Troubleshooting keyboard shortcut issue in Outlook: New Email Message

Desmond W 11

This morning my keyboard shortcut to create a new email message (Ctrl+shift+m) suddenly stopped working. I don't believe it is my keyboard as I"ve tried it with both the tablet keyboard and a BT keyboard. Other Outlook keyboard shortcuts are working normal (new appointment, new task, new contact, etc), as well as the shortcuts to navigate to other functions (Ctrl+1 for mail, Ctrl+2 for calendar, etc). Is it possible that I inadvertently turned off the new email shortcut? Rebooting has not resolved either.

I use the Office 16 desktop version of Outlook.
Windows 10
Dell Latitude tablet

Thanks,
Desmond

John Faughnan 11 Reputation points

2021-10-27T13:30:26.973+00:00

A colleague and I have the same issue. We are both on gov computers with standard configurations. Other colleagues do not have any problem. It started around the 13th for us as well.
Jesse Potter 11 Reputation points

2021-10-27T22:44:47.933+00:00

I have the same issue. Started a couple weeks ago for me too.
Yuki Sun-MSFT 40,856 Reputation points

2021-10-28T01:31:16.477+00:00

Hi @John Faughnan and @Jesse Potter ,

May I know if you are also running Outlook 2016 on Windows 10? If possible, would you mind collecting the detailed build number of both Outlook(File > Office Account > About Outlook)and Windows OS(Press Win+R, type"winver", press Enter.) so that we can see a particular version of OS or Outlook client is involved.

By the way, are you using Dell Latitude tablet as well?

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John Faughnan 11 Reputation points

2021-10-29T18:46:23.293+00:00

I'm using Outlook for Microsoft 365 government version. Version 2102 (Build 13801.21004) 16.0.
Win 10 12H1 build 19043.1288

PS. I had to retype those numbers, I don't see a way to copy/paste. Sometimes I miss DOS 3.1.

Using HP ProBook. Not Dell.
Yuki Sun-MSFT 40,856 Reputation points

2021-11-02T05:35:42.577+00:00

Thanks @John Faughnan for sharing the version information. I just tried installing the same build of Office for Microsoft 365 as yours but on a different version of Win 10, based on my test, "Ctrl+shift+m" still works on my side:

And by "Win 10 12H1", you are referring to "Win 10 21H1", right? According to the build numbers, both your Office fro Microsoft 365 and Win 10 OS have been patched with updates released around October 12, 2021, so wondering does it match the time you first noticed the Outlook shortcut key(Ctrl+shift+m) issue?
John Faughnan 11 Reputation points

2021-11-04T13:15:49.113+00:00

Yes, was around the time of that update. Ctrl-Shift-M works on another machine I use. I may try outlook repair.
John Faughnan 11 Reputation points

2021-11-04T13:18:31.41+00:00

and.... without doing anything ... today ctrl-shift-m works again! My Outlook build number has not changed.
Yuki Sun-MSFT 40,856 Reputation points

2021-11-05T01:29:07.41+00:00

Hi @John Faughnan ，

and.... without doing anything ... today ctrl-shift-m works again! My Outlook build number has not changed.

Kinda weird... But great to know that it's working again : )
John Faughnan 11 Reputation points

2021-11-05T13:15:45.933+00:00

And after today's restart it's back to not working :-). Just like our other poster, it's off and on. So weird. I only know of one other colleague who has this problem but we're not a tech proficient org so few use even this basic a kb shortcut.
John Faughnan 11 Reputation points

2021-11-10T17:34:27.787+00:00

Teams uses Ctrl-Shift-M to mute and unmute microphone. I wonder if Teams is stealing the keyboard combination even when Outlook is the active application.
John Faughnan 11 Reputation points

2021-11-10T17:58:00.85+00:00

This is a bug with Teams stealing Ctrl-Shift-M even when it's not in focus. I fully quit Teams and Ctrl-Shift-M works again.
Desmond W 11 Reputation points

2021-11-11T03:10:45.697+00:00

Ctrl+shift+m is back to working for me again too, I think it was late last week actually. I do wonder if Teams has something to do with it. I generally have it open all the time, even this week with the shortcut working again for me. If it is Teams, maybe they pushed an update to the app that resolved our issue with Outlook. In any case, it seems like it's been fixed for me.
Yuki Sun-MSFT 40,856 Reputation points

2021-11-11T05:14:44.293+00:00

Hi @Desmond W ,

Thanks for the update and glad to know that Ctrl+shift+m is back to work again.

