \
Hide the reading pane or show it below	SHIFT + + \
Move the selected item to a different folder	SHIFT + + M
Copy the selected item to a different folder	SHIFT + + C
Select all items in the item list, if the item list is the active pane	+ A
Minimize or expand the ribbon	OPTION + + R
Hide Outlook	+ H
Quit Outlook	+ Q

Windows and dialog boxes

To	Press
Go to Mail view	+ 1
Go to Calendar view	+ 2
Go to Contacts view	+ 3
Go to Tasks view	+ 4
Go to Notes view	+ 5
Open the Progress window or make it the active window	+ 7
Open the error log or make it the active window	+ 8
Open My Day	+ 9
Open the Contacts Search window	+ 0
Open the Preferences dialog box	+ COMMA (,)
Open the Media Browser	CONTROL + + M
Cycle forward through open windows	+ TILDE (~)
Cycle back through open windows	SHIFT + + TILDE (~)
Close the active window	+ W
Open the selected item	+ O
Move forward through boxes in a dialog box	TAB
Move back through boxes in a dialog box	SHIFT + TAB

Search

To	Press
Do a basic search in Outlook	OPTION + + F
Do an advanced search in Outlook	SHIFT + + F
Find text within an item	+ F
Find the next instance of the text you searched for in an item	+ G
Find the previous instance of the text you searched for in an item	+ SHIFT + G
Cancel a search in progress	+ PERIOD (.)

Mail

To	Press
Create a new message	+ N
Send the open message	+ RETURN
Send all messages in the Outbox and receive all incoming messages	+ K
Send all the messages in the Outbox	SHIFT + + K
Save the open message and store it in the Drafts folder	+ S
Add an attachment to the open message	+ E
Open the Spelling and Grammar dialog box	+ COLON (:)
Check recipient names in the open messages	CONTROL + + C
Reply to the sender of the message or, if the message is from a mailing list, reply to the mailing list	+ R
Reply to all	SHIFT + + R
Forward the message	+ J
Open the selected message in a separate window	+ O
Clear the flag for the selected message	OPTION + + APOSTROPHE (')
Mark the selected message as junk mail	+ SHIFT + J
Mark the selected message as not junk mail	+ SHIFT + OPTION + J
Display the previous message	CONTROL + [
Display the next message	CONTROL + ]
Move the selected message to a folder	SHIFT + + M
Decrease the display size of text in an open message or in the reading pane	+ HYPHEN (-)
Increase the display size of text in an open message or in the reading pane	+ +
Scroll down to the next screen of text or, if you are at the end of a message, display the next message	SPACEBAR
Scroll up to the previous screen of text or, if you are at the beginning of a message, display the previous message	SHIFT + SPACEBAR
Delete the selected message	DELETE
Delete the current message, and, if the message window is open, close it	+ DELETE
Mark selected messages as read	+ T
Mark selected messages as unread	SHIFT + + T
Mark all messages in a folder as read	OPTION + + T

Calendar

To	Press
Create a new appointment	+ N
Open the selected calendar event	+ O
Delete the calendar event	DELETE
Switch the view to include today	+ T
Open the View Date date picker	SHIFT + + T
In day view, move to the previous day. In week and work week views, move to the previous week. In month view, move to the previous month.	+ LEFT ARROW
In day view, move to the next day. In week and work week views, move to the next week. In month view, move to the next month.	+ RIGHT ARROW

Contacts

To	Press
Create a new contact	+ N
Save and close a contact	+ RETURN
Open the selected contact	+ O
Delete the contact	DELETE
Close the current open contact and open the previous contact	CONTROL + [
Close the current open contact and open the next contact	CONTROL + ]

Tasks

To	Press
Create a new task	+ N
Save and close a task	+ RETURN
Open the selected task	+ O
Delete the task	DELETE
Close the current open task and open the previous task in the Tasks list	CONTROL + [
Close the current open task and open the next task in the Tasks list	CONTROL + ]

Notes

To	Press
Create a new note	+ N
Open the selected note	+ O
Delete the note	DELETE
Close the current open note and open the previous note in the Notes list	CONTROL + [
Close the current open note and open the next note in the Notes list	CONTROL + ]
Send a note as an e-mail message	+ J
Send a note as an attachment to an e-mail message	CONTROL + + J

Editing and formatting text

To	Press
Cut the selected text to the Clipboard	+ X
Copy a selection to the Clipboard	+ C
Copy the selection to the Scrapbook	CONTROL + OPTION + C
Paste a selection from the Clipboard	+ V
Paste a clip from the Scrapbook	CONTROL + OPTION + V
Paste a selection from the Clipboard and match the destination style	SHIFT + OPTION + + V
Make the selected text bold	+ B
Make the selected text italic	+ I
Underline the selected text	+ U
Strikethrough the selected text	SHIFT + + X
Move the cursor left one character	LEFT ARROW
Move the cursor right one character	RIGHT ARROW
Move the cursor up one line	UP ARROW
Move the cursor down one line	DOWN ARROW
Move the cursor to the beginning of the current paragraph	OPTION + UP ARROW
Move the cursor to the end of the current paragraph	OPTION + DOWN ARROW
Move the cursor to the beginning of the current word	OPTION + LEFT ARROW
Move the cursor to the end of the current word	OPTION + RIGHT ARROW
Delete the character to the left of the cursor, or delete the selected text	DELETE
Delete the character to the right side of the cursor, or delete the selected text	If your keyboard does not have a key, use FN + DELETE .
Insert a tab stop	TAB
Move the cursor to the beginning of the line	+ LEFT ARROW
Move the cursor to the end of the line	+ RIGHT ARROW
Move the cursor to the top of the message body	+ UP ARROW
Move the cursor to the bottom of the message body	+ DOWN ARROW
Move the cursor to the beginning of the selected text	+ HOME
Move the cursor to the end of the selected text	+ END
Scroll up	PAGE UP
Scroll down	PAGE DOWN

Flagging messages, contacts, and tasks for follow up

To	Press
Flag the selected item for follow up, with Today as Due Date	CONTROL + 1
Flag the selected item for follow up, with Tomorrow as Due Date	CONTROL + 2
Flag the selected item for follow up, with This Week as Due Date	CONTROL + 3
Flag the selected item for follow up, with Next Week as Due Date	CONTROL + 4
Flag the selected item for follow up, with No Due Date	CONTROL + 5
Flag the selected item for follow up, and add a custom Due Date	CONTROL + 6
Flag the selected item for follow up, and add a reminder	CONTROL + =
Mark the selected item as Complete	CONTROL + 0
Clear the selected item's follow-up flag	OPTION + + APOSTROPHE (')

Help window

To	Press
Open the Outlook Help menu	SHIFT + + ?
Scroll toward the beginning of a Help topic one screen at a time	PAGE UP
Scroll toward the end of a Help topic one screen at a time	PAGE DOWN
Scroll toward the beginning of a Help topic one line at a time	UP ARROW
Scroll toward the end of a Help topic one line at a time	DOWN ARROW
Copy the selection to the Clipboard	+ C
Close the Help window	+ W

See also

Learn how to navigate in Outlook using accessibility features

Basic tasks using a screen reader with email in Outlook

Basic tasks using a screen reader with the calendar in Outlook

Technical support for customers with disabilities

Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.

If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk.