Shortcut to switch between all open Outlook windows and messages

I often have more than one Outlook window open. For instance: the main Outlook window, the Reminders dialog and some emails.

While I could use ALT+TAB to switch between them, the multitude of other application windows which I have open makes it quite cumbersome and also difficult to quickly select the correct one.

Is there an easy way to switch only between the open Outlook windows and messages?

Taskbar and Navigation buttonThe Taskbar in Windows holds some pretty nice secrets and one of them is that you can use keyboard shortcuts to view and cycle through all of the open windows of a specific application.

This trick doesn’t work just for Outlook but any other application as well and unlike many other keyboard shortcuts, this one is quite easy to remember.

Taskbar icon keyboard shortcuts

When Outlook would be for instance be the 3rd application icon on the Taskbar (the icon of the Start Menu doesn’t count and neither does the Cortana search field and Task View button in Windows 10), then you can press the Windows key + 3 on your keyboard to activate that icon and show all its opened windows.

Repeatedly press 3, while still holding the Windows key, to select the Outlook window you want. Release all keys to switch to the selected window.

Quickly switch between Outlook windows with the Windows key + 3. (click on image to enlarge)
Quickly switch between Outlook windows with the Windows key + 3.
(click on image to enlarge)

Extra tips:

When you have Outlook pinned to your Taskbar, then you can also use this method to start Outlook when it is closed.

As this is a Windows feature, it will also work with other applications. You can control the first 10 applications on your Taskbar this way (Windows key + 0 controls the 10th application icon).

Note: For more Outlook keyboard shortcuts see the guide Keyboard shortcuts.

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