Gmail Keyboard Shortcuts: The Complete Cheat Sheet

Gmail has keyboard shortcuts for almost everything: writing, replying, archiving, jumping between folders and selecting dozens of emails at once. Learn ten of them and you’ll get through your inbox noticeably faster. Here’s how to turn them on, the full cheat sheet, and what to do if they stop working.

How to turn on Gmail keyboard shortcuts

1. Click the gear icon, then See all settings.
2. On the General tab, scroll to Keyboard shortcuts and choose Keyboard shortcuts on.
3. Click Save changes at the bottom of the page.

A few shortcuts, like Ctrl + Enter to send, work even with this setting off. On a Mac, use ⌘ wherever you see Ctrl.

The 10 that save the most time

• c Compose a new email
• r Reply, a Reply all, f Forward
• Ctrl + Enter Send
• e Archive
• # Delete
• j / k Older / newer conversation
• u Back to the inbox
• / Search
• z Undo the last action
• ? Show every shortcut

Writing and replying

• c Compose · d Compose in a new tab
• r Reply · Shift + r Reply in a new window
• a Reply all · Shift + a Reply all in a new window
• f Forward · Shift + f Forward in a new window
• Ctrl + Enter Send
• Ctrl + Shift + c Add Cc · Ctrl + Shift + b Add Bcc
• Ctrl + k Insert a link
• Ctrl + Shift + 7 Numbered list · Ctrl + Shift + 8 Bulleted list

Actions on emails

• e Archive · # Delete · ! Report spam
• m Mute the conversation (future replies skip your inbox)
• s Star · x Select
• Shift + i Mark as read · Shift + u Mark as unread
• l Label · v Move to
• b Snooze
• + Mark as important · - Mark as not important
• z Undo

Moving around

• g then i Inbox · g then s Starred · g then t Sent · g then d Drafts · g then a All mail
• j Older conversation · k Newer conversation
• o or Enter Open · u Back to the list
• n / p Next / previous message inside an open conversation
• ; Expand every message in a conversation · : Collapse them
• / Search · ? Shortcut help

Selecting many emails

• * then a Select all · * then n Select none
• * then r Select read · * then u Select unread
• * then s Select starred · * then t Select unstarred

Gmail keyboard shortcuts not working?

1. Check the setting. Most shortcuts only work with Keyboard shortcuts on (see above). The setting is per account, so check each one.
2. Click into the page. Shortcuts don’t fire while your cursor is in the search box or another text field. Press Esc or click an empty part of the inbox.
3. Try another keyboard layout. Some shortcuts use symbols like # and * that sit on different keys in non-US layouts.
4. Turn off extensions one by one. A Chrome extension can capture the same keys. Test in an Incognito window, where most extensions are off.

One more time-saver when you reply

r opens a reply in a second, but Gmail still quotes the entire conversation under it, hidden behind three dots. On long threads that’s a lot of old email going out again. You can delete it by hand (here’s how) or let ThreadTrim remove it automatically.