How to Quickly Compose a New Email Message

If you are to compose a new email message to someone, you’ll probably launch the mail program first, wait for the Inbox to load and will then hit the Compose button. That’s like 3 steps to open a blank new message.

Gmail Compose Shortcut

There’s a faster way though that will completely skip the Inbox.

Go to the address bar of your web browser, type “mailto:” and hit the Enter key. The command will launch the message compose window directly in your default mail program but without loading your mailbox in the background (see GIF).

You may also include additional arguments in the mailto: command to automatically fill the various message fields.

Amit Agarwal

Amit Agarwal

Google Developer Expert, Google Cloud Champion

Amit Agarwal is a Google Developer Expert in Google Workspace and Google Apps Script. He holds an engineering degree in Computer Science (I.I.T.) and is the first professional blogger in India.

Amit has developed several popular Google add-ons including Mail Merge for Gmail and Document Studio. Read more on Lifehacker and YourStory

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Awards & Titles

Digital Inspiration has won several awards since it's launch in 2004.

Google Developer Expert

Google Developer Expert

Google awarded us the Google Developer Expert award recogizing our work in Google Workspace.

ProductHunt Golden Kitty

ProductHunt Golden Kitty

Our Gmail tool won the Lifehack of the Year award at ProductHunt Golden Kitty Awards in 2017.

Microsoft MVP Alumni

Microsoft MVP Alumni

Microsoft awarded us the Most Valuable Professional (MVP) title for 5 years in a row.

Google Cloud Champion

Google Cloud Champion

Google awarded us the Champion Innovator title recognizing our technical skill and expertise.

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