You probably are familiar with the keyboard shortcuts for copy & paste: Control-C (or ⌘-C) and Control-V (or ⌘-V). But there are many more keyboard shortcuts. If you perform an action multiple times a day, it's worth knowing the keyboard shortcut for that action.
We spend a lot of time handling email. Using keyboard shortcuts can make sorting through email feel less like a slog, and more like a flow state. Knowing just a few keyboard shortcuts could save you hours every week.
Let's learn some keyboard shortcuts for your email client. We'll assume you're using Gmail. If you're using a different email provider, try to learn the keyboard shortcuts that it offers for frequent tasks like replying to an email or archiving emails.
First, you need to enable keyboard shortcuts for Gmail:
On a computer, go to Gmail.
In the top right, click Settings .
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Click the Settings tab.
Scroll down to the "Keyboard shortcuts" section.
Select Keyboard shortcuts on.
At the bottom of the page, click Save Changes.
Keyboard shortcuts in Gmail will be more powerful with auto-advance, which automatically moves you to the next email when you delete or archive an email.
On a computer, go to Gmail.
In the top right, click Settings .
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Click the Advanced tab.
Enable Auto-advance.
At the bottom of the page, click Save Changes.
Now we can practice using keyboard shortcuts in Gmail:
[ ] Practice using the following shortcuts:
x - select a message
j - move to next message (or down arrow)
k - move to previous message (or up arrow)
e - archive email
c - compose email
r - reply to a message
f - forward a message
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