Microsoft Outlook 2007 Tip #7 - Keyboard Shortcuts

Microsoft Outlook 2007 Tip #7 - Keyboard Shortcuts
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Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, as in previous versions, comes with its own set of keyboard shortcuts in addition to the standard Windows shortcuts. Keyboard shortcuts are combinations of key strokes to use in place of menu navigation. With a little practice, user efficiency tends to increase with the mastery of keyboard shortcuts. Keyboard shortcuts may also be better for accessibility for some users.

Outlook 2007 is a full Personal Information Management (PIM) client including e-mail, contacts, calendar, tasks, journal, and RSS Feeds. The specific keyboard shortcuts that are available are somewhat unique to the interface the user is currently working in.

These are my top eight keyboard shortcuts I use in Outlook 2007:

F9 - Send / Receive. This initiates Outlook polling all accounts for new messages and sends any that waiting in the Outbox.

CTRL + 1 - Wherever you are in Outlook, this returns you to the Mail folder. Other numbers used with the CTRL key take you to different primary folders including 2 - Calendar, 3 - Contacts, 4 - Tasks, 5 - Notes, 6 - Folder List, and 7 - Shortcuts.

CTRL + SHIFT + M - Opens a New Message window no matter where you are in Outlook

CTRL + R - Reply to a message. Whether the message is opened in a separate window or just highlighted in the Mail view, this will create a reply to the message with the sender address now in the To: field. CTRL + Shift + R is for Reply All.

CTRL + F - Forward a message. Whether the item is opened in a separate window or highlighted in Outlook, this will create a message ready to be addressed to a recipient.

ALT + S - This sends a message that is properly addressed to a recipient and waiting to be sent.

F3 - Moves cursor to the Search Box ready to enter a search string to query the index. CTRL + E does the same thing.

ALT + 1 - In the Calendar, this changes the calendar view to show one day. ALT + Number up to 9 shows the number of days from 1 through 9.

In Outlook 2007 where the new Office 2007 ribbon is employed, you can hold the ALT key down to expose the ALT keyboard shortcuts available in the menu. Letters are displayed at the menu option executed when you hold the ALT key down while typing that letter. Figure 1 shows the available ALT key shortcuts present in the Insert menu of the new message form.

For the complete list of keyboard shortcuts available to Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, go to the Microsoft Outlook 2007 Help site.

Screenshots

This post is part of the series: Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 Tips

A series of Tips and Tricks for working with Microsoft Outlook 2007 both as a user and an administrator.

  1. New E-mail Account Configuration in Microsoft Outlook: Tip #1
  2. Use AutoComplete “Nickname” Cache in Outlook: Tip #2
  3. Configure Outlook Custom Message Views: Tip #3
  4. How to Configure RSS Feeds in Outlook: Tip #4
  5. Tip #5 - Making Changes to the Custom Dictionary in Microsoft Outlook 2007
  6. Tip #6 - Configure Outlook Autosave Settings
  7. Microsoft Outlook Keyboard Shortcuts: Tip #7
  8. Microsoft Outlook 2007 Tip #8 - Outlook.exe Startup Switches
  9. Microsoft Outlook Instant Messenger Addons: #9
  10. Tip #10 - Using Outlook 2007 to Access GMail
  11. Showing Full Message Headers in Microsoft Outlook 2007: Tip #11
  12. How to Re-Send an E-mail Message in Outlook: Tip #12
  13. How to View Animated GIFs Embedded in an E-mail in Microsoft Outlook 2007: Tip #13
  14. Telling Outlook How to Handle Messages: Tip #14
  15. Microsoft Outlook 2007 Tip #15 - How to Color Code the Task List in the To Do Bar
  16. Tip #16 - Importing from Incredimail to Microsoft Outlook 2007
  17. Viewing Multiple Outlook Calendars: Tip #17
  18. Removing Cancelled Future Appointments in Microsoft Outlook 2007: Tip #18
  19. Tip #19: How to Create New Outlook E-mail from the Command Line
  20. How to Configure Outlook AutoArchiving: Tip #20
  21. Using Custom Categories in Microsoft Outlook 2007: Tip #21
  22. How to Manage Outlook Add-ins: Tip #21
  23. Microsoft Outlook 2007 Tip #23 - Attachment Previewing Options