Keyboard shortcuts

Swanmail is designed to be usable without leaving the keyboard.

Configurable shortcuts

Open Settings → Keyboard shortcuts to customize the single-key shortcuts below. Defaults are shown in parentheses.

Action	Default key
All Inboxes view	1
Unread view	2
Starred view	3
Drafts view	4
Sent view	5
Collapse or expand the sidebar	⌃⌘S (Ctrl+Shift+S on Windows and Linux); any combination with a modifier, such as ⌘B
Reply	r
Reply all	a
Forward	f
Archive	e
Mark as junk	!
Toggle read / unread	u
Star / unstar	s
Delete	#
Compose new message	c
Select / deselect row	x

Delete and Backspace delete too, beside whatever key you give Delete: they act on the selected messages, or on the open message when nothing is selected. They cannot be changed.

In a window narrower than 1000 px, the sidebar shows as a rail of icons, whatever you chose. Its shortcut then opens it until the window is wide again.

The sidebar's shortcut takes a combination, not a single key: in Settings → Keyboard shortcuts, click Edit beside Show or hide the sidebar and press it, or Reset for ⌃⌘S. It works only inside Swanmail. A combination with one modifier, such as ⌘B, does nothing in a text field, where it may be bold. Combinations the app or the system already uses, such as ⌘K or ⌘C, are refused.

Show or hide Swanmail from any app

On Windows and macOS you can give Swanmail a system-wide shortcut, such as Ctrl+Alt+M (⌃⌥M on a Mac). Open Settings → Keyboard shortcuts, click Record under From any app and press the combination; it needs Ctrl or Alt (on a Mac also ⌘). The shortcut works while another app is in front: it brings Swanmail's window forward, and when the window is already in front, it hides it. None is set until you record one. If another app already uses the combination, Settings says so and keeps the shortcut you had.

Global shortcuts

These shortcuts work everywhere and are not currently configurable:

Shortcut	Action
⌘K	Open command palette
⌘F	Focus search (Ctrl+F on Windows and Linux)
/	Focus search
⌘,	Open settings
?	Show keyboard shortcuts help
Esc	Close modal / clear selection

Compose has no modifier shortcut of its own — use the configurable c.

Message actions

Shortcut	Action
z	Undo the last delete, archive, move or junk while its toast is showing
l	Open the tag picker for the selected message

z is live only while the undo toast is on screen. l can be changed in Settings → Keyboard shortcuts under Tag message.

Message list

Shortcut	Action
j / ↓	Next message
k / ↑	Previous message
Page Down / Ctrl+F	One page down the list
Page Up / Ctrl+B	One page up the list
gg / Home	First message
G / End	Last loaded message; the list then loads the next page
x	Select or deselect the focused row
⇧J / ⇧↓	Extend the selection one row down
⇧K / ⇧↑	Extend the selection one row up
⌘A	Select every row loaded so far (Ctrl+A on Windows and Linux)
Space	Open the selected message in its own reader window
Esc	Clear the current multi-selection; with none, give the keys back to the list after a click in the reading pane, and go back to the list when the reading pane is off

Multi-selection works from the keyboard and the mouse alike. x is the Gmail key and is configurable under Settings → Keyboard shortcuts; ⇧J and ⇧K extend from the row where the selection began, exactly as ⇧-click extends from the last clicked row, and the anchor stays put while you keep extending. With the mouse, ⌘-click (Ctrl-click on Windows and Linux) adds or removes a single row.

A page is the number of rows the list shows at once. Ctrl+F and Ctrl+B use the Control key on every platform, as in vim. After you click in the reading pane, the message body included, the arrows, Space and the paging keys scroll the message, ⌘A (Ctrl+A) selects its text, and Ctrl+F focuses search; j and k still move through the list. Esc, or a click in the list, gives the keys back to the list. g, G and / stay with an action if you give that key to one in Settings → Keyboard shortcuts.

Date headers are not rows: j and k skip over them, and neither ⇧J nor ⌘A can select one.

While a selection is up, the message action keys — archive, delete, star, read/unread and junk — act on the whole selection rather than on the message the reading pane is showing, as does Move to … in the command palette. Esc clears the selection and hands the keys back to the open message.

Compose

Shortcut	Action
⌘↩	Send the message (Ctrl+↩ on Windows and Linux)
⌘⇧↩	In a reply, send and archive the message you answered (Ctrl+Shift+↩)
⌘⇧O	Move the message you are writing into a window of its own (Ctrl+Shift+O)
⌘⇧⌫	Discard the draft; the toast that follows can undo it (Ctrl+Shift+Backspace)
⌘⌥1 – ⌘⌥3	Heading 1 to 3 (Ctrl+Alt+1 – Ctrl+Alt+3)
⌘⇧H	Toggle highlight (Ctrl+Shift+H)

Shortcuts are context-aware and shown in the in-app Shortcuts Help panel (?).