Gmail keyboard shortcuts.
Triage your inbox without the mouse — compose, reply, archive, and navigate by keyboard.
Turn shortcuts on first
Gmail's keyboard shortcuts are off by default, which is why most people never discover them. Flip them on in Settings → See all settings → General → Keyboard shortcuts → On, and an entirely faster way of working opens up. The investment pays off within a day, because email is something you do dozens of times daily.
The triage rhythm
The shortcuts that change how email feels are the triage ones. j and k move down and up your conversation list, e archives, and c composes — so you can land in your inbox, flick through messages, and clear each one without ever touching the mouse. Add # to delete, r to reply and / to jump to search, and a full inbox pass becomes a steady rhythm rather than a click-fest. Pressing ? at any time pops up the full list right inside Gmail.
Jump anywhere with "g"
The Go to sequences are the hidden gem: press g then a letter to jump between views — g then i for Inbox, g then s for Starred, g then t for Sent. They read like little phrases and quickly become muscle memory. If you live in your inbox, these are the shortcuts that save the most time over a week. Pair them with the Google Sheets shortcuts for the rest of the Google suite.