Home·Keyboard shortcuts

Gmail · Search mail

Navigation

Windows · Linux

/

Mac

/

Both systems use the same combination.

Puts the cursor in the mail search box. It is a single character, so with the focus in a message body you get that character typed into your text instead of a search.

Group
Navigation
Keys held
1

Most Gmail shortcuts do nothing until you turn Keyboard shortcuts on in Settings — while it is off, the single-letter keys simply have no effect.

Reading the key names

  • Keys joined by + are pressed together: Ctrl+Shift+P means hold Ctrl and Shift, then P.
  • On a Mac, Cmd is ⌘, Option is ⌥ (labelled Alt on some keyboards), Control is ⌃ and Shift is ⇧.
  • Windows Ctrl usually becomes Cmd on a Mac, but not always — this reference lists both combinations separately.
  • With a Korean, Japanese or Chinese input method active, shortcuts built on letter keys may not fire. Switch to Latin input and try again.
  • When a combination does nothing, another program has often claimed it as a global shortcut first.

Common questions

Q. What is the shortcut for Search mail in Gmail?

Puts the cursor in the mail search box. It is a single character, so with the focus in a message body you get that character typed into your text instead of a search. It is / on Windows and / on a Mac.

Q. Is it the same on Windows and Mac?

Yes, / on both.

Q. How many keys is that?

1 pressed together. The combination sits under Navigation in Gmail.

Shortcuts nearby