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9 Keyboard Shortcuts in Gmail That Will Make You More Productive

2 minute read

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Did you know there are keyboard shortcuts specific to Gmail?

Through a quick adjustment in the General settings tab, you’ll be whizzing through your email and will barely need to click your mouse. Many keyboard shortcuts in Gmail only require the touch of one button, so you don’t need to memorize too many key combinations.

To enable keyboard shortcuts in Gmail

  • Go to settings in the top right corner of your Gmail.
  • Under the General tab, scroll down until you see Keyboard settings.
  • Select “on” to turn on keyboard shortcuts.
  • Scroll and click Save at the bottom of the page.
  • Your keyboard shortcuts are now enabled in Gmail.

1. C

    • The C key opens up a new compose window.

2. D

    • The D key opens up a new compose window in a new tab.

3. J and K

    • When you’re sorting through your emails in your inbox view, or when you’re viewing a specific email, use these keys to move up and down your inbox. To expand a certain email, hit enter.

4. N and P

    • When you’re sorting through a conversation, use these keys to move up and down your conversation. To expand a certain conversation, hit enter.

5. S

    • When you’re in your inbox view, hit S to star an email To remove the star, hit S again. If you hit S again and quickly after the first time, the yellow star will turn blue and you can key through several options.

6. # (or Shift 3)

    • When you’re in your inbox view, hit # to move an email to the trash. Note, that using # requires you to press Shift first. The # symbol is located on the 3 button. 

7. Shift U

    • When you’re reading an email, or have an email selected, hit Shift and then U and the message will be marked as unread.

8. G then S

    • When you hit these keys in this order, your inbox view will show all starred emails in the Starred folder.

9. G then D

    • When you hit these keys in this order, your inbox view will show all drafts emails in the Drafts folder.

Click here to watch this video on YouTube.

Reviewed and working in 2021

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