You Should Know: Gmail Keyboard Shortcuts

Pre-requisites:
Computer/Gmail experience — minimal

Cameron Gagnon
Jul 24, 2017 · 5 min read

Throughout my (relatively) short time working on computers, I’ve come to love efficiency. Why I love it and how that came to be isn’t the point of this, though, so maybe I’ll elaborate on that in another post.

Let’s dive.

For quite some time after starting to use Gmail, I did not know about it’s keyboard shortcuts. After talking with other Gmail users it seems that some are aware of this feature and don’t use it, and an even larger number are not even aware of this feature (hence this article). Only after my brother told me about a lab* called ‘canned responses’ did I happen upon the keyboard shortcut feature.

*labs are other features written by 3rd parties that spice up Gmail. Take a look into some of them in the ‘Labs’ tab under settings (as can be seen pictured below)

Here’s Google’s help page on enabling keyboard shortcuts, but follow along below for a visual guide and to learn a bit more

Enable Gmail Keyboard Shortcuts

Here’s how if you’re using regular Gmail:

If that wasn’t clear, you need to:

  1. Click the gear in the upper right corner
  2. Click ‘Settings’
  3. In the ‘General’ tab, scroll down to the ‘Keyboard shortcuts’ and then turn them on.
  4. Click ‘Save changes’ at the bottom
  5. ???
  6. Profit

If you’re using Inbox, do the following:

Again, if that wasn’t clear, do the following:

  1. Scroll down in the left hand bar to ‘Settings’ and click ‘Settings’
  2. Click ‘Other’
  3. Click on the box to enable keyboard shortcuts
  4. ???
  5. Profit

The hardest part: learning and using the keyboard shortcuts

If this is your first time learning keyboard shortcuts, it’s probably going to take awhile to feel comfortable using them regularly. That’s okay. Learning keyboard shortcuts is like learning anything else, the more you practice and try to remember they exist, the better you’ll be. I also offer a few tips below. Taking the time to learn Gmail’s keyboard shortcuts isn’t a waste of time because:

  1. If you’re using Gmail now, you likely will be using it as long as email is relevant, and that’s going to be for awhile.
  2. Some of the shortcuts learned will be relevant in other products, boosting efficiency all over the place! (inserting links ( ) is the same in Gmail, Google docs/slides/sheets, and even here on Medium!)

First up: The gateway shortcut

Tip 1) The first shortcut you should learn is (Think of this as, “Shi(f)t! What shortcuts can I use?” Emphasis on the and question mark at the end). This shows the entire list of keyboard shortcuts.

The information box when triggering the ‘gateway shortcut’

Tip 2) Type this now and quickly browse through the list of shortcuts. Pick out a couple you probably will use the most (Seriously, only start with one or two shortcuts that you will use the most. Once these become second nature, start adding the next most used ones). Try not to feel overwhelmed by all the shortcuts listed, for context, I only use half a dozen to a dozen of them.

Tip 3) Remember the gateway shortcut, commit it to memory. Go and type it several times in Gmail, and then a few more times when you’re done reading this article. If you’ve already forgotten, it’s . This shortcut is often used in other applications as well to bring up shortcuts, so learning it once is useful to learning shortcuts everywhere!

Commonly used shortcuts

Other than the ‘gateway shortcut’ I’ll get you started with some of the keyboard shortcuts I use the most in regular Gmail.

Move down/up between emails: (This lets you view different emails as you’re reading them, or, if you’re in the main overview of your inbox page, lets you scroll between which email to select and then perform an action on.)

Go to your main inbox: (Think of this as ‘go to inbox’. Can you guess what does?)

Insert a link: highlight word(s), then: and insert your link (Medium uses this same shortcut as well!).

Place cursor in search bar: then start typing what you’re searching for.

Conclusion

When performing an action with the mouse next time, such as clicking on that big ‘Compose’ button, take a moment and see if there’s a shortcut (hint: there is! It’s ). Getting into this habit alone will allow for exposure to more and more shortcuts. Eventually if you go back and re-do the action you just did with the mouse and do it instead with the shortcut, you’ll start picking up more of them in no time!

Good luck and have fun getting those fingers some more exercise!

Extra Credit

You must be on the toilet to have made it this far. Welp, here’s some more information while you squeeze out a dirt snake.

I mentioned Gmail Labs earlier as how I found out about the keyboard shortcut feature. I use a couple of the lab features as well. Go through a similar process to enable these as the keyboard shortcuts, except click on the ‘Labs’ tab after getting to the main settings page.

These are the ones I use:

Those who have used Vim before might recognize the shortcuts used to move up/down between emails. I believe Gmail’s shortcuts are heavily influenced by Vim’s. Other similar shortcuts are for starting a search. Also, the movement ideas such as and several others are similar to how Vim operates.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade