Replying quickly and to the right people is half of good email etiquette. These three shortcuts cover almost every response you'll ever send.
Ctrl+Shift+R
Step by step
- Select the message in your inbox.
- Press Ctrl+Shift+R to reply all, or Ctrl+R to reply only to the sender.
- Write your reply.
- Press Ctrl+Enter to send.
Tips & troubleshooting
- Check the To and Cc lines before sending a reply all; not everyone needs every message.
- Ctrl+F forwards the message to someone new.
Reply or Reply All?
- Reply All when everyone on the message needs your answer to do their job: a decision, a changed date, information the group asked for.
- Reply when your answer matters only to the sender: thanks, I'll be there, a private question.
- If only two or three of the group need it, Reply All and then delete the others from the To and Cc lines.
- Never Reply All to a message sent to a large distribution list to say please remove me. That is how reply-all storms start.
What the reply includes
- Everyone in the original To and Cc lines, plus the sender.
- Not Bcc recipients. Their names are hidden from you. If you were the one in Bcc and you Reply All, your reply goes to the visible recipients and reveals that you were copied in.
- Not attachments. A reply leaves them off; Forward (Ctrl+F) keeps them. If a new person needs the file, forward the message or attach it again.
- The earlier messages in the thread, quoted beneath your reply.
Related shortcuts
- Ctrl+R replies to the sender only.
- Ctrl+F forwards.
- Ctrl+Alt+R replies with a meeting request to everyone on the email, in classic Outlook. Useful when a thread has gone on too long.
- Ctrl+Enter sends.
Protect people from reply-all
When you send to a large group, put the addresses in the Bcc line and your own in To. Nobody can Reply All to a list they can't see. Many organisations also add a reminder or a limit for messages with many recipients.
On a Mac the shortcut is Cmd+Shift+R.