How to Send a Message Quickly in Apple Mail

There's more than one way to do things in Mail

by
Heinz Tschabitscher
Heinz Tschabitscher
Writer
A former freelance contributor who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997.
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Heinz Tschabitscher
Updated on December 02, 2020

Many keyboard shortcuts are available in macOS and its apps, including the Mail app. If this is your email client of choice, and you send out a lot of emails, one shortcut you might find fine very useful is the one to send a mail message after you've composed it.

Press Command+Shift+D, and Mail will transmit your email without you having to click the Send Message button in the upper-left corner of the window.

Instructions in this article apply to Mail 5 (in Mac OS X Lion) and later.

received a mailbox
imran kadir photography / Getty Images

More Mail Keyboard Shortcuts

Once you start using keyboard shortcuts for Mail, you might appreciate adding a few more handy keystrokes to your repertoire. 

Start a new message Command+N
Quit Mail Command+Q
Open Mail preferences Command+, (comma)
Open selected message Command+O
Delete selected message Delete
Forward selected message Shift+Command+F
Reply to selected message Command+R
Reply to all Command+R
Jump to favorite inboxes Command+1-5 (up to five)
Move message to favorite inboxes Control+Command+1-5 (up to five)
Empty Junk folder Option+Command+J
Show/Hide Favorites Bar Option+Shift+Command+H
Show/Hide Toolbar Option+Command+T

Try even more keyboard shortcuts in Mail to see which will make your email time the most efficient it can be, and master Mail with other tips and tricks you may not know about.

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