Control accessibility options with your keyboard and Siri
You can use the keyboard shortcuts below to control accessibility options on your Mac, or you can ask Siri to perform these functions. For example, ask Siri to "Turn VoiceOver On."
| Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|
| Option-Command-F5 | Display Accessibility Options |
| Command-F5 or Fn-Command-F5 |
Turn VoiceOver on or off1 |
| Control-Option-F8 or Fn-Control-Option-F8 |
Open VoiceOver Utility, if VoiceOver is turned on1 |
| Option-Command-8 | Turn zoom on or off2 |
| Option-Command-Plus Sign (+) | Zoom in2 |
| Option-Command-Minus Sign (-) | Zoom out2 |
| Control-Option-Command-8 | Turn the Invert colors setting on or off |
| Control-Option-Command-Comma (,) | Reduce contrast |
| Control-Option-Command-Period (.) | Increase contrast |
- To use VoiceOver and VoiceOver Utility, you might need to turn on "Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys" in Keyboard preferences. You might also need to make VoiceOver ignore the next key press before you can use some of the other Mac keyboard shortcuts.
- To use the zoom shortcuts, you might need to turn on "Use keyboard shortcuts to zoom" in Accessibility preferences.
Use your keyboard like a mouse with Full Keyboard Access
Full Keyboard Access lets you use your keyboard like a mouse to navigate and interact with items on the screen. With Full Keyboard Access, you use the Tab key and arrow keys to navigate to items on the screen, and the Space bar to select an item.
Follow these steps to turn on Full Keyboard Access:
- Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Keyboard.
- Click Shortcuts.
- To navigate only to text boxes and lists on the screen, select "Text boxes and lists only." To enable Full Keyboard Access and navigate to all controls on the screen, select "All controls."
| Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|
| Control-F7 | Switch between navigation of all controls on the screen, or only text boxes and lists |
| Tab | Move to the next control |
| Shift-Tab | Move to the previous control |
| Control-Tab | Move to the next control when a text field is selected |
| Control-Shift-Tab | Move the focus to the previous grouping of controls |
| Arrow keys | Use Left Arrow, Right Arrow, Up Arrow, and Down Arrow to move to the adjacent item in a list, tab group, or menu. Or move sliders and adjusters: Up Arrow to increase values, Down Arrow to decrease values |
| Control–arrow keys | Use Control with Left Arrow, Right Arrow, Up Arrow, and Down Arrow to move to a control adjacent to the text field |
| Space bar | Choose the selected menu item |
| Return or Enter | Click the default button, or perform the default action |
| Esc | Click the Cancel button, or close a menu without choosing an item |
| Control-Shift-F6 | Move the focus to the previous panel |
| Control-F8 | Move to the status menu in the menu bar |
| Command-Accent (`) | Activate the next open window in the front app |
| Shift-Command-Accent (`) | Activate the previous open window in the front app |
| Option-Command-Accent (`) | Move the focus to the window drawer |
Use Mouse Keys to move the mouse pointer
When Mouse Keys is turned on, you can use the keyboard or numeric keypad keys to move the mouse pointer.
| Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|
| 8 or numeric keypad 8 | Move up |
| K or numeric keypad 2 | Move down |
| U or numeric keypad 4 | Move left |
| O or numeric keypad 6 | Move right |
| J or numeric keypad 1 | Move diagonally down and to the left |
| L or numeric keypad 3 | Move diagonally down and to the right |
| 7 or numeric keypad 7 | Move diagonally up and to the left |
| 9 or numeric keypad 9 | Move diagonally down and to the right |
| I or numeric keypad 5 | Press the mouse button |
| M or numeric keypad 0 | Hold the mouse button |
| . (period) | Release the mouse button |
Learn more
- Mac keyboard shortcuts
- Change the behavior of the function keys or the Caps Lock, Control, Option, and Command keys
- Use a spoken command for a keyboard shortcut
- Ask Siri to perform some of these commands, or ask Siri "What can you do?" to find out more