Knowing some common keyboard shortcuts when working in Outlook 2016 can be a time saver. Here’s a comprehensive list that covers a lot of actions.
Knowing some common keyboard shortcuts when working in Outlook 2016 for Mac can be a time saver. When Microsoft introduced Outlook 2011 for Mac, many of the commands you were accustomed to in Entourage 2008 changed. The latest version, Outlook 2016, remains familiar if you upgraded from Outlook 2011. If you are coming from the Windows version of Outlook, you’ll feel more at home. Many interface elements work the same, along with unique features for the Mac, such as Full-Screen View and Split View support in El Capitan.
If you like to use the keyboard shortcuts to save time and be more productive, make sure to bookmark this page to come back if you forget a shortcut or want to learn a new one.
Common Outlook 2016 Commands
Note: Most of these should still work on the modern versions of Outlook in the Microsoft 365 (formerly O365) suite of Office apps.
Action
Command
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
OPTIONS + ⌘ + R
Hide Outlook
⌘ + H
Quit Outlook
⌘ + Q
Windows and Dialog Boxes
Action
Command
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 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
Search
Action
Command
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
Mail
Action
Command
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 + ]
Navigate to the previous pane in the Mail view
SHIFT + CONTROL + [
Navigate to the next pane in the Mail view
SHIFT + 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
⌘ + PLUS (+)
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
Calendar
Action
Command
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 + [
Navigate to the next pane in the Calendar view
SHIFT + CONTROL + ]
People
Action
Command
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 + [
Close the current open contact and open the next contact
CONTROL + ]
Navigate to the previous pane in the People view
SHIFT + CONTROL + [
Navigate to the next pane in the People view
SHIFT + CONTROL + ]
Tasks
Action
Command
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 + [
Close the current open task and open the next task in the Tasks list
CONTROL + ]
Navigate to the previous pane in the Tasks view
SHIFT + CONTROL + [
Navigate to the next pane in the Tasks view
SHIFT + CONTROL + ]
Notes
Action
Command
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 + ]
Navigate to the previous pane in the Notes view
SHIFT + CONTROL + [
Navigate to the next pane in the Notes view
SHIFT + CONTROL + ]
Send a note as an email
⌘ + J
Send a note as an HTML attachment to an email
CONTROL + + J
Editing and Formatting Text
Action
Command
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
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
Action
Command
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 (‘)
If there are any missing, let us know in the comments. Also, check out our Outlook 2011 article for additional commands.
8 Comments
8 Comments
Raphael
How can I change the short cuts? Unfortunately, I tend to send mails by accident!
I am a visually impaired user so rely on keyboard shortcuts. in windows their are what i call “wildcard” commands. these are actions that can be done anywhere. The most common ones being Goto Inbox shift + CTRL + I, Create new contact shift+ctrl+c, create new task shift+ctrl+k and create new note shift+ctrl+n. These do not appear to have been created in the mac version.
Other useful functions currently missing include the goto folder command shift+ctrl+y which is very useful if you need to regularly refer to e-mails in a second folder. it might be broadcast messages that are automatically moved to that folder for example.
Looking for a shortcut for Outlook for Mac that will close a draft email. For example, start a new email, but decide to abandon it. I’d like to use ESC (since that works for closing inbox emails) but it doesn’t work.
Raphael
How can I change the short cuts? Unfortunately, I tend to send mails by accident!
Lance
I didn’t see these on the list:
Move to top of Inbox (email list) Option + UP ARROW
Move to bottom of Inbox (email list) Option + DOWN ARROW
Steve Krause
Excellent. Thanks Lance, will get the article updated.
Chris
Where is the Archive command?
alan
Control + E
Roslyn Solomon
I would like to navigate to the Create a Task function when I have an email open. Currently have to right click, – create – task
John Haynes
I am a visually impaired user so rely on keyboard shortcuts. in windows their are what i call “wildcard” commands. these are actions that can be done anywhere. The most common ones being Goto Inbox shift + CTRL + I, Create new contact shift+ctrl+c, create new task shift+ctrl+k and create new note shift+ctrl+n. These do not appear to have been created in the mac version.
Other useful functions currently missing include the goto folder command shift+ctrl+y which is very useful if you need to regularly refer to e-mails in a second folder. it might be broadcast messages that are automatically moved to that folder for example.
Matt
Looking for a shortcut for Outlook for Mac that will close a draft email. For example, start a new email, but decide to abandon it. I’d like to use ESC (since that works for closing inbox emails) but it doesn’t work.
Any help would be appreciated!