Keyboard shortcuts for email: the complete list for mello
Most of the time you spend on email goes into small, repeated moves: open, archive, next, reply. Doing them from the keyboard saves a second each time, and keeps your hands where they are. mello’s webmail was built for the keyboard first. This is every shortcut it has, and how to learn them without memorizing a list.
Learn three keys, not thirty
Shortcuts pay off only once they’re automatic. Trying to learn them all at once rarely works. A better way, in any mail app:
- Start with the moves you make most. For most people that’s next message, archive and reply. Use only those for a week.
- Add one key when you notice yourself reaching for the mouse for the same thing twice.
- Keep the help one key away. In mello,
?shows every key on screen, and closes again withesc.
Shortcuts are off while you type in a field, so a stray letter in a message never archives anything.
The command palette
If you learn one shortcut, make it this one. ⌘K on a Mac, Ctrl+K on Windows and Linux, opens the palette: type a few letters of what you want and press Enter. It works everywhere in the webmail, even while you’re typing, and the same key closes it.
- It lists what you can do right now: the actions on the open message or the selection, folders, views, settings, the theme, signing out.
- Some commands open a page of their own: Open folder…, Show view…, Go to page… (Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Manage subscriptions) and Move 3 selected to…. Backspace in an empty search goes back.
- The last commands you ran come first, and matching ignores accents.
- Each command shows its key, so the palette is also how you discover shortcuts.
Move with ↑ ↓ (or Ctrl+N and Ctrl+P), and close with esc.
Moving around the list
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
↓ ↑ | next / previous message |
enter | open message |
x esc | close the message |
space | select message |
⇧↓ ⇧↑ | select while moving |
* then a | select all on this page |
* then n | select none |
1 – 7 | switch view: All, Unread, To-do, Favorites, People, Newsletters, Notifications |
g | go to folder, or make a new one |
/ | search |
R | check for new mail |
The views are a quick way to sort your inbox without filters: 5 shows only mail from people, 6 only newsletters.
Acting on messages
These keys work on the open message, on the one under the cursor in the list, or on everything you’ve selected.
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
e | archive |
del ⌫ | delete |
s | to-do on / off |
h | favorite on / off |
u | mark read / unread |
! | report spam (in Junk: not spam) |
b | snooze |
m | more actions · move selected |
s, h and u each work both ways: press once to turn on, again to turn off. When you archive or delete the open message, the next one opens. If you’d rather go back to the list, turn off Auto-advance in Settings → General.
Reading and replying
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
r | reply |
a | reply all |
f | forward |
i | show remote images |
↓ ↑ | next / previous message |
x esc | back to the list |
In the reply, you can also let the assistant write a first version: type /ai and what you want to say on a line of its own (for example /ai accept, and ask for the agenda), then press Enter. The draft replaces the line, for you to read and change. It only appears when the assistant is on in Settings → AI.
Writing and sending
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
n c | compose |
⌘↵ | send |
⌘⇧↵ | send later |
z | undo send, while the undo bar shows |
On Windows and Linux, use Ctrl for ⌘. How long you have to undo is set under Settings → General → Undo send delay.
Choosing a time with one letter
The time pickers for snooze, send later and follow-ups each have a letter per choice, shown next to it. Press p in any of them to pick your own date and time.
| Key | Snooze (b) | Send later (⌘⇧↵) | Remind me if no reply |
|---|---|---|---|
t | tomorrow | tomorrow morning | tomorrow |
l | later today | ||
w | this weekend | ||
n | next week | next week | |
a | tomorrow afternoon | ||
m | monday morning | ||
3 | in 3 days | ||
p | pick date & time | pick date & time | pick date & time |
Later today shows only while there’s still some evening left, and this weekend only from Monday to Thursday. On a snoozed message, i brings it back to the inbox now. More on these in Send later, snooze and undo.
Calendar, contacts, tasks and settings
The other apps share the same keys for search (/), the palette, settings and help, plus a few of their own:
| Key | Where | What it does |
|---|---|---|
n | Calendar | new event |
n | Contacts | new contact |
n | Tasks | new task |
a | Tasks | jump to the line for a quick task |
1 – 6 | Tasks | switch view |
e | a contact | edit it |
w | a contact | write them an email |
u esc | a contact | back to the list |
⌘↵ | an event, task or contact form | save |
, | anywhere | settings |
? | anywhere | this help |
In Settings → Notifications, t sends a test notification to the device you’re on.
A week to make it stick
- Day one: open your inbox and use only
↓,eandr. Archive what’s done, reply to what needs you. - Day two: add
bfor what can wait, andsfor what you have to act on. - Day three: press ⌘K whenever you’d reach for a menu. Look at the key the command shows, and use it next time.
- After a week: press
?once, and pick one more key you’d use every day.
If you use another mail app on your phone or computer, its own shortcuts apply there: mello’s keys are part of the webmail at mail.mello.mx. In the terminal, see mello in the terminal.