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Thunderbird Keyboard Shortcuts for Linux

Keyboard shortcuts for Mozilla Thunderbird on Linux. Covers messages, search, navigation, composing, the address book, and calendar.
Key label style

Starting a new message

New message
Ctrl+N
or
Ctrl+M
Reply to Message (sender only)
Ctrl+R
Reply to All in Message (sender and all recipients)
Ctrl+Shift+R
Reply to List
Ctrl+Shift+L
Forward Message
Ctrl+L
Edit Message as New
Ctrl+E

Receiving and reading messages

Get New Messages for Current Account
F5
or
F9
Get New Messages for All Accounts
Shift+F5
or
Shift+F9
Open message (in new window or tab)
Ctrl+O
or
Enter
Open message or folder in a new tab in the background
Middle-click
Open message or folder in a new tab in the foreground
Shift+Middle-click
Open message in conversation
Ctrl+Shift+O
Zoom In
Ctrl+=
or
Ctrl+Scroll up
Zoom Out
Ctrl+-
or
Ctrl+Scroll down
Reset Zoom
Ctrl+0
Expand Collapsed Thread
Right
Collapse Expanded Thread
Left
Expand All Threads
Num *
Collapse All Threads
\
Newsgroups: Ignore or Unignore Thread
K
Newsgroups: Ignore or Unignore Subthread
Shift+K
Newsgroups: Watch Thread
W

Managing your messages

Print message or selected message text
Ctrl+P
Save Message as File
Ctrl+S
View Message Source
Ctrl+U
Select All (messages, text or attachments)
Ctrl+A
Select Thread
Ctrl+Shift+A
Toggle Caret browsing (select text with keyboard)
F7
Copy selected text
Ctrl+C
Cut selected search text
Ctrl+X
Paste text into search or filter fields
Ctrl+V
Copy message to another folder
Ctrl+Drag
Move message to another folder
Drag
Move/Copy message to previous target folder Again
Ctrl+Shift+M
Archive Message
A
Delete message, folder, attachment or selected search text
Del
Delete message bypassing trash (no Undo!)
Shift+Del
Undo
Ctrl+Z
Redo
Ctrl+Y
Rename Folder
F2

Tagging and marking your messages

Add/Remove Tag
<1-9>
Remove All Tags from Message
0
Mark Message as Read/Unread
M
Mark Thread as Read
R
Mark All Read
Shift+C
Mark as Read By Date
C
Mark as Junk
J
Mark as Not Junk
Shift+J
Add/Remove Star
S

Finding messages

Search All Messages (global fulltext search in all accounts)
Ctrl+K
Quick Filter (search messages in current folder or view)
Ctrl+Shift+K
Clear current Quick Filter; hide Quick Filter Bar
Esc
Search Messages (advanced search in folder)
Ctrl+Shift+F

Finding text in the current message

Find Text in Current Message
Ctrl+F
Find Again in Current Message
Ctrl+G
or
F3
Find Previous in Current Message
Ctrl+Shift+G
or
Shift+F3

Moving between messages

Scroll Down Current Message, then Go to Next Unread Message
Space
Go to Next Message
F
Go to Previous Message
B
Go to Next Unread Message
N
Go to Previous Unread Message
P
Go to Next Unread Thread (and mark current thread as read)
T
Go to Next Viewed Message
]
Go to Previous Viewed Message
[
Go to first message in message list
Home
Go to last message in message list
End

Controlling Thunderbird windows and tabs

Move to next UI element
Tab
Move to previous UI element
Shift+Tab
Move to next main UI area (Folder Pane, Message List, Message Pane, Spaces Toolbar)
F6
Move selected Message List Pane column to the right (Table View only)
Alt+Right
Move selected Message List Pane column to the left (Table View only)
Alt+Left
Move to previous main UI area (Folder Pane, Message List, Message Pane, Spaces Toolbar)
Shift+F6
Next Tab
Ctrl+Tab
or
Ctrl+Pg Dn
Previous Tab
Ctrl+Shift+Tab
or
Ctrl+Pg Up
Mail & Newsgroups Home Tab (Tab 1)
Alt+1
Tab 2 to 8
Alt+<2-8>
Last Tab
Alt+9
Address Book
Ctrl+Shift+B
Saved Files
Ctrl+J
Help
F1
Developer Tools
Ctrl+Shift+I
Toggle Message Pane
F8
Toggle Menu Bar (if hidden)
Alt
or
F10
Show context menu
Context Menu
or
Shift+F10
Close window or tab
Ctrl+W
Undo close tab (restore and go to most recently closed tab)
Ctrl+Shift+T
Quit Thunderbird (Exit Application)
Ctrl+Q

Creating, saving and sending a message

New message
Ctrl+N
or
Ctrl+M
Save Draft
Ctrl+S
Print Draft
Ctrl+P
Send Message Now
Ctrl+Enter
Send Message Later
Ctrl+Shift+Enter

