Use trackpad gestures to control VoiceOver on Mac
You can use trackpad gestures to control your Mac with VoiceOver. If you use VoiceOver with an iPhone or iPad, you can use many of the same gestures with a Mac.
Note: To use VoiceOver trackpad gestures, you must be using a Mac with a built-in trackpad or have an external trackpad connected with your Mac.
Turn VoiceOver trackpad gestures on or off
To turn on the option to use trackpad gestures to control VoiceOver, press and hold the VoiceOver modifier (when VoiceOver is on) and rotate two fingers clockwise anywhere on the trackpad. By default, you can use either Caps Lock or Control-Option as the VoiceOver modifier.
To turn VoiceOver trackpad gestures off, press and hold the VoiceOver modifier and rotate two fingers anticlockwise.
Note: When you use VoiceOver gestures, you can’t use the mouse button on the trackpad. You can only use the mouse button if it’s used with a modifier key, as in Control-click.
How do VoiceOver trackpad gestures work?
VoiceOver gestures involve using one or more fingers to drag, tap, flick or rotate on the trackpad. You can use different techniques to perform a gesture. For example, you can tap using two fingers on one hand, or you can use one finger on each hand.
The trackpad represents the window or area on the screen where the VoiceOver cursor is located. When you drag a finger on the trackpad, you move the VoiceOver cursor only in that window or area. VoiceOver speaks the items in the VoiceOver cursor as you move it and plays a sound effect whenever it encounters a blank space on the screen. This information helps you gain a sense of the location of items on the screen as you navigate. For example, if the cursor is on an app toolbar of buttons, the trackpad represents the toolbar. When you drag your finger on the trackpad, you move the VoiceOver cursor within the toolbar. Because the trackpad represents only a specific area and not the entire screen, you can’t stray to other areas or apps by accident. When you drag a finger and hear something you want to select, keep your finger on the trackpad and use a second finger to tap. This gesture is called a split-tap.
Get started using gestures
To hear your location on the screen, tap three times. VoiceOver tells you what’s in the VoiceOver cursor.
You can use Keyboard Help to safely try a VoiceOver trackpad gesture. VoiceOver tells you what the gesture does without actually performing its command. See Learn and practise VoiceOver.
VoiceOver includes a standard set of trackpad gestures for navigating and interacting with items on the screen. See Standard trackpad gestures for VoiceOver.
You can customise additional trackpad gestures by assigning VoiceOver commands to them. See Customise key commands and trackpad gestures for VoiceOver.
With trackpad gestures, you can turn a virtual dial, known as a rotor, to access categories of onscreen items — such as links on a web page or app controls like buttons — and navigate directly to a specific item in the category. See Use the trackpad gestures rotor with VoiceOver.
You can also set an option to disable your trackpad when VoiceOver is on. This may be useful if you want to avoid accidentally performing gestures on the trackpad. See Change VoiceOver Commands settings.
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