25 Time-Saving Gmail Keyboard Shortcuts

Post by David Pierce. Find me on Twitter.

For the last year or so, I’ve gone through a constant battle with my email – at various times, I’ve used Gmail, Outlook, Entourage, Thunderbird, and Postbox to get through the ever-growing number of emails I get.

About a month ago, I made what I think is the last email switch I’ll ever make – back to Gmail. I spent the better part of an entire day learning how to best use Gmail, finding every time-saving trick in the book. At the end of it, though, it all came down to the keyboard shortcuts.

Memorizing and making use of the keyboard makes going through Gmail faster and more efficient, and makes Gmail by far the best email client out there – that, plus all the other reasons.

Update: Big boo-boo on my part. To use these shortcuts, you have to first enable keyboard shortcuts in Gmail. Click “Settings” in the top right, then make sure you’re on the “General” tab. Make sure the radio button next to “Keyboard shortcuts on” is selected. It looks like this:

Here are the 25 keyboard shortcuts anyone who uses Gmail should know (in bold are the keys you type – other than plus signs, which are there to denote multiple keys):

Navigation

gi – Goes directly to your inbox, from whatever folder or message you’re currently in.

gs – Go to starred messages (Great if you use stars for follow-ups, or to-dos)

gl – Go to a particular label (Once you type gl, type the name of the label to jump to it)

j – Move down in the list (moves the arrow up and down, so you can select or open a message)

k – Move up in the list (moves the arrow up and down, so you can select or open a message)

[ – Removes the message from current view (removes a label, or out of the inbox) and goes to the next

] – Removes the message from current view (remove a label, or out of the inbox) and goes to previous

p – Open the previous message in a conversation

n – Open the next message in a conversation

Reading/Writing

x – Select a conversation (little black arrow)

*a – Select all conversations in the current list (Inbox, a label, or what have you)

Enter – Open the selected message/conversation (The one with the little black arrow next to it)

c – Compose a new message

Tab+Enter – Send message (the MOST-USED shortcut in my arsenal)

f – Forward a message to someone else

r – Reply (send a reply message only to the sender of the original)

a – Reply all (send a reply message to everyone included in the original)

! – Report a message as Spam

Shift+N – Updates the conversation, to see if there are any new messages

Shift+i – Mark the selected message(s) as read

Shift+u – Mark the selected message(s) as unread

Organizing

# – Move the selected message to the trash

s – Add a star to the message/conversation

e – Archive the current message(s)

Other Time-Savers

/ – Go to the search bar in Gmail (where you can search for anything)

z – Undoes the last action (instead of clicking above the inbox)

? – Opens the list of keyboard shortcuts (most of these, plus a whole lot more)

With these shortcuts under your belt, you’ll find yourself flying through your email, and becoming a true Gmail ninja. I now deal with my email faster in Gmail than I ever did anywhere else, and it’s mostly thanks to the keyboard.

Got a favorite time-saving Gmail (or email in general) tip? I’d love to hear them in the comments.

Photo: iStockPhoto

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