Keyboard shortcuts that can save you some time when reading mail.
Andre Klapper
ak-47@gmx.net
Novell, Inc
Jordi Mas i Hernàndez
jmas@softcatala.org 2014

# Using shortcut keys to read mail

# Viewing an email

In the Mail window you read a message by selecting it in the message list. If you would like to see the message in its own window, either double-click it, press Enter, or press Ctrl O.

# Marking a message as read or unread

To mark the currently selected message as read, press Ctrl K.

To mark the currently selected message as unread, press Ctrl Shift K.

# Navigating in a message

To read mail with the keyboard, you can press the Spacebar to page down and press Backspace to page up while reading an email. Ensure that you use the keys when the message list is focused.

# Navigating in a folder in the message list

Navigate in the message list by using the arrow keys on the keyboard.

# Navigating in a folder's unread mail in the message list

To go to the next or previous unread messages, press the period (.) or comma (,) keys. On some keyboards, these keys are also marked with the > and < symbols, which is a convenient way to remember that they move you forward and backward in your message list. You can also use the right square bracket (]) for the next unread message, and the left square bracket ([) for the previous unread message.

# Navigating in unread mail across folders

You can easily read the unread messages in all the mail folders by using the Spacebar.

When you are in the Mail window, the Spacebar has the following behavior:

When you press the Spacebar for the first time, it takes you to the next unread message.

If the message is more than one screen long, the Spacebar works as Page Down.

If you press the Spacebar after you reach the bottom of the page, it takes you to the next unread message.

If there are no more unread messages in the mailbox, pressing the Spacebar takes you to the next unread message in the next folder.

If new messages arrive in a number of folders, the Spacebar toggles between those folders. This feature allows you to switch to the next unread message in a different folder without clicking the folder.

# Changing keyboard shortcuts

Advanced users can customize keyboard shortcuts by editing $HOME/.config/evolution/accels.

See this blog post for more information.