Take advantage of Outlook's keyboard shortcuts
Mousing around Outlook takes far too much time. Using the keyboard for common tasks is your quickest way to productivity. The following shortcuts will help you with just about anything you do in Outlook.
General shortcuts
| Ctrl-1 | Go to Mail |
| Ctrl-2 | Go to Calendar |
| Ctrl-3 | Go to Contacts |
| Ctrl-4 | Go to Tasks |
| Ctrl-5 | Go to Notes |
| Ctrl-6 | Go to the Folder List in the Navigation Pane |
| Ctrl-7 | Go to Shortcuts |
| Ctrl-. (period) | Go to the next message (when you have a message open) |
| Ctrl-, (comma) | Go to the previous message (when you have a message open) |
| F6 or Ctrl-Shift-Tab | Move between the Navigation Pane, the main Outlook window, the Reading Pane, and the To-Do Bar |
| Tab | Move between the main Outlook window, the smaller panes in the Navigation Pane, the Reading Pane, and the sections in the To-Do Bar |
| Arrow keys | Move around within the Navigation Pane |
| Ctrl-Y | Go to a different folder |
| F3 or Ctrl-E | Go to the Search box |
| Alt-Up arrow or Ctrl-, (comma) or Alt-Page Up | In the Reading Pane, go to the previous message |
| Alt-Down arrow or Ctrl-. (period) or Alt-Page Down | In the Reading Pane, go to the next message |
| Left arrow or Right arrow | Collapse or expand a folder in the Navigation Pane |
| Alt-B, Alt-Left arrow | Go back to the previous view in main Outlook window |
| Alt-Right arrow | Go forward to the next view in main Outlook window |
| Ctrl-Shift-W | Select the InfoBar and, if available, show the menu of commands |
Creating items
| Ctrl-Shift-A | Create an appointment |
| Ctrl-Shift-C | Create a contact |
| Ctrl-Shift-L | Create a distribution list |
| Ctrl-Shift-X | Create a fax |
| Ctrl-Shift-E | Create a folder |
| Ctrl-Shift-J | Create a Journal entry |
| Ctrl-Shift-Q | Create a meeting request |
| Ctrl-Shift-M | Create an e-mail message |
| Ctrl-Shift-N | Create a note |
| Ctrl-Shift-H | Create a new Microsoft Office document |
| Ctrl-Shift-S | Post to this folder |
| Ctrl-T | Post a reply in this folder |
| Ctrl-Shift-P | Create a Search Folder |
| Ctrl-Shift-K | Create a task |
| Ctrl-Shift-U | Create a task request |
E-mail shortcuts
| Ctrl-Shift-I | Go to In-box |
| Ctrl-Shift-O | Go to Out-box |
| Alt-S or Ctrl-Enter | Send |
| Ctrl-P | |
| Ctrl-R | Reply to a message |
| Ctrl-Shift-R | Reply all to a message |
| Ctrl-F | Forward a message |
| Ctrl-Alt-F | Forward as attachment |
| Ctrl-Alt-J | Mark a message as not junk |
| Ctrl-Shift-I | Display blocked external content (in a message) |
| Ctrl-Shift-S | Post to a folder |
| Ctrl-Shift-N | Apply Normal style |
| Ctrl-M or F9 | Check for new messages |
| Up arrow | Go to the previous message |
| Down arrow | Go to the next message |
| Ctrl-N | Create a new message (when in Mail) |
| Ctrl-Shift-M | Create a new message (from any Outlook view) |
| Ctrl-O | Open a message |
| Ctrl-Shift-B | Open the Address Book |
| Insert | Add a Quick Flag to an unopened message |
| Ctrl-Shift-G | Display the Flag for Follow Up dialog box |
| Ctrl-Q | Mark a message as read |
| Ctrl-U | Mark a message as unread |
| F4 | Find or replace in an open message |
| Shift-F4 | Find next in an open message |
| Alt-Enter | Show the properties for the selected item |
| Ctrl-B | Display Send/Receive progress |
There are plenty more shortcuts -- you can see the rest at Microsoft's Outlook 2007 site.