Recently Microsoft has pushed a new update to its email service: Hotmail. In their blog, Inside Windows Live, they unveiled the new features that are included in this update, which Outlook users will find very familiar, and now makes Hotmail easier to use and more like a desktop app, but in the cloud.
These new features are mouse and keyboard shortcuts related, for example, now when you are checking your emails and right-click a message in your inbox a new menu will appear allowing you to Reply, Reply all, or Forward the message. When you work in front of a computer screen all day, every second counts, so this new menu gives you a way to get things done more quickly.
Hotmail already support many keyboard shortcuts that you can also find in Outlook, but now also the Hotmail team wants to make a little bit easier for people switching from other email services, such as Yahoo! Mail and Gmail to Hotmail by making available some of the most popular keyboard shortcuts that you’ll use in those email services.
But because some of the Hotmail keyboard shortcuts may interfere with different actions using Yahoo! Mail or Gmail keyboard shortcuts, you’ll have to switch between the keyboard shortcuts mode. This is a pretty easy thing to do, just go to the keyboard shortcuts options page and choose the mode you need — Tip: From this option section you can also turn off or turn on your Hotmail keyboard shortcuts –.
In this list are the new added Yahoo! Mail and Gmail shortcuts in Hotmail
| Gmail | Yahoo! Mail | Action |
| # | Delete | Delete a message |
| C | N | Creates a new message |
| O | Open new message | |
| Alt+S | Send message | |
| P | Print a message | |
| R | R | Reply to a message |
| A | A | Reply all to a message |
| F | F | Forward a message |
| Ctrl+S | Ctrl+S | Save a draft message |
| ! | Mark a message | |
| Shift+U | Shift+K | Mark a message as unread |
| Shift+I | K | Mark a message as read |
| D | Move to a folder | |
| Esc | U | Close a message |
| J | Ctrl+. | Open the next message |
| K | Ctrl+, | Open the previous message |
| / | S | Search for messages |
| G then I | M | Go to the inbox |
| G then D | Go to the Draft folder | |
| G then T | Go to the Sent folder | |
| * then A | Select All | |
| * then N | Deselect all |
Here is the already available Hotmail keyboard shortcuts
| Keyboard keys | Action |
| Delete | Delete a message |
| Ctrl+N | Create a new message |
| Ctrl+Enter | Send a message |
| Ctrl+Shift+O | Open a message |
| Ctrl+Shift+P | Print a message |
| L | Flag |
| Ctrl+S | Save a draft message |
| Ctrl+Shift+F | Forward a message |
| Ctrl+Shift+R | Reply all to a message |
| Ctrl+R | Reply a message |
| Ctrl+Shift+J | Mark a message as junk |
| Ctrl+Q | Mark a message as read |
| Ctrl+U | Mark a message as unread |
| / | Search for messages |
| Esc | Close a message |
| Ctrl+. | Open the next message |
| Ctrl+, | Open the previous message |
| Ctrl+Shift+V | Move to a folder |
| S then A | Select all |
| S then N | Deselect all |
| F then I | Go to inbox |
| F then D | Go to Draft folder |
| F then S | Go to Sent folder |
| F7 | Check spelling |
Other updates in Hotmail includes:
- Personalization: Set default font and personal signature.
- Back button behavior fix and how attachments are saved in your draft message.
- You can now recover accidentally deleted messages with a new link in the Deleted folder.
- Super fast inbox with the use of the new HTML5 standards.
Watch this video that will give you an overview of these new features:
Source Windows Live Hotmail Help Center via [Inside Windows Live]
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].