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.
Raphael
April 8, 2020 at 9:49 am
How can I change the short cuts? Unfortunately, I tend to send mails by accident!
Lance
May 4, 2020 at 10:02 am
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
May 4, 2020 at 2:03 pm
Excellent. Thanks Lance, will get the article updated.
Chris
July 1, 2020 at 9:21 am
Where is the Archive command?
alan
October 6, 2021 at 4:08 pm
Control + E
Roslyn Solomon
August 20, 2020 at 9:55 pm
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
July 13, 2021 at 12:39 am
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
September 17, 2021 at 8:40 am
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!
Sarah Taylor
January 13, 2022 at 2:00 pm
I managed to reduce the size of the fields for To, CC and BCC – I saw it happen as my fingers grazed over a series of keys, but now I cannot get them back to their normal size. Can’t see it in the list, but I might have missed (read twice!) Am I crazy?
Simon Daniels
March 8, 2022 at 11:32 pm
You’re not crazy, the same has happened to me. No idea why or how to fix it I’m afraid. I’m also seeing a wierd spacing in the mail list all of a sudden.
Simon Daniels
March 8, 2022 at 11:33 pm
I’m finding that the SPACE to scroll no longer works, any ideas why?
jora
June 16, 2023 at 12:43 pm
In calendar view Day view, CMD right arrow/left arrow doesn’t seem to work so I can’t go between days
Massi
September 6, 2023 at 5:43 am
I think this one is not correct:
Clear the selected item’s follow-up flag OPTION + ⌘ + APOSTROPHE (‘)
And in fact should be:
Clear the selected item’s follow-up flag CONTROL + ⌘ + APOSTROPHE (‘)
Do you agree? Thank you. Massi