Forum Discussion
'C' keyboard shortcut no longer works
I use Outlook in a web browser, primarily Chrome, but sometimes Edge. There is a keyboard shortcut 'C' to assign a category to a message. About a week or two ago this shortcut stopped working when I am reading a message. It still works in the InBox screen. And it still works if I set my Reading Pane option to 'Show on the right' or 'Show on the bottom'. But if I set Reading Pane to 'Hide' -- which is what I like -- the 'C' shortcut does not work.
I have verified this behaviour in Chrome and Edge on Windows, and also in Safari on MacOS.
The 'C' shortcut is super convenient. Can I please have it back? 🙂
9 Replies
Hi RRGMitchell
Happy workday to you. I am an independent advisor and investigated your issue.
I completed a test in both Edge and Chrome; and found that it works in the latest Office 365 Outlook Online even when the reading pane is hidden. 
Double-check if you have Outlook shortcuts enabled.
I also found a Microsoft article stating that the shortcut had stopped working in the Outlook 2019 app in March 2019. The resolution is to update your app.
File > Office Account > Update Options > Update Now.
Also, try clearing your browser history for the last two weeks. Maybe you had some unwanted gremlins.
Please like or choose the best response to help other users if you find this information helpful.
Teresa
#traccreations4e
- Hi again Teresa,
I've just taken a closer look at the first, animated, screenshot that you posted. In that screenshot I can now see that you are not doing what I am trying to do. The screenshot shows the *message list* screen. What I am trying to do - and what used to work - is to use the C shortcut when you are actually reading the contents of a message.
That is, from the screen you showed, double-click a message subject to open up the message's contents, The contents replaces the message list on the screen. Now try 'C' to categorise the message. That used to work, and doesn't now. And neither do the 'B' and 'V' shortcuts. All of these shortcuts are listed in the 'help' screen that comes up when you press '?'.
Best wishes,
RonJust a quick note to say, today is the US 4th of July holiday. I will review these new details and respond tomorrow.
I have a feeling that this is by design since the Categorize and Snooze are listed in the top menu. Again, I want to investigate a little bit more.
Stay tuned.
Hi Teresa,
Thanks for looking into my problem. It's very weird that you reckon the shortcut still works when the Reading Pane is hidden. It certainly doesn't for me.
The similar issue in the Outlook app is interesting, but of course it doesn't help me. There is no 'app' to update when I'm accessing Outlook in the browser, is there?
And browser caching seems unlikely, especially since I get the same behaviour on all the browsers I have tried. And, as mentioned, even in Safari running on a MacBook.
In fact I've found that two other keyboard shortcuts also do not work in hidden Reading Pane, the 'B' and 'V' keys. It is especially weird that those three keys are next to each other on a conventional Western keyboard! It's not the keyboard, of course, since it's the same using my laptop's keyboard, an external USB keyboard, and the MacBook's keyboard.
I've just had to change to using the Reading Pane, which is a pain, as it leaves me with less screen space for message contents and I have rather poor eyesight.
Thanks for trying and best wishes,
Ron
PS I had 'Outlook.com' shortcuts configured. I switched to 'Outlook' shortcuts but it has made no difference.
