Recently, we took a look at what was new in Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac. The biggest new item on the menu is Outlook, and it’s no PC-version-wannabe. Outlook for Mac has everything that you’ll find in the Windows version, and it’s designed with an elegant and efficient user interface. However, to navigate that user interface quickly, you’ll need to know the shortcut keys!
Here they are however, if you notice a few missing, please let me know so I can add them to the list!
Most Common Shortcuts
| Action | Hotkeys |
| 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
| Action | Hotkeys |
| 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
| Action | Hotkeys |
| 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
| Action | Hotkeys |
| 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
| Action | Hotkeys |
| 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
| Action | Hotkeys |
| 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
| Action | Hotkeys |
| 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
| Action | Hotkeys |
| 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
| Action | Hotkeys |
| 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 | DELETE ⌦ If your keyboard does not have a DELETE ⌦ 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
| Action | Hotkeys |
| 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
| Action | Hotkeys |
| 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 |
Vadim
November 4, 2010 at 8:32 am
So, I use a MAC at work and I have to say, Microsoft hit a home run by ditching Entourage and launching Outlook on the MAC.
So far so good, Outlook 2011 for MAC rocks! It still lacks all the features like iMAP and Calendaring integration with GMAIL (at least I can’t find it) but I can live with that. I’m sure it will be in an SP.
Tom
November 18, 2010 at 6:51 pm
Great list, thanks!
Stefan
December 6, 2010 at 1:35 am
This list is a great help.
But one question remains – how can i put a new email to the outbox … without sending it ?
Matthew
January 20, 2011 at 1:53 am
Hi,
Great post grooveDexter. Do you know if there is a shortcut key to open the mail and calendar views in a new window?
Cheers,
Matthew
Sabrina
February 15, 2011 at 8:01 am
Do you have a shortcut for permanently deleting an e-mail from the inbox? In Outlook for pc’s you use shift+delete. I can not find that short cut for Mac Outlook. It is useful for not having to go into the delete box and get rid of the junk. I like to keep items in the delete box for reference, but not active action items.
Great list of other commands!
Sabrina
Suresh
July 12, 2011 at 11:17 pm
It looks like shift-delete does the same thing (permanently delete an email) on Mac Outlook 2011. If I click shift-delete on a selected message, it does not move the message to the “Deleted Items” folder and I cannot undo the delete.
Dave
March 27, 2013 at 2:15 pm
Control – Delete in OSX is the same as Shift – Delete in Windows.
Dave
March 27, 2013 at 2:41 pm
Dave is mistaken. Control–Delete worked one time, but never again.
Julie
September 5, 2011 at 11:32 am
This is a great list – thanks! However, I do have one question with my conversion of using Outlook on my pc to my mac — is there a way to be able to view e-mail, calendar and tasks on the same screen? I loved that feature on my pc since I did not have to keep going back to click on the various functions (e.g., calendar and tasks). Hopefully there is an easy way to do this!
Leroy van Dijk
September 27, 2011 at 2:44 am
Is it possible to delete a contact from the autocomplete list in Outlook 2011.
So the suggested contacts and recent contacts.
Some are double and some are old, but cannot delete them…
thanks
Oskar
November 4, 2011 at 3:22 am
Thanks!! Great help!!
Don Mathis
November 5, 2011 at 4:13 am
What is the keyboard shortcut for adding a comment on the side to a text in Word 2011 mac?
Don Mathis
November 6, 2011 at 4:16 am
This was answered on another website. To add a comment on the side in Word 2011 mac
command+option+A
A McClellan
April 13, 2012 at 10:44 am
Thanks for this! I thought I’d be looking for this information for hours, but your suggestion popped up right away.
Casey
November 14, 2011 at 4:05 pm
When I want to see what the calendar for a date years in the future looks like, it drives me crazy to click through the calendar one month at a time. Unlike Outlook 2010, I don’t see any other way to do this in the Mac version; am I missing something?
alvaro
November 17, 2011 at 3:50 am
is it possible pls to flag a mail when you are typing it, for follow up in certain date and time…??
because now, the only way is that you send it and then go to the outbox and then flag it….
which means too many steps…
thanks.
michael
November 17, 2011 at 12:30 pm
great list! is there a keyboard shortcut to assign a note, task or email to a specific category? i’m pretty sure there was a way to do this in entourage…or at least to open up the category menu.
Thank you!
michael
bjc
November 28, 2011 at 8:52 am
You rock…this list is awesome! Will follow you because I haven’t found anything this extensive on the web – exactly what I needed.
