Create a global shortcut for “New Message” for Mail in OS X Lion

Question

How could I create a key shortcut in OS X Lion so when I am using Safari, I type these keys and inmediately a "New Message" window from Mail.app shows up?

Answer 1

You have several options how to do this without third party software.

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The easiest way is to create a Service in Automator:

Open Automator, create a new Service that receives no input in any application and add a single New Mail Message action. Customize some field (e.g. recipient) you want to set default values for.

Save as any name, and it's available in every application's Services menu. Assign a keyboard shortcut in System Preferences » Keyboard » Keyboard Shortcuts » Services.

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Another options is AppleScript:

tell application "Mail"
    activate
    make new outgoing message with properties {visible:true}
end tell

This uses Mail's API that behaves slightly differently than the UI in Lion with full-screen mode. You have most flexibility using AppleScript if you have additional requirements, but it's more difficult.

Open Automator like described above, and create a Service with a single Run AppleScript action. Paste the code into its text box.

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The Services menu already has several services related to email by default, you just need to assign keyboard shortcuts:

• New Email To Address (when an email address in text is selected)
• New Email With Attachment (when a file is selected)
• New Email With Selection (when some text is selected)

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If you use an application launcher such as Quicksilver, LaunchBar, or Alfred, they might have this functionality already. For example, in LaunchBar, it's called New Mail Message.

Answer 2

Alfred (with the Powerpack) provides an easy way to assign shortcuts to scripts as well: