If you’re like me, Microsoft Office Outlook is pretty much your home-base while you’re at work. Outlook 2007 is the latest version of this ubiquitous email client, and it is much improved over its predecessors. I use it for everything from the normal correspondence, to task-lists and appointments, to even a little bit of data storing and information management.

With so many things going on in Outlook at any given time, those in the “Getting Things Done” (GTD) ultra-high-productivity camp probably think that keeping everything straight and minimizing mouse navigation is a nightmare in Outlook. Well, it doesn’t have to be!

With these handy keyboard shortcuts for Outlook 2007, you can get things done more efficiently, and get the feel of an email ninja as you whip from page to page, message to calendar item, to task, and much more!

The First Place Goes To …

First up, the arguably best of the best Outlook shortcut: Single Key Reading. This option lets you scroll through an email message, switch to the next message, and repeat by only hitting the spacebar. It’s the quickest simplest keyboard shortcut that I can think of for Outlook, but it’s tremendously useful for those who just want to quickly skim a few messages in their inbox. Also, you can do the same thing going backwards by holding shift and then pressing the spacebar.

Here’s how you can enable/disable this feature. On the Tools menu, click Options.

Click the Other tab and then Reading Pane…

Now check to enable or uncheck to disable Single Key Reading:

That’s all there is to it! Now go give it a try, all you GTD’ers.

Increase Your Productivity with 10 More Easy Shortcuts!

Here are ten more useful keyboard shortcuts that should satiate your productivity appetite:

1. CTRL + R - Reply to a message
2. CTRL + F - Forward a message
3. CTRL + PERIOD - Switch to the next message (works only if you have a message open)
4. CTRL + COMMA - Switch to previous message (works only if you have a message open)
5. CTRL + SHIFT + K - Create a task
6. CTRL + SHIFT + A - Create an appointment
7. CTRL + SHIFT + Q - Create a meeting request
8. F11 - Enter a name in the Search Address Books box
9. F3 or CTRL + E - Go to the Search box
10. F6 or CTRL + SHIFT + TAB - Move between the Navigation Pane, the main Outlook window, the Reading Pane, and the To-Do Bar

That’s quite a few to remember, and this should get you to a good start. To find the complete list of Outlook keyboard shortcuts go to the official Outlook 2007 product page. Here you can find a keyboard shortcut for anything you want to do faster. The shortcut topics range from Basic Navigation, Search, and Email, to Color Categories, Macros, and different types of Views. So have fun and enjoy!

Get more tips on how to get things done with Train Signal’s Microsoft Outlook 2007 Training Videos — Available Now!

Our instructor led videos will help you manage your time more effectively and get you more organized. Some of the topics covered in the Outlook 2007 training include:

Installing and setting up your profile

Personalizing the Outlook 2007 Interface

Effectively organizing your information

Using third party add-ons and other resources to help you be more productive

Managing calendars, meetings, tasks, contacts, distribution lists and more!

Learn more about this training and see a free demo here!

Tags: Keyboard-Shortcuts, Microsoft, Office 2007, Outlook 2007, Single-Key-Reading

One Response to “11 Best Keyboard Shortcuts for Outlook 2007”

• Kasia Grabowska Says:

  September 10th, 2008 at 11:08 am

  My favorite is the CTRL + D — which deletes the email!

  I get so much spam in my Outlook that this is a great time saver!

  Kasia

Leave A Comment:

Name (required) Mail (will not be published) (required) Website