VoiceOver interaction commands on Mac
Use VoiceOver interaction commands to perform actions such as interacting with items on the screen. 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 |
|---|---|
Start interacting with an item | VO-Shift-Down Arrow |
Stop interacting with an item | VO-Shift-Up Arrow |
Jump to the top level of an app | VO-Shift-Escape When you interact with nested content, you may press VO-Shift-Down Arrow multiple times to drill down into, for example, a group contained inside another group. When you’ve finished exploring nested content in an app, you can press VO-Shift-Escape to jump to the app’s top level, instead of pressing VO-Shift-Up Arrow multiple times. |
Navigate without automatically interacting with a group on a webpage | VO-Shift-Left Arrow or Right Arrow If Quick Nav is turned on press Shift-Right Arrow or Left Arrow. |
Perform the default action for the item in the VoiceOver cursor | VO-Space bar |
Click the mouse | VO-Shift-Space bar |
Double-click the mouse | VO-Shift-Space bar-Space bar |
Start multiple selection in a list or table, and select each item | VO-Command-Return To stop multiple selection, cut or copy the selected items, press the Escape key or Fn-Tab, or stop interacting with the list or table in which the items are located. |
Perform a sticky mouse down or mouse up (for use when dragging an item from one location to drop in another location) | VO-Command-Shift-Space bar |
Select a menu or list item | VO-Return |
Open or close a disclosure triangle | VO-Backslash |
Read additional content, when available, for the item in the VoiceOver cursor. | VO-Command-Slash |
Describe an image or photo VoiceOver describes text in images (even if an image isn’t annotated). It also describes objects in photos, such as a tree, a dog, or four faces with smiles. | VO-Shift-L |
Read the row header in a table | VO-R |
Read the contents of a table row from the location of the VoiceOver cursor to the end of the row | VO-R-R |
Read the column header in a table | VO-C |
Read the contents of a table column from the location of the VoiceOver cursor to the bottom of the column | VO-C-C |
Read row and column numbers in a table | VO-Shift-T |
Read the number of columns and rows (the dimensions) in a table | VO-Shift-T-T |
Interact with scroll bars | VO-Shift-S Then use the arrow keys to scroll up or down or side to side. To scroll vertically one page at a time, use Page Up and Page Down. To scroll horizontally one page at a time, use Shift-Page Up and Shift-Page Down. |
Resize a window | VO-Tilde From the menu, choose Resize, Resize and Move to Grid, or Resize and Move to Section. Then navigate to a submenu where you can choose to resize an edge or corner, resize and move to an area of a grid (such as the top left), or resize and move to a section (such as the bottom half). To resize an edge, use the VO and arrow keys (for example, press VO-Right Arrow to extend the right edge of a window). To resize a corner, use the VO and two arrow keys (for example, press VO-Right Arrow-Up Arrow to extend the top-right corner of a window). |
Move a window | VO-Accent (also called Grave Accent) Then use the VO and arrow keys (for example, press VO-Left Arrow to move a window left). To move a window diagonally, use the VO and two arrow keys (for example, press VO-Left Arrow-Up Arrow to move a window diagonally left and up). |
Resize an object | VO-Command-Tilde From the menu, choose Resize, Resize and Move to Grid, or Resize and Move to Section. Then navigate to a submenu where you can choose to resize an edge or handle, resize and move to an area of a grid (such as the top left), or resize and move to a section (such as the bottom half). To resize an edge, use the VO and arrow keys (for example, press VO-Right Arrow to extend the right edge of an object). To resize a handle, use the VO and two arrow keys (for example, press VO-Right Arrow-Up Arrow to extend the top right handle of an object). |
Move an object | VO-Command-Accent (also called Grave Accent) Then use the VO and arrow keys (for example, press VO-Left Arrow to move an object left). To move an object diagonally, use the VO and two arrow keys (for example, press VO-Left Arrow-Up Arrow to move an object diagonally left and up). |
Stop scrolling or resizing | Escape or Fn-Tab |
Create a custom label | VO-Slash |
Close the current window or the selected desktop in Mission Control | VO-Command-Escape |
Open the Actions menu | VO-Command-Space bar |
Open the Activity Chooser | VO-X |
Switch to the previous activity | VO-X-X |
Download this guide in Braille Ready Format: BRF (English)