VoiceOver general commands on Mac
Use VoiceOver general commands to perform actions such as turning VoiceOver on and off, getting help or changing basic settings. VO represents the VoiceOver modifier that you press with additional keys to enter VoiceOver commands. By default, you can press Control and Option together or just press Caps Lock.
Note: By default, when you use a function key (F1 through F12) in a VoiceOver command, you must also press the Fn key. Depending on your Mac, you can change this behaviour so that you don’t have to press the Fn key. See Change function key behaviour for VoiceOver.
You can also enter VoiceOver commands that use a function key by using the Fn key and a number key instead of the Fn key and a function key. For example, to open VoiceOver Utility, you can press VO-Fn-8 (instead of VO-Fn-F8).
Action | Command |
|---|---|
Turn VoiceOver on or off | Command-F5 If your Mac or Magic Keyboard has Touch ID, press and hold the Command key while you quickly press Touch ID three times. |
Lock and unlock the VoiceOver modifier | VO-Semicolon |
Open VoiceOver Utility | VO-Fn-F8 |
Start keyboard help | VO-K |
Open the VoiceOver Help menu | VO-H |
Open the VoiceOver Tutorial | VO-Fn-Command-F8 |
Open the VoiceOver User Guide | VO-Question Mark |
Read the help tag for the current item | VO-Shift-H |
Read the VoiceOver hint for the current item | VO-Shift-N |
Open the Commands menu | VO-H-H |
Open the Find Commands menu | VO-Shift-F |
Open the Notifications menu | VO-N |
Read the current date and time | VO-Fn-F7 |
Read the battery status of your Mac | VO-Fn-F7-F7 |
Read the network status of your Mac | VO-Fn-F7-F7-F7 |
Close a menu or rotor, stop an action or exit a mode | Escape or Fn-Tab |
Tell VoiceOver to ignore the next key or key combination you press | VO-Tab |
Open the Verbosity rotor | VO-V Then press the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key to choose the setting. Use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys to change the level for the setting. |
Temporarily hide or show the VoiceOver cursor and the caption or braille panels | VO-Fn-Command-F11 |
Hide or show the caption panel only | VO-Fn-Command-F10 |
Resize or move the caption panel | VO-Shift-Fn-F10 Press again to cycle through these actions. Then use the arrow keys to resize the panel or move it. |
Hide or show the braille panel only | VO-Fn-Command-F9 |
Resize or move the braille panel | VO-Shift-Fn-F9 Press again to cycle through these actions. Then use the arrow keys to resize the panel or move it. |
Tile visuals (dim the screen, highlight the caption or braille panel, and show the item in the VoiceOver cursor in the centre of the screen) | VO-Fn-F10 Press again to return to the normal view. |
Turn the option to control VoiceOver with NumPad keys on or off | VO-Clear This option is only available if your keyboard has a designated key for Clear. |
Turn the option to control VoiceOver with Option keys on or off | VO-Shift-K |
Turn single-key Quick Nav on or off | VO-Q |
Turn arrow-key Quick Nav on or off | VO-Shift-Q |
Turn the option to control VoiceOver with Trackpad gestures on or off | Press and hold the VoiceOver modifier (Control and Option or Caps Lock) and rotate two fingers clockwise (on) or anticlockwise (off). |
Turn the screen curtain on or off | VO-Shift-Fn-F11 |
Cycle through settings (such as voice, rate, pitch, volume, language and braille table) in the rotor | VO-Command-Shift-Right Arrow or Left Arrow |
Change the current setting for voice, rate, pitch, volume, language and braille table in the rotor | VO-Command-Shift-Up Arrow or Down Arrow |
Download this guide in Braille Ready Format: BRF (English)