If you read email with the mouse, you are paying a tax on every action. Click into thread, click reply, click cursor in body, click send button. Every click is roughly 600 milliseconds plus an attention cost.
A keyboard shortcut is roughly 200 milliseconds and zero attention cost. The math compounds.
Here is the working list of shortcuts worth memorizing, by client.
The universal grammar
Most modern email clients borrowed Gmail's shortcut grammar. That grammar comes from terminal mail clients (mutt, pine), which borrowed from vi. Once you learn it, every client feels familiar.
The core grammar:
- J / K — next / previous message.
- R — reply.
- A — reply all.
- F — forward.
- E — archive.
- S — snooze (newer clients).
- # — delete.
- / — search.
- ? — show all shortcuts.
If you only learn these nine, you cover 80 percent of email actions.
Gmail shortcuts
Gmail's shortcuts are off by default. Turn them on: Settings → General → Keyboard shortcuts on.
The Gmail-specific ones worth knowing:
- C — compose.
- G then I — go to Inbox.
- G then T — go to Sent.
- G then S — go to Starred.
- L — apply label.
- ! — report spam.
- Z — undo send.
The two-key combos (G then I) feel awkward at first. Stick with them. They become muscle memory in a week.
Apple Mail shortcuts
Apple Mail uses a different grammar (Cmd-modified) which is sometimes more friendly to non-power-users.
- Cmd+N — new message.
- Cmd+R — reply.
- Shift+Cmd+R — reply all.
- Cmd+Shift+J — junk.
- Cmd+Backspace — delete.
- Cmd+Shift+L — go to inbox.
- Tab+Down — next message.
Apple Mail is keyboard-friendly but not keyboard-first. Some actions still require the mouse. Plan accordingly.
Superhuman shortcuts
Superhuman extended the Gmail grammar with their own conventions. The full map is over 100 shortcuts.
The high-leverage ones:
- J / K — navigate.
- Cmd+K — command palette (this is the killer feature).
- R / A / F — reply / reply all / forward.
- E — archive.
- H — snooze.
- ! — mark important.
- Cmd+Enter — send.
Cmd+K is the most copied feature in the category. It is also where Superhuman is fastest in real use. If you spend an hour learning their command palette, you will outrun any mouse-driven workflow.
STAMP shortcuts
We borrowed the Gmail grammar where it worked and added our own where the existing grammar did not have an answer.
- J / K — navigate.
- R — reply.
- A — reply all.
- E — archive.
- S — snooze (with smart suggestions).
- U — mark urgent.
- V — mark VIP.
- # — delete.
- Cmd+K — command palette.
- Cmd+Enter — send.
- Cmd+1 / 2 / 3 — switch account scope.
- G then U — go to urgent queue.
- G then R — go to reading queue.
- ? — show all shortcuts (always).
The STAMP-specific ones are V (mark VIP) and U (mark urgent). They are how you teach the triage classifier when it gets a thread wrong. One keystroke per correction. The next time a similar thread arrives, the model has updated.
How to actually learn them
Three rules from watching new users.
One: do not try to learn 30 at once. Pick five. Use them for a week. Add five more.
Two: print the cheat sheet. Tape it to your monitor for two weeks. Take it down once you stop looking at it.
Three: use ? in any client. ? brings up the shortcut overlay in nearly every modern email tool. You will see new shortcuts you forgot existed.
What not to bother with
Some shortcuts are too rare to bother memorizing. Specific examples by client:
- Gmail: the “mute thread” shortcut M. You will forget it. Use it when you remember.
- Apple Mail: most three-key chords. Cmd+Shift+Option+anything is too much.
- Superhuman: the long-form composition shortcuts. Useful only if you write essays in email.
The command palette
If you take one thing from this post: learn your client's command palette.
In STAMP and Superhuman, Cmd+K opens a search-driven palette where you can do anything. Send to a contact, label a thread, switch accounts, snooze for a custom date. You type a few characters, you press enter, you are done.
This single shortcut replaces about 50 others. Learn it, and the rest are optional.
A quick test
Right now, in your client of choice, press “?” (or check Help → Keyboard Shortcuts). Look at the list. Pick three you have never used. Use them today.
If “?” does nothing in your client, you have your answer about whether your client is keyboard-first.
A keyboard-friendly client is not the same as a keyboard-first client.
Where to go from here
For the workflow philosophy, the J/K mental model. For the broader case for keyboard, how to never touch the mouse for email again.
For STAMP specifically, Cmd+K everywhere — the case for command palettes.
Built keyboard-first. hello@stamp.email