41 most useful Microsoft Teams shortcuts you should know for improved productivity

Launched as a direct competitor to Slack, Microsoft Teams has been one of the fastest-growing services in the Redmond giant’s history and is now one of the widely suggested tools for collaboration. Since its launch in 2016, Teams has acquired over 20 million daily active users with powerful features like Office 365 integration, instant messaging, video and audio conferencing, file-sharing, real-time editing, and end-to-end encryption.

Any collaboration tool has to get this one thing right – Accessibility. What that means is all features should be easily accessible to you at your fingertips, or in other words, there should be more than one way a feature can be accessed through. Since most of the work is done on PCs, it’s important for the collaboration tool to have access to all of its sections through keyboard shortcuts.

The following are a list of most useful shortcuts that you can use on Microsoft Teams if you want to be more productive and save time while navigating through the service.

General

The following keyboard shortcuts will allow you to access basic functionalities inside Microsoft Teams with ease.

Shortcut Web – PC (or Mac) Windows Mac
The Search bar at the top
(Follow it up with / or @ for more)
Ctrl/Command + E Ctrl + E Command + E
Show commands Ctrl/Command + / Ctrl + / Command + /
Open filter Ctrl/Command + shift + f Ctrl + shift + f Command + shift + f
Goto Ctrl/Command + g Ctrl + g Command + g
Open apps flyout Ctrl/Command + ` Ctrl + 1 Command + `
Find shortcuts Ctrl/Command + . (Period) Ctrl + . (Period)
Command + . (Period)
Setttings shorcut
(Use arrows keys to continue navigation)
Ctrl/Command + , (Comma) Ctrl + ,(Comma)
Command + , (Comma)
Zoom in or out NA Ctrl + [ + or -] Command + [ + or -]
Resent zoom NA Ctrl + 0 Command + 0

Messaging/Chat

Teams allows you to use shortcuts on your keyboard to start a new chat, compose messages, attach files or reply to a message.

Shortcut Web – PC (or Mac) Windows Mac
Start new chat Ctrl/Command + N Ctrl + N Command + N
Compose a message C C C
Mark a message important Ctrl/Command + Shift + i Ctrl + Shift + X Command + Shift + X
Start a new line Shift + Enter Shift + Enter Shift + Enter
Expand compose box Ctrl/Command + Shift + X Ctrl + Shift + X Command + Shift + X
Send a message Ctrl/Command + Enter Ctrl + Enter Command + Enter
Reply to a message R R R
Attach a file Ctrl/Command + Shift + O Ctrl + O Command + O

Navigation

The keyboard shortcuts listed below will help you navigate across different sections of Microsoft Teams so that you can open the different tabs inside the collaboration tool quickly.

Shortcut Web – PC (or Mac) Windows Mac
Open Activity tab Ctrl/Command + Shift + 1 Ctrl + 1 Command + 1
Open Chat tab Ctrl/Command + Shift + 2 Ctrl + 2 Command + 2
Open Teams tab Ctrl/Command + Shift + 3 Ctrl + 3 Command + 3
Open Calendar tab Ctrl/Command + Shift + 4 Ctrl + 4 Command + 4
Open Calls tab Ctrl/Command + Shift + 5 Ctrl + 5 Command + 5
Move between list items
Left Alt/Left Option + [Up or Down key]
Left Alt + [Up or Down key]
Left Option + [Up or Down key]
Skip to next section Ctrl/Command + F6 Ctrl + F6 Command + F6
Go to previous section Ctrl/Command + F6 + Shift Ctrl + F6 + Shift
Command + F6 + Shift
Move teams Ctrl/Command + Shift + [Up or Down key] Ctrl + Shift + [Up or Down key]
Command + Shift + [Up or Down key]
Toggle Fullscreen Ctrl/Command + Shift + F Ctrl + Shift + F Command + Shift + F

Calls and meetings

Besides navigating within the app, you can also control calls and meetings through keyboard shortcuts on your PC and Mac.

Shortcut Web – PC (or Mac) Windows Mac
Toggle Background Blur in a video call Ctrl/Command + Shift + P Ctrl + Shift + P Command + Shift + P
Schedule a meeting Ctrl/Command + Shift + N Ctrl + Shift + N Option + Shift + N
Save/send a meeting request Ctrl/Command + S Ctrl + S Command + S
Join a meeting Ctrl/Command + Shift + J Ctrl + Shift + J Option + Shift + J
Accept a video call Ctrl/Command + Shift + A Ctrl + Shift + A Command + Shift + A
Accept an audio call Ctrl/Command + Shift + S Ctrl + Shift + S Command + Shift + S
Start a view call Ctrl/Command + Shift + U Ctrl + Shift + U Command + Shift + U
Start an audio call Ctrl/Command + Shift + C Ctrl + Shift + C Command + Shift + C
Reject a call Ctrl/Command + Shift + D Ctrl + Shift + D Command + Shift + D
Share your screen Ctrl/Command + Shift + E Ctrl + Shift + E Command + Shift + E
Accept screen share Ctrl/Command + Shift + A Ctrl + Shift + A Command + Shift + A
Reject screen share Ctrl/Command + Shift + D Ctrl + Shift + D Command + Shift + D
Mute/unmute a call Ctrl/Command + Shift + M Ctrl + Shift + M Command + Shift + M
Toggle Video ON/OFF Ctrl/Command + Shift + O Ctrl + Shift + O Command + Shift + O

Did you know the aforementioned shortcuts to use on Microsoft Teams? Let us know in the comments below.

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Ajaay

Ambivalent, unprecedented, and on the run from everyone's idea of reality. A consonance of love for filter coffee, cold weather, Arsenal, AC/DC, and Sinatra.