Tired of endlessly scrolling through a long list of mailboxes just to find your favorite folders? Looking for a faster way to move and organize your emails? Find out here how to add and use shortcuts to favorite folders in Apple Mail for Mac — and speed up your email workflow.
First, Look at the Sea
To measure the strength of the wind, look at the sea.
This is the idea behind Sir Francis Beaufort’s uniquely useful scale for gauging wind not by its effect on some artificial instrument but by what it does to the naturally at hand. Consequently, you can now also tell the winds in Beauforts with access to nothing but trees, smoke and loose paper perhaps.
Now, back at a MacBook, you can jump to favorite folders with access to nothing but a keyboard, for instance — on a scale from 1–9. Are you… blown away yet?
How to Add Shortcuts to Favorite Folders in Apple Mail for Mac
Time needed: 1 minute
To make any folder easily accessible as a favorite in Apple Mail for Mac on macOS:
- Click on the folder you want to add to your favorites with the right mouse button in the Mail sidebar.
No sidebar: If you do not see the sidebar, select View | Show Sidebar from the menu or click Mailboxes in the favorites bar.
Sidebar keyboard shortcut: You can also press Command Control S to toggle sidebar display. - Select Add to Favorites from the context menu that has appeared.
Using Dragging and Dropping
With the side or favorites bar visible in Mail, you can also add and organize favorite folder using dragging and dropping:
- Drag and drop any folder to either the favorites bar or the Favorites section in the sidebar.
Access Favorite Folders in Mail for Mac
Using Apple Mail for Mac Keyboard Shortcuts
To open a favorite folder fast in Apple Mail for Mac using the keyboard alone:
- Press Command together with the ordinal number (from 1 to 9) corresponding to its position in favorites.
Whence the position: Numbers start with 1 for the topmost folder in the sidebar under Favorites or the leftmost folder in the favorites bar.
Beyond “9”: You can access favorite folders not among the first nine using the sidebar or the favorites bar.
Example: Press Command 3 to go to the third favorite folder.
Using the Menu
You can also visit the first nine folders selecting Mailbox | Go to Favorite Mailbox | <Mailbox name> from the menu.
Using the Mouse
To visit favorite folders quickly with mouse or trackpad:
- Click the folder in the Favorites section in the Mail sidebar.
Sidebar: Press Command Control S to show (or hide) the sidebar. - Click the desired folder in the favorites bar.
Favorites: Press Command Option Shift H to toggle the favorites bar (if you are adequately adept at finger acrobatics) or select View | Show Favorites Bar (or View | Hide Favorites Bar) from the menu.
Move Mail Using a Mail for Mac Keyboard Shortcut
To move messages to a favorite folder in Mail for Mac:
- Open the email you want to move.
More than one: You can also select all messages you want to move in bulk, e.g., in a folder. - Press Command Control together with the ordinal number (from 1 to 9) that corresponds to the folder’s position in the list of favorites.
Example: Press Command Control 3 to move the email or emails to the third folder.
How to Add Shortcuts to Favorite Folders in Apple Mail for Mac: FAQ
Can I also make a folder with sub-folders a favorite?
Yes.
If you add a folder with sub-folders to your favorites in Mail, you can access all sub-folders as well as the parent in both the sidebar and the favorites bar. The keyboard shortcut for the favorite will access the folder last picked from the favorites bar drop-down menu.
(Tested with macOS Tahoe 26.0 and Sequoia 15.0–15.5; first published October 2024, last updated November 2025)