Thunderbird:Keyboard Shortcuts

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Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are a difficult thing to get correct for all users. The goal of shortcuts is to allow people to interact with Thunderbird more efficiently by using only the keyboard instead of the keyboard and mouse.

There are two sets of keyboard shortcuts we need to provide. One is a set of commands we believe are the best to interact with Thunderbird. The other is a set of commands which are compatibility commands to help users coming from other applications to transition to Thunderbird.

General Commands

These commands are available to the user at any time independent of what is being displayed (in terms of message, folders, accounts)

Windows

These are the keyboard shortcuts for Windows based Desktop systems with a comparison to it's default mail client, Windows Mail (Outlook Express).

Command Thunderbird Windows Mail
New Message Ctrl+N Ctrl+N
New Window Feature Not Available Feature Not Available
New Tab Ctrl+T bug 458069 Feature Not Available
Close Tab Ctrl+W bug 408398 Feature Not Available
Switch Tab Ctrl+Tab bug 439854 Feature Not Available
Focus Search Ctrl+K Feature Not Available
Get Mail or Send / Receive Ctrl+??? see bug 458069 Ctrl+M
Exit Ctrl+Q
Ctrl+W (with no tabs open)

Mac OS X

These are the keyboard shortcuts for Mac OS X based systems with a comparison to it's default mail client, Mail.app.

Command Thunderbird Mail.app
New Message Cmd+N Cmd+N
New Window Feature Not Available Feature Not Available
New Tab Cmd+T bug 458069 Feature Not Available
Close Tab Cmd+W bug 408398 Feature Not Available
Switch Tab Cmd+Tab bug 439854 Feature Not Available
Focus Search Cmd+K  ????
Get Mail or Send / Receive Cmd+??? see bug 458069 Cmd+M
Exit Cmd+Q
Cmd+W (with no tabs open)

Linux

These are the keyboard shortcuts for GNOME based Desktop systems with a comparison to it's default mail client.

Command Thunderbird Evolution
New Message Ctrl+N Ctrl+N
Shift+Ctrl+M
New Window Feature Not Available Shift+Ctrl+W
New Tab Ctrl+T bug 458069 Feature Not Available
Close Tab Ctrl+W bug 408398 Feature Not Available
Switch Tab Ctrl+Tab bug 439854 Feature Not Available
Focus Search Ctrl+K Alt+C
Get Mail or Send / Receive Ctrl+??? see bug 458069 F9
Quit Ctrl+Q
Ctrl+W (with no tabs open)
Ctrl+Q
Ctrl+W

Folder Level Commands

When a Thunderbird user selects a folder we initially display a folder summary page which gives summary information about the folder and offers commands for the folder.

Because this information is displayed initially in the message pane a person must select a message to view before more message actions become available.

See bug 452440

Windows

These are the keyboard shortcuts for Windows based Desktop systems with a comparison to it's default mail client, Windows Mail (Outlook Express).

Command Thunderbird Windows Mail
View Next Unread Conversation / Message Enter
N
Ctrl+U
Go to :=: Next Folder G, N Feature Not Available
Go to :=: Previous Folder G, P Feature Not Available
Go to :=: Other Folder... G, O Feature Not Available
Mark :=: All Message as Read M, R Ctrl+Shift+A
Mark :=: All Message as Unread M, U  ????
Other Actions :=: Rename Folder O, R  ????
Other Actions :=: Delete Folder O, D  ????
Other Actions :=: New Folder... O, N  ????
Other Actions :=: Copy Folder To... O, C  ????
Other Actions :=: Move Folder To... O, M  ????
Other Actions :=: Compact Folder O, T  ????
Other Actions :=: Folder Properties O, P  ????

Mac OS X

These are the keyboard shortcuts for Mac OS X based systems with a comparison to it's default mail client, Mail.app.

Command Thunderbird Mail.app
View Next Unread Conversation / Message Enter
N
 ????
Go to :=: Next Folder G, N Feature Not Available
Go to :=: Previous Folder G, P Feature Not Available
Go to :=: Other Folder... G, O Feature Not Available
Mark :=: All Message as Read M, R Ctrl+Shift+A
Mark :=: All Message as Unread M, U  ????
Other Actions :=: Rename Folder O, R  ????
Other Actions :=: Delete Folder O, D  ????
Other Actions :=: New Folder... O, N  ????
Other Actions :=: Copy Folder To... O, C  ????
Other Actions :=: Move Folder To... O, M  ????
Other Actions :=: Compact Folder O, T  ????
Other Actions :=: Folder Properties O, P  ????

Linux

These are the keyboard shortcuts for GNOME based Desktop systems with a comparison to it's default mail client.

Command Thunderbird Evolution
View Next Unread Conversation / Message Enter
N
Ctrl+]
Go to :=: Next Folder G, N Feature Not Available
Go to :=: Previous Folder G, P Feature Not Available
Go to :=: Other Folder... G, O Feature Not Available
Mark :=: All Message as Read M, R Menu Item Only
Mark :=: All Message as Unread M, U Feature Not Available
Other Actions :=: Rename Folder O, R F2
Other Actions :=: Delete Folder O, D Menu Item Only
Other Actions :=: New Folder... O, N Menu Item Only
Other Actions :=: Copy Folder To... O, C Menu Item Only
Other Actions :=: Move Folder To... O, M Menu Item Only
Other Actions :=: Compact Folder O, T Ctrl+E
Other Actions :=: Folder Properties O, P Menu Item Only

Related Bugs and Links