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Thunderbird Keyboard Shortcuts for Mac

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

Starting a new message

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

Receiving and reading messages

Get New Messages for Current Account
F5
or
Cmd+Y
Get New Messages for All Accounts
Shift+F5
or
Cmd+Shift+Y
Open message (in new window or tab)
Cmd+O
or
Return
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
Cmd+Shift+O
Zoom In
Cmd+=
or
Cmd+Ctrl+Scroll up
Zoom Out
Cmd+-
or
Cmd+Ctrl+Scroll down
Reset Zoom
Cmd+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
Cmd+P
Save Message as File
Cmd+S
View Message Source
Cmd+U
Select All (messages, text or attachments)
Cmd+A
Select Thread
Cmd+Shift+A
Toggle Caret browsing (select text with keyboard)
F7
Copy selected text
Cmd+C
Cut selected search text
Cmd+X
Paste text into search or filter fields
Cmd+V
Copy message to another folder
Opt+Drag
Move message to another folder
Drag
Move/Copy message to previous target folder Again
Cmd+Opt+M
Archive Message
A
Delete message, folder, attachment or selected search text
Fwd Del
Delete message bypassing trash (no Undo!)
Shift+Fwd Del
Undo
Cmd+Z
Redo
Cmd+Y

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)
Cmd+K
Quick Filter (search messages in current folder or view)
Cmd+Shift+K
Clear current Quick Filter; hide Quick Filter Bar
Esc
Search Messages (advanced search in folder)
Cmd+Shift+F

Finding text in the current message

Find Text in Current Message
Cmd+F
Find Again in Current Message
Cmd+G
or
F3
Find Previous in Current Message
Cmd+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
Fn+Left
Go to last message in message list
Fn+Right

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)
Opt+Right
Move selected Message List Pane column to the left (Table View only)
Opt+Left
Move to previous main UI area (Folder Pane, Message List, Message Pane, Spaces Toolbar)
Shift+F6
Next Tab
Ctrl+Tab
or
Cmd+Opt+Right
Previous Tab
Ctrl+Shift+Tab
or
Cmd+Opt+Left
Mail & Newsgroups Home Tab (Tab 1)
Cmd+1
Tab 2 to 8
Cmd+<2-8>
Last Tab
Cmd+9
Address Book
Cmd+Shift+B
Saved Files
Cmd+J
Help
Cmd+Shift+/
Developer Tools
Cmd+Opt+I
Toggle Message Pane
F8
Minimize current window
Cmd+M
Hide Thunderbird
Cmd+H
Hide Other Windows
Cmd+Opt+H
Close window or tab
Cmd+W
Undo close tab (restore and go to most recently closed tab)
Cmd+Shift+T
Quit Thunderbird (Exit Application)
Cmd+Q

Creating, saving and sending a message

New message
Cmd+N
Save Draft
Cmd+S
Print Draft
Cmd+P
Send Message Now
Cmd+Return
Send Message Later
Cmd+Shift+Return

Controlling the compose window

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

Editing the message text and handling attachments

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

Reorder Attachments

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

Styling the message text

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

Address Book

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

Get started

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

Calendar Tab

Clear current Events Filter
Esc
Go to Today
Opt+Fn+Right
Go to Next Day/Week/Multiweek/Month
]
Go to Previous Day/Week/Multiweek/Month
[

Tasks Tab

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

General Functions

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

Miscellaneous

Go to Mail Start Page
Opt+Fn+Left
with focus in the Folder Pane or Message List Pane
Clear History
Cmd+Shift+Fwd Del

Intro

Thunderbird on Mac swaps Cmd for Ctrl on most shortcuts, but calendar tabs and a few edit commands use the literal Control key instead, and some Windows/Linux-only shortcuts have no Mac equivalent at all.

Mac-specific shortcut notes

Not everything is Cmd. Switching to the Calendar or Tasks tab uses Control+3/Control+4, not Cmd, and deleting a word to the right uses Control+Del.

A few shortcuts are Mac-only. Cmd+H hides Thunderbird and Cmd+Option+H hides other windows, neither of which exist on Windows or Linux.

No Windows/Linux-only shortcuts carry over. The menu bar toggle and the dedicated context-menu key shortcut don't exist on Mac; Thunderbird's own menu bar is always visible there.

Printable PDF

A printable PDF of Thunderbird shortcuts for Mac 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.