Get started with VoiceOver on Mac
Learn the basics to get started using VoiceOver — your Mac computer’s built-in screen reader.
Turn VoiceOver on
Press Command-F5.
Use Touch ID. If your Mac or Magic Keyboard has Touch ID, quickly press it three times.
Use Siri. Say something like: “Turn VoiceOver on.” Learn how to use Siri.
Enter VoiceOver commands
A VoiceOver command is a combination of keys that you press to perform an action on your Mac with VoiceOver.
To enter a command, press the VoiceOver modifier and another key. You’ll hear commands represented as VO-key, where VO represents the VoiceOver modifier. By default, you can use either Caps Lock or Control-Option as the VoiceOver modifier.
Hear the names of keys you press
You can use Keyboard Help to press a key and hear its name or press a VoiceOver key combination and hear what it does, without typing text or executing commands.
Press VO-K to start or stop Keyboard Help.
Press a key to hear its name, or press VO and one or more additional keys to hear the VoiceOver command for that combination of keys.
Navigate the screen
You use the VoiceOver cursor to move around the screen, hear a description of the item where the cursor is located and interact with the item. The VoiceOver cursor appears onscreen as a rectangular outline around an item.
To move the VoiceOver cursor, press VO and the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key.
To perform the default action for the item in the VoiceOver cursor, such as clicking a button or selecting a tick box, press VO-Space bar.
As you navigate, you hear a hollow sound effect to indicate that there are no more items in a particular direction.
Interact with grouped items
Content in VoiceOver is organised hierarchically, which means some items may be grouped within others. An item that contains additional nested items is called an area (such as a list of files) or a group (such as a toolbar of buttons).
By default, you must interact with an area or group before you can navigate to its items. This gives you the choice to bypass it or stop to explore its contents.
When the VoiceOver cursor moves to an area or group, VoiceOver indicates that you’re on an item that can be interacted with. After you interact with it, you can navigate only within that area or group until you exit it.
To interact with an area or group, press VO-Shift-Down Arrow.
To exit an area or group, press VO-Shift-Up Arrow.
Go directly to a specific item
The VoiceOver rotor categorises onscreen items — such as links on a web page or app controls like buttons — and allows you to navigate directly to a specific item in the category.
Press VO-U to open the rotor, then use the Right Arrow and Left Arrow keys until you hear the category you want.
Navigate the items in the category using the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys.
Press the Space bar when you hear the item you want to move the VoiceOver cursor to, or press Esc to exit the VoiceOver rotor without selecting an item.
Practice VoiceOver
You can learn more VoiceOver basics and practise useful commands with the interactive VoiceOver Tutorial.
Press VO-Fn-Command-F8 to get started.
Want to learn more? See Learn and practise VoiceOver, Change and adjust the VoiceOver voice, or Customise VoiceOver with VoiceOver Utility.
Download this guide in Braille Ready Format: BRF (English)