Keyboard shortcuts & commands

Type

Ctrl

/ to open the keyboard shortcut reference from directly within Shortwave.

Compose & send

ActionKeysDescription
ComposeCStart a new draft
New threadNStart a new thread when viewing a search result addressed to the relevant search participants
Reply allAReply all to focused thread
Reply to senderRReply to sender to focused thread
ForwardFForward focused thread
Cc

Ctrl

Shift

C
Focus the Cc field to add recipients
Bcc

Ctrl

Shift

B
Focus the Bcc field to add recipients
Instant intro

Ctrl

Shift

I
Move last sender to Bcc and inserts text Thanks "lastSenderName"! (moved to BCC)
Attach file

Ctrl

Shift

A
Attach a file to the current draft
Link

Ctrl

K
Add a link to your text. If you have a link already copied, you can paste it over highlighted text with

Ctrl

V.
Discard draft

Ctrl

Shift

D

Ctrl

Shift

,
Discard the current draft
Send

Ctrl

Enter

Send your message from the compose box
Scheduled send

Ctrl

Shift

L
Schedule your message to send later from the compose box
Send & done

Ctrl

Shift

Enter

Send your message from the compose box and mark thread as done
Undo send

Ctrl

Z
Z
Revert most recently sent message back into a draft
View sent message

Ctrl

Shift

V
Open most recently sent email in pop-out window
Search/Open search
CloseEscClose selection / cancel action / remove focus
Keyboard shortcuts

Ctrl

/

Shift

/
Open the in-app keyboard shortcuts reference

Threads

ActionKeysDescription
Ask AIYPrompt AI to help summarize, translate, or understand a thread
DoneD or EArchive the currently focused thread or bundle and automatically focus the next item
Done & next[Archive the current thread if one is selected. Go to the next thread and opens it, even if that means going to the next bundle or group.
Done & previous]Archive the current thread if one is selected. Go to the previous thread and opens it, even if that means going to the previous bundle or group.
Manage todosTCreate a new todo or add an item to an existing todo
SnoozeB or HOpen the snooze picker for the focused thread or bundle
StarSStar or unstar the focused thread
LabelLAdd a label to the focused thread or bundle
Move toVMove the focused thread or bundle from it's current location to the applied label
Delete#
Delete
Delete the focused thread or bundle
Unsubscribe

Ctrl

U
Unsubscribe you from the mailing list
Block spam

Ctrl

B
Report the current thread as spam and automatically trashes all future messages from the sender
Report spam!Report the current thread as spam and removes it from the inbox
Mute (Unfollow)MUnfollow the focused thread
Copy thread link

Ctrl

C
Copy the thread's unique link when a thread is focused
Mark unreadU

Shift

U
Mark the current thread as unread
Mark readU

Shift

I
Mark the current thread as read
Mark important+Mark the current thread as important
Mark not important-Mark the current thread as not important
Undo

Ctrl

Z
Z
Undo the most recent action

Thread list

ActionKeysDescription
Next or JMove to the next item (thread or bundle)
Previous or KMove to the previous item (thread or bundle)
SelectXSelect the focused item and enables multi-select mode
Open in side panel or

Enter

Open the focused item in a side panel (thread or bundle)
Open in full screen

Ctrl

Shift

Open the focused thread in full screen
Close or EscClose the open item (thread or bundle)
Scroll downScroll the page down (when thread has focus)
Scroll upScroll the page up (when thread has focus)
Page downSpaceScroll down one page height
Page up

Shift

Space
Scroll up one page height
Toggle sidebar

Ctrl

\
Collapse / expand the left sidebar

Go to

ActionKeysDescription
InboxG + IGo to Inbox
TodosG + OGo to Todos
StarredG + SGo to Starred
SnoozedG + B
G + H
Go to Snoozed
DoneG + EGo to Done
ImportantG + +Go to Important
SentG + TGo to Sent
DraftsG + DGo to Drafts
SpamG + !Go to Spam
TrashG + #Go to Trash
Favorite (1-9)G + 1Go to favorited search (1 through 9)
AI Assistant

Ctrl

J
Open AI Assistant
Command Palette

Ctrl

K

Ctrl

Shift

K

Ctrl

Shift

P
Open command palette
Other account (1-9)Alt 1Switch account (1 through 9)
Settings

Ctrl

,
Go to Settings
Toggle theme

Ctrl

Shift

L
Toggle between light and dark mode themes

Formatting

The following text shortcuts work when you are drafting messages in the compose box:

ActionKeysDescription
Emoji:emojiAdd emoji to your text :shorts :wave = 🩳 👋
Bold**bold**

Ctrl

B
Make your text bold
Italics*italicize*

Ctrl

I
Make your text italicized
Underline_underline_

Ctrl

U
Make your text underlined
Strikethroughstrike

Ctrl

Shift

X
Add a strike to your text
Code`code`

Ctrl

E
Make your text code
Code block```Make your text a code block
Heading# SpaceMake your text a larger **Heading **
Numbered List1 . Space

Ctrl

Shift

7
Add an ordered list
Bulleted List- Space
* Space

Ctrl

Shift

8
Add an unordered list
Quote> Space

Ctrl

Shift

9
or q
Convert text to a quote. For quick quote, select a previous message and press Q to quote the text in your reply.
Add participant+nameAdd a person or channel to a thread, similar to adding them to the To or Cc field
Remove participant-nameRemove a person or channel from a thread, similar to removing them from the To or Cc field
Add & notify participant@nameDirectly notify a specific person with a push notification
Link to#nameLink a specific person or channel in a conversation

Command palette

Like keyboard shortcuts, Shortwave's command palette provides quick keyboard-based access to navigation and thread shortcuts from wherever you are.

Use

Ctrl

K to pull up the command palette and start typing (

Ctrl

Shift

P and

Ctrl

Shift

K are also support shortcuts).

Global

Navigate to the following pages at any time:

  • Inbox
  • Snoozed
  • Done
  • Sent
  • Spam
  • Trash
  • Starred
  • Todos
  • Label
  • Settings

Threads

Take actions on a specific open thread, such as:

Triage actions

  • Done / Move to inbox
  • Star / Unstar
  • Manage todos
  • Snooze / Unsnooze
  • Delete
  • Report spam
  • Block spam
  • Follow / Mute
  • Move to

Compose actions

  • Reply
  • Reply all
  • Forward

Other actions

  • Label
  • Open AI Assistant
  • Copy link
  • Mark as unread
  • Mark as important / not important
  • Enable specific experiments

Date picker

Snoozing and scheduling emails in Shortwave is simple with our natural language date picker. You can type phrases into the input field to snooze a thread or schedule a message without ever leaving your keyboard.

Absolute dates

Use a combination of weekdays, months, dates, times, and years, such as:

  • 12/10/2025
  • 2025-12-10 8am
  • Friday
  • 2:15pm
  • March 4, 2025
  • Nov 23rd 2026 3pm

Relative dates

Use relative time inputs when you're not sure of the exact date. Try typing:

  • Lunch tomorrow
  • Midnight
  • Noon
  • EOD
  • Next year
  • Next week
  • This weekend
  • This evening
  • Next Monday

Durations

Input a unit and amount to select a date that is a certain amount of time from now, such as:

  • 2 years
  • Four hours
  • 1 day

Holidays

Type popular holidays to get the corresponding date, including:

  • Halloween
  • New Year's Eve
  • Christmas