Zero for Outlook (Firefox & Chrome Extension)

Zero for Outlook adds configurable keyboard shortcuts and extends functionality of Outlook on the web, making it more efficient and enjoyable to use.

Caution

These extensions are still in early beta and are under active development. Expect breaking changes. Use at your own risk and so on.

Tip

Find a bug? Open an issue.

Note

The docs including this README are extremely out of date. A docs site is currently being created. And will be updated at the docs site

What it does

Zero for Outlook provides a comprehensive set of keyboard shortcuts and features to enhance your Outlook web experience:

Core Shortcuts

• Undo archive shortcut (default: Z)

  • Triggers Outlook's built-in Undo after archiving or moving a message
  • Configurable via the options page
  • Only active when you're not typing in an input/textarea/editor

• Command bar (default: Cmd/Ctrl + K)

  • Superhuman-style command palette for quick access to all features
  • Search and execute commands with keyboard navigation
  • Press Esc or click outside to close

Vim-Style Navigation

When enabled, provides Vim-like navigation for folders and messages:

• h (or l from the message list) focuses and "pins" the left sidebar/folder list
• While pinned, j / k move up and down items in the sidebar
• Press l from the sidebar to move into the message list; then j / k move between messages
• In the message list, Shift + j / Shift + k act like Shift + ↓ / Shift + ↑, extending the current selection so you can select multiple messages at once
• All vim keys are ignored while typing in inputs, textareas, or rich-text editors
• Default is on, can be toggled from the options page

Snooze Overlay

• Press s when a message is selected to open a beautiful overlay menu for snoozing or unsnoozing
• In regular views, shows options to snooze: Later today, Tomorrow, This weekend, Next week, and Choose a date
• In the Scheduled folder, shows an Unsnooze option to move messages back to the Inbox
• Navigate with j / k, select with Enter, and close with Esc or s
• Displays concrete times (e.g., "5:00 AM", "Wed 8:00 AM") when Outlook provides them

Command Bar Actions

The command bar (Cmd/Ctrl + K) provides quick access to:

• Message Actions

  • Undo last action
  • Summarize current email (requires Gemini API key)
  • Unsubscribe (finds and clicks unsubscribe links)
  • Snooze presets (Later today, Tomorrow, This weekend, Next week)
  • Unsnooze

• Navigation

  • Focus sidebar
  • Focus message list
  • Open Calendar
  • Open Inbox/Mail
  • Open Bookings
  • Open To Do
  • Open Outlook settings

• Extension Settings

  • Toggle dark mode
  • Toggle celebration (inbox zero overlay)
  • Hide/show Outlook options bar
  • Open Zero for Outlook options page
  • Add custom shortcut (element picker)

• Custom Shortcuts

  • All your custom shortcuts appear in the command bar
  • Can be executed directly from the command bar

AI Features (Optional)

• Email Summarization (requires Gemini API key)

  • Uses Google's Gemini API to summarize email conversations
  • Focuses on key decisions, requests, dates, and next steps
  • Accessible via command bar or shortcut

• AI Title Editing (requires Gemini API key)

  • When creating custom shortcuts, optionally use AI to generate better names and descriptions
  • Helps format keyboard shortcut names for UI elements
  • Can be toggled on/off in options

Custom Shortcuts

• Create keyboard shortcuts for any button or element on screen
• Use the element picker (accessible from command bar) to select elements
• Optionally use AI to generate better names and descriptions
• All custom shortcuts appear in the command bar
• Manage all custom shortcuts from the options page

Additional Features

• Dark Mode: Glassy, dark theme for overlays and options page
• Inbox Zero Celebration: Optional fireworks/celebration overlay when your inbox reaches zero
• Options Bar Toggle: Hide/show Outlook's options bar and header for a cleaner interface
• Multi-select Support: Use Shift+j/k in vim mode to select multiple messages

Privacy / Data Collection

• The extension never collects or sends any email content or browsing data
• There is no analytics or telemetry and no external network requests from the extension code (except when using optional AI features)
• AI Features: When using Gemini API features (email summarization or AI title editing), your content is sent to Google's Gemini API. This requires you to provide your own API key, which is stored locally in your browser's extension storage
• The only data stored locally is:
  • Your chosen shortcuts (undo, command bar)
  • Feature toggles (vim navigation, dark mode, inbox zero, options bar, AI title editing)
  • Custom shortcuts configuration
  • Gemini API key (if provided, stored locally only)