Controlling the compose window

Toggle Contacts Sidebar
F9
Move to next main UI element
F6
or
Ctrl+Tab
Move to previous main UI element
Shift+F6
or
Ctrl+Shift+Tab
Zoom In
Ctrl+=
or
Ctrl+Scroll up
Zoom Out
Ctrl+-
or
Ctrl+Scroll down
Reset Zoom
Ctrl+0
Toggle Attachment Pane
Alt+M
Show Main Mail Window (Mail & Newsgroups)
Ctrl+1

Editing the message text and handling attachments

Copy
Ctrl+C
Cut
Ctrl+X
Paste
Ctrl+V
Paste as quotation
Ctrl+Shift+O
Paste without formatting
Ctrl+Shift+V
Rewrap message text
Ctrl+R
Delete selected text, attachment, table cell contents or table
Del
Delete word to the right (from cursor to end of word)
Ctrl+Del
Delete word to the left (from cursor to start of word)
Ctrl+Bksp
Select All (text in a message or attachments)
Ctrl+A
Select Table Cell
Ctrl+Click
Select Table Rows or Columns
Drag
Select Table
Ctrl+Click
Insert Link
Ctrl+K
Discontinue Link, or Remove Links from selection
Ctrl+Shift+K
Remove Named Anchors
Ctrl+Shift+R
Undo
Ctrl+Z
Redo
Ctrl+Y
Find and Replace Text in Current Message
Ctrl+H
Find Again in Current Message
Ctrl+G
or
F3
Find Previous in Current Message
Ctrl+Shift+G
or
Shift+F3
Check Spelling
Ctrl+Shift+P
Attach File
Ctrl+Shift+A
Rename Attachment
F2
Reorder Attachments
Alt+X
Insert a line break instead of a new paragraph
Shift+Enter

Reorder Attachments

Move to Top
Alt+Home
Move Up
Alt+Up
Move together
Alt+Left
Move Down
Alt+Down
Move to Bottom
Alt+End
Sort (all attachments or selected attachments)
Alt+Y

Styling the message text

Larger Font Size
Ctrl+.
Smaller Font Size
Ctrl+,
Text Style: Bold
Ctrl+B
Text Style: Italics
Ctrl+I
Text Style: Underline
Ctrl+U
Text Style: Fixed Width
Ctrl+T
Discontinue or Remove Text Styles
Ctrl+Shift+Y
or
Ctrl+Space
Increase Indent
Ctrl+]
Decrease Indent
Ctrl+[

Address Book

New Address Book Contact
Ctrl+N
Write new message to selected contact(s)
Ctrl+M
Addressbook Advanced Search
Ctrl+Shift+F
Edit properties of selected contact or address book
Ctrl+I
Select all (contacts or search text)
Ctrl+A
Print selected contacts
Ctrl+P
Delete (selected text, contact or address book)
Del
Show Main Mail Window (Mail & Newsgroups)
Ctrl+1

Get started

Show or hide Today Pane
F11
Calendar tab
Ctrl+3
Tasks tab
Ctrl+4
Mail & Newsgroups Home Tab (Tab 1)
Alt+1
or
Ctrl+1
New Event
Ctrl+I
New Task
Ctrl+D

Calendar Tab

Clear current Events Filter
Esc
Go to Today
Alt+End
Go to Next Day/Week/Multiweek/Month
]
Go to Previous Day/Week/Multiweek/Month
[

Tasks Tab

Filter Tasks
Ctrl+Shift+K
Clear current Tasks Filter
Esc

General Functions

Copy (selected events, tasks or text)
Ctrl+C
Cut (selected events, tasks or text)
Ctrl+X
Paste
Ctrl+V
Delete (selected events, tasks or text)
Del
Undo
Ctrl+Z
Redo
Ctrl+Y
Print
Ctrl+P

Miscellaneous

Go to Mail Start Page
Alt+Home
with focus in the Folder Pane or Message List Pane
Clear History
Ctrl+Shift+Del

Intro

Thunderbird on Linux shares most of its Ctrl-based shortcuts with Windows, but tabs and a couple of calendar shortcuts use Alt instead.

Linux-specific shortcut notes

Tabs use Alt+number. Alt+1 jumps to the mail tab, Alt+2 through Alt+9 to the next tabs in order, where Windows uses Ctrl for the same tabs.

Calendar and Tasks tabs use Ctrl. Ctrl+3 and Ctrl+4 switch to them, the opposite of Windows's Alt+3 and Alt+4.

Quitting Thunderbird. Ctrl+Q closes the application entirely. Windows has no equivalent shortcut, only a menu item.

Printable PDF

A printable PDF of Thunderbird shortcuts for Linux is available. The reply, search, and tag shortcuts are worth learning first.

FAQ

Need more than shortcuts?
Visit the Thunderbird app page for an overview and helpful links.

Want to suggest a new app, report a bug, or get help? Email us at info@hkeys.app.

For anything else or just a quick hello, write to us at info@hkeys.app.