Handling email entirely from the keyboard is one of the biggest time-savers there is. Reply, write and send without touching the mouse.
Step by step
- Select a message and press Ctrl+R to reply, Ctrl+Shift+R to reply all, or Ctrl+F to forward.
- Write your message.
- Press Ctrl+Enter to send it.
Tips & troubleshooting
- In classic Outlook, the first time you press Ctrl+Enter you may be asked to confirm that it should send. Choose Yes.
- Ctrl+N starts a new email from anywhere in Mail.
Write a whole email without the mouse
- Ctrl+N starts a new message from Mail. Ctrl+Shift+M starts one from anywhere in Outlook.
- Type the first few letters of a name in the To box and press Enter or Tab to accept the suggestion. A semicolon separates several recipients.
- Tab moves on to Cc, then the subject, then the body. Shift+Tab goes back.
- Ctrl+K in the body inserts a link.
- F7 runs a spelling check in classic Outlook.
- Ctrl+Enter sends. Alt+S does the same.
Give yourself a safety net
A send shortcut is fast, which also makes it easy to send too soon. Two settings help.
In the new Outlook and Outlook on the web, go to Settings, Mail, Compose and reply, and set Undo send to as long as 10 seconds. A prompt then appears after every send, letting you cancel.
In classic Outlook, create a rule that defers delivery: Rules, Manage Rules & Alerts, New Rule, Apply rule on messages I send, then choose defer delivery by a number of minutes. Messages wait in the Outbox for that time, where you can open and change them.
Send later
To write now and deliver at a sensible hour, use the arrow beside the Send button and choose Schedule send in the new Outlook, or Options, Delay Delivery in classic Outlook.
Turn the shortcut off
If Ctrl+Enter keeps catching you out, classic Outlook lets you disable it: File, Options, Mail, and under Send messages untick CTRL + ENTER sends a message.
On a Mac the shortcut is Cmd+Return.