How to Create E-Mail Shortcuts

Do you regularly send e-mail to the same handful of people? You know: your spouse, your boss, select co-workers, etc. If so, consider creating e-mail shortcuts, which let you compose new messages with nothing more than a mouse-click -- or the press of a hotkey.

The How-To Geek shows you how to create e-mail shortcuts (in Windows). It's a pretty simple process: You simply create a new shortcut on the desktop, plug in the recipient's e-mail address (using the mailto: prefix), and then give the shortcut a name (such as "E-mail Shawna"). You can then delve into the Properties for that shortcut and assign a hotkey, like Ctrl-Alt-S.

I highly recommend the hotkey option. It works no matter what application you're using -- just one press and presto: A new mail window appears, already addressed to your desired recipient.

Make sure to read the full post to learn some advanced tricks, like automatically adding a subject line and/or multiple recipients.