Possibly I missed it…is there a shortcut to remove and/or change the Priority?
Thanks!
Andrew
December 7, 2011 at 1:55 am
Hi, thanks for a useful list. How do I delete the emails from the web server once they’ve been downloaded? I could do this on Outlook 2003 on PC. All I could find online was an instruction to uncheck the ‘Leave message on server’ box, but I can’t see that on the Outlook 2011 account options.
Jeffrey Kohn
December 7, 2011 at 3:58 am
GREAT list!!! Thank you for this!!
2 things I cannot find/change from Outlook 2010 to 2011 are:
The function when you delete a message, have Outlook to go to the next message, NOT return back to the inbox. Any idea if that’s possible?
Also, I’d like my reply (only reply) font color to be a different color than the original “sent” message. Any idead if that’s possible?
Again, thanks!
Jeff
Doug
December 8, 2011 at 7:54 am
Is there an equivalent to the Ctrl-K in windows for email address auto-complete?
Steven J Klein
April 29, 2015 at 5:37 am
The feature invoked by ctrl-k is called “Check Names.” On a Mac the equivalent keyboard shortcut is the relatively awkward Control-⌘-C.
(It actually appears in the list above, where it’s described as “Check recipient names in the open messages.”)
mike
December 8, 2011 at 10:46 am
Good list! Anyone know a work around for drag-drop emails to create a calendar appt/new contact/new task? In PC version this was really helpful – filled out the notes section/email address etc automatically.
Damian
December 14, 2011 at 2:45 pm
Is there an equivalent to the Ctrl+B in windows to remove formatting ?
Dave
February 3, 2016 at 10:28 am
Yes, to paste without formatting it’s Command-Option-Shift+V
TG
December 30, 2011 at 11:24 am
What is the commmand to add an attachment? I have command + E assigned to send an email (from old Eudora days). I want to assign it command + H (old Eudora again), but I don’t know the exact menu wording to assign. TIA. TG
Chris
January 13, 2012 at 9:50 am
How do I scroll quickly to the bottom of my inbox? On a Windows PC it’s CTRL + End. Any equivalence on a Mac?
TG
January 13, 2012 at 10:07 am
Function – right arrow
Brian
January 21, 2012 at 7:40 am
Hi! Grat list. Very helpful.
One question. I can’t seem to get the hide and unhide reading pane hotkey to work. Any suggestions?
Casey
February 24, 2012 at 6:04 am
What about “accept a meeting request”?
Craig
March 26, 2012 at 9:07 am
How can I save a message to a folder other than “Sent Items” at the time I’m sending it? In Outlook 2010 (Windows) it’s a menu choice. Not able to find a way to do it in Outlook 2011, so I have been sending the message, then in a second step, I go to “Sent Items” and move the message to a different folder.
Phil
March 15, 2015 at 12:06 pm
found the answer here: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/mac/forum/macoffice2011-macoutlook/outgoing-rule-to-copy-items-from-sent-items-on/8f49b2da-5322-4149-934b-22645fbe126e?msgId=c16c0c10-6b70-42bd-b4de-d3003911411e
Sal
March 27, 2012 at 10:20 am
On regular Outlook, when waiting to speallcheck, the short cut was simple F7, and ShiftF7 (Ther). Is there a shortcut for those features?
Mike
March 27, 2012 at 10:27 am
Command-option-L and control-command-option-R respectively. A 4 key shortcut, ridiculous I know.
Stacie
April 9, 2012 at 12:07 pm
Mike, the spell-check shortcut isn’t working for me on Lion… am I missing something?
Joseph
September 24, 2013 at 3:10 pm
It should be: ⌘ + SHIFT + ;
jill
May 9, 2012 at 6:11 am
where is the ‘option’ key on mac ? I am trying to find out way to spell check emails before they automatically send – any other top tips ? thanks.
Casey
May 9, 2012 at 9:11 am
On Macs, the Option and Alt keys are the same. If you are on a Mac laptop, there may be times when the Alt key doesn’t work as expected (e.g., when you are logging into Parallels); in this case, press the Function key (fn) along with the Alt key.
Brad
March 27, 2012 at 3:15 pm
In Mac Mail, it is possible to highlight contacts and use Command+Shift+I to merge the contact information. Is there a way to do this using Outlook. I use Mac Outlook 2011.