Hi @John Faughnan ,

Thanks for sharing the findings here! Checking the shortcuts for Teams, "Ctrl-Shift-M" is indeed listed as the shortcut for toggling mute:

But when testing from my side, I failed to reproduce the issue although I was aslo have both Teams and Outlook open all the time. In case as mentioned earlier by Desmond it was related to any update to the app, you may try checking for and installing all the available updates on your end and see if you are able to use the shortcut while Teams is running. Below are the app versions of mine for your reference:
John Faughnan 11 Reputation points

2021-12-17T14:10:55.457+00:00

The problem resolved as mysteriously as it appeared. I'm guessing some software update fixed it.

1 answer

Yuki Sun-MSFT 40,856 Reputation points

2021-10-14T02:17:04.267+00:00

Hi @Desmond W ,

I use the Office 16 desktop version of Outlook.
Windows 10
Dell Latitude tablet

Sorry that I don't have a same Dell Latitude tablet to check the result, but when checking on my PC with Outlook 2016 running on Windows 10, "CTRL+Shift+M" still works for me. And reading this document, "CTRL+Shift+M" is still listed as the shortcut keys for creating a new mail.

For your situation, was there any change made on the device right before the issue occurred? Have you installed any new software which might have a hotkey conflict with Outlook?

Besides, instead of using "CTRL+Shift+M", an alternative we can use is to press "Ctrl+N" (when in Mail view) to create a new message. And if you would like to create a new mail when in another view, we can quickly swich to Mail view by pressing Ctrl+1 and then use Ctrl+N to create a new message.

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Yuki Sun-MSFT 40,856 Reputation points

2021-10-17T23:36:57.303+00:00

Hi @Desmond W ,

Just checking in to follow up with this thread. If you have any questions or need further help on this issue, please feel free to post back.

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Desmond W 11 Reputation points

2021-10-18T14:12:34.217+00:00

Thank you for the reply. There haven't been any changes which I'm aware of. At first I wondered if I inadverdently disbled the shortcut with a combination of keystrokes, but nothing has turned up in my search. I suppose it's possible that something was forced to my machine by our IT dept, I might check with them if the problem doesn't go away. What's weird is that the CTRL+Shift+M shortcut returned shortly after making this post, and the problem returned again a day later. Thank you for the Ctrl+N suggestion while in mail.
Desmond

Yuki Sun-MSFT 40,856 Reputation points

2021-10-19T01:29:36.12+00:00

Hi @Desmond W ，

Thanks for sharing the current status of the issue.

Additionally, in order to further investigate if it's due to any software conflicts, it's suggested to perform a Windows clean boot at your convenience and see if the CTRL+Shift+M shortcut can return, see How to perform a clean boot in Windows.

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Yuki Sun-MSFT 40,856 Reputation points

2021-10-22T06:38:21.547+00:00

Hi @Desmond W ，

Just wondering how things are going on with this issue. Should there's anything else regarding this issue I can do to help, you can feel free to let me know.

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Desmond W 11 Reputation points

2021-10-29T15:27:21.853+00:00

The problem still exists. This thread has received additional comments reporting the same behavior around the same time. I hesitate to get my IT dept involved for issues like this, and I do not have admin privileges to run the clean boot you recommended earlier.

Yuki Sun-MSFT 40,856 Reputation points

2021-11-02T05:46:43.963+00:00

Hi @Desmond W ，

May I know when did you first notice this issue? Was it at around Oct 13th when you posted this thread? And in order to eliminate whether the issue is related to a particular build of Win OS or Office version, could you help check the version of your Outlook(File > Office Account > About Outlook) and Windows OS(Press Win + R, type "winver", press Enter.)?
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