Keyboard shortcuts for Hangouts

Keyboard shortcuts for Hangouts conversations

You can use the keyboard shortcuts while sending messages in Hangouts.

Move between Hangouts windows

Shortcut	Keyboard keys
Move to next Hangout window	Ctrl + .
Move to previous Hangout window	Ctrl + ,
Close the current Hangout window	Esc
Enter or exit the last updated Hangout window (only for Hangouts in Gmail)	Shift + Esc

Format messages

Use the following keyboard shortcuts to add formatting before you type a new message.

Shortcut	Windows	Mac
Bold	Ctrl + b	⌘ + b
Italicise	Ctrl + i	⌘ + i
Underline	Ctrl + u	⌘ + u

Navigation shortcuts

The following shortcuts allow you to navigate quickly. The shortcuts work for Hangouts at hangouts.google.com and in Gmail (if you've turned on keyboard shortcuts in Gmail).

Shortcut	Keyboard keys
Focus on first element in the conversation list	h, then c
Go into phone mode (same as g, then p)	h, then p
Open Hangouts Settings menu	h, then m
Go to Archived Hangouts and focus on first archived Hangout	h, then a
Go to Hangout Invitations and focus on first invitation	h, then i
Go to Hangouts search box (same as q)	h, then q