Chris Haughey
July 17, 2012 at 10:33 am
Is there a shortcut for going directly to the Inbox (not just the Mail window)? This used to be Ctrl + Shift + i Outlook for Windows
Jonathan
October 21, 2014 at 10:04 am
I am also looking for the Mac shortcut to go directly to the inbox.
Lars J
July 22, 2012 at 2:17 am
I just installed Outlook and there is no arrows to scroll up and down through by inbox email. The bar grab is way too fast (I’ve got a thousands of emails that load and without the up and down arrows, I can’t do it. I get about 250 emails a day and I just can’t scroll down!
Chad P
April 26, 2013 at 12:09 pm
Is there any way to copy an attachment in an email to the clipboard and past it into another email? This seems like basic functionality to me but I believe it is missing from my Outlook for Mac.
Also missing the format painter functionality and see no way to add that customization to the toolbar.
Tried giving the suggestion to Microsoft but all the directions on how to recommend it seem to be a dead end.
Sridhar
May 12, 2013 at 6:35 pm
I am trying to collapse / expand all email groups, but i am not finding the same in mac. Can any one help me.
Supervolt
May 28, 2013 at 7:55 am
Sridhar, try opening Keyboard Shortcuts (Mac Menu -> Keyboard -> Keyboard Shortcuts), then highlight “Application Shortcuts”, then add a new shortcut. I had to find Outlook in the Application drop-down, then I typed “Collapse All Groups” and chose a keyboard shortcut by pressing the keys you want- I used Cmd-Ctrl-K.
HTH
whassupe
April 2, 2015 at 10:09 am
This.
Been looking for this for over a year. Huge, huge help. Thanks!
tonny
August 14, 2013 at 6:32 am
Hi, don’t you know what is a shortcut to move between mail folders list of emails reading pane?
Katrina
August 30, 2013 at 8:30 am
My mother in law is blind and uses the voice over. She needs to know how to open an attachment in an email. Anyone know?
Nat
February 24, 2014 at 4:19 pm
Thanks for this!
Can you tell me how to remove current formatting when copy and pasting into outlook?
Is there a mac equivalent to paste special?
Vadim
May 12, 2014 at 10:15 am
COMMAND+ENTER to send an email? Really?
Thnx for the tip. Was going crazy.
Holly
April 20, 2015 at 1:12 pm
Does anyone know how to make the formatting (hard returns, spaces, etc. show)? In MS Word 2010 for PC the shortcut is control shift 8. Thank you.
bjc
July 8, 2015 at 3:58 pm
If you’re speaking of showing the formatting in Word – Command 8
Hope that works
Holly
September 8, 2015 at 10:35 am
Thanks!
Viswanathan
July 8, 2015 at 9:36 am
What is the equivalent key in MAC (Yosemite) for MS-Windows key combination of , especially with Outlook 2016? I have this habit of typing out an enter or while typing mails and the editor capitalizes the first letter when I dont want it to. I am hoping that the key equivalent will do the trick for me. Open to other options also..
Michael Yoder
August 3, 2015 at 8:50 am
Is there a way to auto advance to the next email after you delete or move the previous email?
Chris
October 21, 2015 at 1:17 pm
Is there a way to de-activate the hotkey/shortcut command to send the open email?
Outlook for Mac 2011 Version 14.5.6
I cannot find any hotkey/shortcut area to edit, change or add.
Every once in a while (twice today) I will be typing pretty fast and hit some combination that sends the email as I am typing it…Not good.
jayjaymartin
February 3, 2016 at 3:53 am
Thanks, but your sequence is confusing. For us dummies, it is:
Click on Word [next to the apple icon]. Click Preferences. Click Edit. Remove tick from Show Paste Options Buttons. It’s that easy when it’s spelt proper and in correct order.
Gregg
August 12, 2016 at 2:37 am
Does anyone know a keyboard shortcut for simply opening a specific folder (as opposed to moving or copying an email to a specific folder) in Outlook for for Mac?
Matt
December 9, 2016 at 10:13 am
Phishing is a huge problem. One of the ways to protect folks is to try to help them easily check a suspicious e-mail message *without opening it*. I’ve been trying to find or create a hotkey that would do the equivalent of the “View Source” command. In your inbox you can hover over a message, right-click (two finger tap on the touchpad) and select the “View Source” option to see the mail header. Does anyone know of a hot ket or way to map a hotkey for this function? I think it would help a LOT for training folks on what to do with a questionable e-mail.
Daniel
December 19, 2016 at 9:31 am
Shift + Cmd + M isn’t working for me, for moving to a new folder. Can anyone help with this? Thanks!