MacMail is pretty damn good….and makes me more productive

I have used almost every mail client there is. At Gist, we are a Gmail Apps shop, and I use and like the Gmail interface, especially now that we have Gist integrated with our Gadget. That said, I also using MacMail again as it gives me 2 key features, a) offline support and b) full use of the delete key for mail which lets me triage mail much quicker. There are tons of other little features like quick add to calendar and contacts from email, but the offline/delete make it very useful.

I have also just started using Text Expander to insert blocks that I use alot, which makes it faster still to process lots of mail from different directions.

To get faster still, I am just reviewing keyboard shortcuts. Apple has built into Mail many shortcuts for common commands, look in the menus of the Mail application or see the menu shortcuts below. To do an action, press the keys indicated below. Keep in mind the list is pretty long and it will be quite hard to remember them all. (Hint: Print out this page and keep it handy next time you are working in Mail)

Working with the Mail application
Create new compose window: Command-N
Get new mail: Command-Shift-N
Open new viewer window: Command-Option-N
Open Activity Viewer: Command-0 (zero)
Open Page Setup dialog: Command-Shift-P
Add senders to Address Book: Command-Y
Apply rules to selection:Command-Option-L
Use selection for Find: Command-E
Find text in a single message body: Command-F
Find previous: Command-Shift-G
Find next: Command-G
Copy entire text of a message: Select the message title in the message list and press Command-C
Minimize window: Command-M
Display a pop-up menu with commands for creating, sending, and retrieving mail: Press and hold the Mail icon in the Dock
Switch between different display settings in the toolbar: Hold down the Command key and click the toolbar button in the upper-right corner

Working with mailboxes
Open In mailbox: Command-1
Open Out mailbox: Command-2
Open Drafts mailbox: Command-3
Open Sent mailbox: Command-4
Open Trash mailbox:Command-5
Open Junk mailbox: Command-6
Show/hide mailboxes: Command-Shift-M
Select the search field:Command-Option-F
Erase junk mail: Command-Option-J
Move to the last mailbox you moved or copied a message to: Command-Option-T
Display a pop-up menu that lets you quickly perform several actions on the item you click: Control-click a message or mailbox

Sending messages
Add Bcc header: Command-Option-B
Add Reply-To header: Command-Option-R
Show/hide long headers: Command-Shift-H
Attach file to message:Command-Shift-A
Append selected messages to a new message: Command-Option-I
Paste as quotation: Command-Shift-V
Increase quote level: Command-’ (single quote)
Decrease quote level: Command-Option-’ (single quote)
Save as draft: Command-S
Send message: Command-Shift-D
Redirect message: Command-Shift-E
Forward message: Command-Shift-F
Prevent the next message from being automatically selected (and marked as read): Hold down the Option key when deleting a message

Receiving messages
Select all highlighted messages: Command-Shift-K
Mark as junk mail: Command-Shift-J
Mark as flagged/unflagged: Command-Shift-L
Mark as read/unread: Command-Shift-U
Reply with iChat:Command-Shift-I
Reply to sender:Command-R
Reply to all: Command-Shift-R
Bounce to sender: Command-Shift-B
Show/hide deleted messages: Command-L
Show raw source/original content: Command-Option-U
Compact/empty deleted messages: Command-K
Show plain text alternative: Command-Option-P
Show previous alternative (in multipart message): Command-[
Show next alternative (in multipart message): Command-]
Jump to selected text in message: Command-J
Copy message to a different mailbox: Hold down the Option key when dragging a message to a different mailbox.

Working with fonts, formatting, and spelling
Show Font panel: Command-T
Convert message to rich/plain text: Command-Shift-T
Make font larger:Command-+ (plus)
Make font smaller: Command– (minus)
Show Colors panel:Command-Shift-C
Align left: Command-{
Align center: Command-|
Align right: Command-}
Check spelling of email message: Command-: (colon)
Flag misspelling of selected word: Command-; (semi-colon)
Copy style:Command-Option-C
Paste style: Command-Option-V
Collapse the thread containing the selected message (when organized by thread): Left Arrow key
Expand the currently selected thread (when organized by thread): Right Arrow key
Move to next message in thread: Down Arrow key
Move to previous message in thread:Up Arrow key

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What other apps/extensions do you use that can make me even faster at processing, responding to, automating… my MacMail experience?