Google Workspace offers a huge number of keyboard shortcuts that not only enable you to navigate the app interfaces quickly but also let you easily invoke many app features and settings. Here you see some of the more useful shortcut common to the Google Workspace apps, as well as some handy shortcuts you can use with Gmail and Calendar. Do you need to memorize them all? Don't be silly. But do read through the lists, as you'll probably find two or three that you'll find useful every day.
Common Google Workspace keyboard shortcuts
The following table lists a few keyboard shortcuts that you can use in most Google Workspace apps.
| To Do This | Press This (Windows) | Press This (Mac) |
| Apply bold | Ctrl+b | ⌘+b |
| Apply italic | Ctrl+i | ⌘+i |
| Apply underline | Ctrl+u | ⌘+u |
| Insert a link | Ctrl+k | ⌘+k |
| Open spelling suggestions | Ctrl+m | ⌘+m |
| Decrease text size | Ctrl+Shift+- | ⌘+Shift+- |
| Increase text size | Ctrl+Shift++ | ⌘+Shift++ |
| Indent less | Ctrl+[ | ⌘+[ |
| Indent more | Ctrl+] | ⌘+] |
| Align left | Ctrl+Shift+l | ⌘+Shift+l |
| Align center | Ctrl+Shift+e | ⌘+Shift+e |
| Align right | Ctrl+Shift+r | ⌘+Shift+r |
| Start a numbered list | Ctrl+Shift+7 | ⌘+Shift+7 |
| Start a bulleted list | Ctrl+Shift+8 | ⌘+Shift+8 |
| Open keyboard shortcut help | ? | ? |
50 Gmail keyboard shortcuts
You might not think about using the keyboard with Gmail for anything beyond typing your message text, but Gmail has a fistful of handy keyboard shortcuts that can be timesavers. Before getting to the shortcuts, you should first follow these steps to make sure all of Gmail’s keyboard shortcuts are activated:
- In Gmail, click the settings icon (gear) to open the menu, and then select See All Settings.
- In the General tab, scroll down to the Keyboard Shortcuts section and then select the Keyboard Shortcuts On radio button.
- At the bottom of the tab, select Save Changes.
With that chore crossed off your to-do list, you can now use the shortcuts in the following table.
| To Do This | Press This (Windows) | Press This (Mac) |
| Go to Inbox | g, i | g, i |
| Go to Starred conversations | g, s | g, s |
| Go to Snoozed conversations | g, b | g, b |
| Go to Sent messages | g, t | g, t |
| Go to Drafts | g, d | g, d |
| Go to All mail | g, a | g, a |
| Go to Tasks | g, k | g, k |
| Search mail | / | / |
| Open More Actions menu | . | . |
| Open Label As menu | l | l |
| Compose | c | c |
| Compose in a new tab | d | d |
| Send message | Ctrl+Enter | ⌘+Enter |
| Add cc recipients | Ctrl+Shift+c | ⌘+Shift+c |
| Add bcc recipients | Ctrl+Shift+b | ⌘+Shift+b |
| Go to previous message in an open conversation | p | p |
| Go to next message in an open conversation | n | n |
| Focus main window | Shift + Esc | Shift + Esc |
| Focus latest chat or compose window | Esc | Esc |
| Select conversation | x | x |
| Toggle star/rotate among superstars | s | s |
| Go to next page | g + n | g + n |
| Go to previous page | g + p | g + p |
| Newer conversation | k | k |
| Older conversation | j | j |
| Open conversation | o or Enter | o or Enter |
| Expand entire conversation | ; | ; |
| Collapse entire conversation | : | : |
| Add conversation to Tasks | Shift + t | Shift + t |
| Archive conversation | e | e |
| Archive conversation and go previous/next | ] or [ | ] or [ |
| Mute conversation | m | m |
| Open the Snooze menu | b | b |
| Report as spam | ! | ! |
| Delete | # | # |
| Reply | r | r |
| Reply in a new window | Shift+r | Shift+r |
| Reply all | a | a |
| Reply all in a new window | Shift+a | Shift+a |
| Forward | f | f |
| Forward in a new window | Shift+f | Shift+f |
| Undo last action | z | z |
| Mark as read | Shift+i | Shift+i |
| Mark as unread | Shift+u | Shift+u |
| Mark as important | + or = | + or = |
| Mark as not important | – | – |
| Move focus to toolbar | , | , |
Some useful calendar shortcuts
Calendar doesn’t offer a ton of keyboard shortcuts, but the shortcuts it does support a pretty darned useful, if you ask me. Keyboard shortcuts are usually enabled by default in Calendar, but you should scurry through the following steps just to make sure:
- In Calendar, click the settings icon (gear) and then select Settings.
- Select Keyboard Shortcuts.
- Select the Enable Keyboard Shortcuts check box.
You’re now free to play around with the keyboard shortcuts in the following table.
| To Do This | Press This (Windows) | Press This (Mac) |
| Display the current day | t | t |
| Go to a specific date | g | g |
| Switch to Day view | 1 or d | 1 or d |
| Switch to Week view | 2 or w | 2 or w |
| Switch to Month view | 3 or m | 3 or m |
| Switch to Custom view | 4 or x | 4 or x |
| Switch to Agenda view | 5 or a | 5 or a |
| Change your calendar view to the next date range | j or n | j or n |
| Create a new event | c | c |
| See an event’s details | e | e |
| Delete an event | Backspace or Delete | Backspace or Delete |
| Refresh your calendar | r | r |
| Move to the Meet With text box | + | + |
| Search | / | / |
| Open Settings | s | s |
| Undo | z | z |
| Save event (from event details) | Ctrl+s | ⌘+s |
| Return to calendar grid (from event details) | Esc | Esc |