Supported Domains

The extension is scoped to Outlook web only:

• https://outlook.live.com/*
• https://outlook.office.com/*
• https://outlook.office365.com/*

Installation

Loading in Chrome (Developer Mode)

1. Clone or download this repository
2. Run bun install to install dependencies
3. Run bun run build to build the extension
4. Open Chrome and navigate to chrome://extensions
5. Enable Developer mode (top-right toggle)
6. Click Load unpacked and select the dist/chrome folder
7. Open Outlook on the web in a tab and start using the shortcuts

Loading in Firefox (Temporary Add-on)

1. Clone or download this repository
2. Run bun install to install dependencies
3. Run bun run build to build the extension
4. Open Firefox and navigate to about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox
5. Click Load Temporary Add-on…
6. Select the manifest.json file in the dist/firefox folder
7. Open Outlook on the web and start using the shortcuts

Building for Distribution

Run bun run package to create distribution-ready zip files:

• dist/zero-for-outlook-chrome.zip
• dist/zero-for-outlook-firefox.zip

Project Structure

zero-for-outlook/
├── src/
│   ├── background/
│   │   └── index.js          # Background script (handles API calls, options page opening)
│   ├── contentScript/
│   │   ├── core/             # Core functionality
│   │   │   ├── browserApi.js
│   │   │   ├── dom.js
│   │   │   ├── initialization.js
│   │   │   ├── keyboardHandler.js
│   │   │   ├── messageList.js
│   │   │   ├── settings.js
│   │   │   └── shortcuts.js
│   │   ├── features/         # Feature modules
│   │   │   ├── commandBar.js      # Command bar overlay
│   │   │   ├── darkMode.js        # Dark theme management
│   │   │   ├── elementPicker.js   # Custom shortcut element picker
│   │   │   ├── inboxZero.js       # Inbox zero celebration
│   │   │   ├── navigation.js      # Navigation helpers
│   │   │   ├── optionsBar.js      # Outlook options bar toggle
│   │   │   ├── snooze.js          # Snooze overlay
│   │   │   ├── summary.js         # Email summarization overlay
│   │   │   ├── undo.js            # Undo archive
│   │   │   └── vimMode.js         # Vim-style navigation
│   │   ├── styles/           # CSS for overlays
│   │   │   ├── commandBar.css
│   │   │   ├── elementPicker.css
│   │   │   ├── llmEditing.css
│   │   │   └── summary.css
│   │   └── index.js          # Content script entry point
│   ├── options/              # Options page
│   │   ├── index.html
│   │   ├── main.js
│   │   └── style.css
│   ├── assets/
│   │   └── icons/            # Extension icons
│   └── manifest.json         # Base manifest (transformed for Chrome/Firefox)
├── scripts/
│   ├── build.js              # Build script (transforms manifest, copies files)
│   └── package.js            # Packaging script (creates zip files)
├── dist/                     # Build output
│   ├── chrome/               # Chrome extension (Manifest V3)
│   ├── firefox/              # Firefox extension (Manifest V2)
│   └── *.zip                 # Distribution packages
├── vite.config.mts           # Vite configuration
└── package.json

Development

• Build: bun run build - Builds the content script with Vite and copies files to dist/chrome/ and dist/firefox/
• Package: bun run package - Builds and creates zip files for distribution

The project uses:

• Vite for building the content script (bundles ES modules into a single IIFE)
• Manifest V3 for Chrome
• Manifest V2 for Firefox (required for Firefox compatibility)
• Modular architecture with feature-based modules

Customizing / Extending

To add more shortcuts or features:

1. Add a new feature module in src/contentScript/features/
2. Register it in initialization.js to load and wire it up
3. Add commands to the command bar in commandBar.js if applicable
4. Add options UI in src/options/ if configuration is needed
5. Update settings in src/contentScript/core/settings.js if new settings are needed

Automated Versioning

This repository uses GitHub Actions to automatically manage version tags.

How it works:

• Triggers on Push: Runs every time you push code to main
• Calculates Version: It looks at your previous tags. If the last tag was v1.0.0, it automatically bumps it to v1.0.1 (a "patch" update)
• Tags & Pushes: It creates the new tag in the repo automatically

You can force a larger version jump by including specific words in your commit message:

• #major (jumps from v1.0.0 to v2.0.0)
• #minor (jumps from v1.0.0 to v1.1.0)

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ToDo

Current ToDo List

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Copyright (C) 2026 Luke Colvin