Keyboard Shortcuts

Aerion is designed for efficient keyboard navigation. Use these shortcuts to manage your email without touching the mouse.

Global Shortcuts

These work anywhere in the application (unless you're typing in a text field).

Application

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+Q`	Quit application
`Ctrl+N`	Compose new message
`Ctrl+S`	Focus search bar
`Ctrl+Shift+A`	Sync all accounts
`Ctrl+Shift+S`	Sync selected folder
`Ctrl+Tab`	Switch to next extension on the rail (Mail / Contacts / ...)
Ctrl+`	Switch to previous extension on the rail

Shortcut	Action
`Alt+Left` / `Alt+H`	Focus previous pane (viewer -> list -> sidebar)
`Alt+Right` / `Alt+L`	Focus next pane (sidebar -> list -> viewer)

Shortcut	Action
`Alt+Up` / `Alt+K`	Navigate to previous folder
`Alt+Down` / `Alt+J`	Navigate to next folder
`Alt+Enter`	Expand/collapse focused account folder tree
`Alt(L)+Alt(R)`	Brings up context menu for the focused folder

Message Actions (when message is selected/focused)

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+R`	Reply to last message (requires viewed conversation)
`Ctrl+Shift+R`	Reply All to last message (requires viewed conversation)
`Ctrl+F`	Forward last message (requires viewed conversation)
`Ctrl+U`	Mark as read (keyboard-focused or checked messages)
`Ctrl+Shift+U`	Mark as unread (keyboard-focused or checked messages)
`Ctrl+K`	Archive (keyboard-focused or checked messages)
`Ctrl+J`	Mark as spam (keyboard-focused or checked messages)
`Ctrl+L`	Load remote images in viewed message
`Ctrl+Shift+L`	Open "Always Load Images" dropdown
`Shift+F`	Toggle focus mode for the message

Pane-Specific Shortcuts

These shortcuts depend on which pane is focused. They are disabled when typing in input fields.

Shortcut	Action
`Up` / `K`	Navigate to previous folder
`Down` / `J`	Navigate to next folder
`Alt + Enter` / `Space`	Expand/collapse account (when account header is focused)
`Alt(L) + Alt(R)`	Brings up context menu for the focused folder

Message List

Shortcut	Action
`Up` / `K`	Select previous conversation
`Down` / `J`	Select next conversation
`Shift+Up` / `Shift+K`	Select previous + toggle checkbox
`Shift+Down` / `Shift+J`	Select next + toggle checkbox
`Space`	Toggle checkbox on current conversation
`Enter` / `V`	Open selected conversation in viewer
`D`	Delete selected/checked message(s) — move to Trash (same as `Delete`)
`CTRL+A`	Select all messages in folder
`Alt(R)`	Brings up context menu for the selected message(s)

Conversation Viewer

Shortcut	Action
`Up` / `K`	Scroll up
`Down` / `J`	Scroll down
`Tab`	Cycle through messages when focused on conversation viewer
`Delete` / `Backspace`	Delete focused message when focused on conversation viewer
`Ctrl + A`	Select all text of message in viewport
`Alt(R)`	Brings up context menu for the message focused
`F`	Toggles focus mode on the current thread (conversation)

Single-Key Shortcuts

These work when not in an input field. They apply to checked messages (bulk) or the keyboard-focused message in the list.

Shortcut	Action
`S`	Toggle star
`Backspace` / `Delete`	Move to trash
`Shift+Backspace` / `Shift+Delete`	Permanently delete
`Escape`	Clear checkboxes (first press), close conversation (second press)

Composer Shortcuts

These only work when the composer is open.

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+Enter`	Send message
`Alt+T`	Activate/Deactivate toolbar mode
`Alt+A`	Attach a file
`Alt+P`	Toggle PGP security mode (S = sign, E = encrypt)
`Alt+S`	Toggle S/MIME security mode (S = sign, E = encrypt)
`Ctrl+D`	Pop out/detach composer to separate window
`Escape`	Close composer (prompts to save draft if unsaved)

Text Formatting

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+B`	Bold
`Ctrl+I`	Italic
`Ctrl+U`	Underline
`Alt+T`	Toggle toolbar and follow hint to choose

Quick Reference Card

NAVIGATION
  Alt + Arrow Keys    Pane focus (Left/Right) or Folder nav (Up/Down)
  Alt + H/J/K/L       Vim-style: pane (H/L) or folder (J/K)
  Alt(L) + Alt(R)     Brings context menu up for the focused folder
  Alt + Enter         Expand/collapse account
  Ctrl + Tab          Switch to next extension on rail
  Ctrl + `            Switch to previous extension on rail
  Arrow Keys / HJKL   Navigate within focused pane
  Enter               Open conversation / Expand account
  Space               Toggle checkbox / Expand account

COMPOSE & REPLY
  Ctrl + N            New message
  Ctrl + R            Reply
  Ctrl + Shift + R    Reply All
  Ctrl + F            Forward
  Ctrl + Enter        Send (in composer)
  Ctrl + D            Detach composer
  Alt  + T            Toggle format toolbar mode
  Alt + P             PGP mode (S/E to toggle sign/encrypt)
  Alt + S             S/MIME mode (S/E to toggle sign/encrypt)

SELECTION
  Ctrl + A            Select all messages (list) / text (viewer)

MESSAGE ACTIONS
  S                   Star/Unstar
  Ctrl + U            Mark read
  Ctrl + Shift + U    Mark unread
  Ctrl + K            Archive
  Ctrl + J            Spam
  V                   View message
  Delete / D          Trash
  Shift + Delete      Permanent delete
  Alt(R)              Context Menu

OTHER
  Ctrl + Shift + A    Sync all accounts
  Ctrl + Shift + S    Sync selected folder
  Ctrl + S            Search
  Ctrl + L            Load images
  Ctrl + Q            Quit
  Escape              Clear/Close

How Focus Works

Aerion has three main panes:

Sidebar - Account and folder list
Message List - Conversations in the current folder
Conversation Viewer - The selected conversation

A visual indicator shows which pane is focused. Use Alt+Left/Right or Alt+H/L to move focus between panes.

Bulk Selection

To apply actions to multiple messages:

Navigate to a message with J/K
Press Space to check it
Navigate to more messages and check them
Apply an action (e.g., Delete, Ctrl+K for archive)

Or use Shift+J/K to select while navigating.

Press Escape to clear all selections.

Action Priority

When you use an action shortcut:

If any messages are checked, the action applies to all checked messages
Otherwise, the action applies to the keyboard-focused message in the list

This lets you quickly act on single messages or perform bulk operations.

Extensions

Extension shortcuts only fire when the corresponding extension is the active rail pane (selected via Ctrl+Tab / Ctrl+`). They never trigger while Mail is active — so shortcuts that overlap with Mail's (like Ctrl+N, Ctrl+Shift+A, Ctrl+Shift+S) are unambiguous: the active rail decides which handler runs. For example, Ctrl+Shift+A syncs accounts in Mail, syncs all calendar sources in Calendar, and syncs all contact sources in Contacts.

Pane-local navigation (Up/Down/J/K, Enter, Space, Alt+H/L for pane cycling, Alt+Up/Down for sidebar) uses the same kit-shared predicates Mail does — they're listed per-extension below for completeness, but they're not extension-specific re-implementations.

Calendar

Navigation (pane cycling)

Shortcut	Action
`Alt+Left` / `Alt+H`	Focus previous pane
`Alt+Right` / `Alt+L`	Focus next pane

Date / view navigation

Shortcut	Action
`T`	Jump the calendar view to today
`←`	Previous view-unit (prev month / week / day)
`→`	Next view-unit (next month / week / day)
`Alt+M`	Switch to month view
`Alt+W`	Switch to week view
`Alt+D`	Switch to day view
`Alt+A`	Switch to agenda view

Actions

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+N`	Open the new-event composer
`Ctrl+R`	Sync all calendar sources
`Ctrl+Shift+A`	Sync all calendar sources (same chord as Mail's "sync all accounts" — fires whichever handler matches the active rail)
`F`	Toggle focus mode for the selected event

The calendar sidebar uses checkbox toggles per calendar (not single-select navigation), so it doesn't follow the kit's J/K row-cycling pattern. Clicking a checkbox or row in the sidebar toggles visibility.

Contacts

Sidebar navigation (works from any pane)

Mirrors mail's "Folder Navigation" shortcuts. These fire regardless of which contacts pane currently has keyboard focus — so you can scroll through addressbooks while the list or detail pane is focused.

Shortcut	Action
`Alt+Up` / `Alt+K`	Move to previous source / addressbook in the sidebar
`Alt+Down` / `Alt+J`	Move to next source / addressbook in the sidebar

Pane cycling

Shortcut	Action
`Alt+Left` / `Alt+H`	Focus previous pane (detail → list → sidebar)
`Alt+Right` / `Alt+L`	Focus next pane (sidebar → list → detail)

Actions

Shortcut	Action
`E`	Edit the currently-focused contact
`Ctrl+N`	Open the new-contact dialog (pre-targeted to the sidebar-focused addressbook; falls back to local when the focused source isn't writable)
`Ctrl+Shift+A`	Sync all contact sources (same chord as Mail's "sync all accounts" — fires whichever handler matches the active rail)
`Ctrl+Shift+S`	Sync the contact source currently focused in the sidebar (no-op with warning toast when a built-in entry like "All" / "Local" is focused)

Within a focused pane, Up/K and Down/J cycle rows (contact list, sidebar sources) and Enter opens / activates — same kit predicates Mail's list and folder tree use.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Global Shortcuts

Application

Pane Navigation

Folder Navigation

Message Actions (when message is selected/focused)

Pane-Specific Shortcuts

Sidebar (Folder List)

Message List

Conversation Viewer

Single-Key Shortcuts

Composer Shortcuts

Text Formatting

Quick Reference Card

How Focus Works

Bulk Selection

Action Priority

Extensions

Calendar

Contacts

Global Shortcuts​

Application​

Pane Navigation​

Folder Navigation​

Message Actions (when message is selected/focused)​

Pane-Specific Shortcuts​

Sidebar (Folder List)​

Message List​

Conversation Viewer​

Single-Key Shortcuts​

Composer Shortcuts​

Text Formatting​

Quick Reference Card​

How Focus Works​

Bulk Selection​

Action Priority​

Extensions​

Calendar​

Contacts​

Global Shortcuts

Application

Pane Navigation

Folder Navigation

Message Actions (when message is selected/focused)

Pane-Specific Shortcuts

Sidebar (Folder List)

Message List

Conversation Viewer

Single-Key Shortcuts

Composer Shortcuts

Text Formatting

Quick Reference Card

How Focus Works

Bulk Selection

Action Priority

Extensions

Calendar

Contacts