VoiceOver text commands on Mac
Use these commands to perform actions such as reading and editing text and tables. Before you can use most of these commands, you must interact with text in a text area. VO represents the VoiceOver modifier.
Note: When VoiceOver is on, you can enter VoiceOver commands by using the Fn and number keys with the VoiceOver modifier, as an alternative to using the function keys (F1 to F12). For example, to open VoiceOver Utility you can press Control-Option-Fn-8 (instead of Control-Option-F8).
If you use the function keys (F1 through F12), you may need to press and hold the Fn key, depending on how you set the behaviour of function keys in Keyboard preferences.
Action | Command |
|---|---|
Read the contents of the VoiceOver cursor | VO-A |
Select all text in the VoiceOver cursor | VO-Shift-A |
Start and stop text selection in a text field (text selection tracking must be on) | VO-Return |
Speak text attributes | VO-T |
Jump to a hot spot in text | VO-[hot spot number] For example, VO-1 or VO-9. |
Read the paragraph in the VoiceOver cursor | VO-P |
Read the next paragraph | VO-Shift-Page Down |
Read the previous paragraph | VO-Shift-Page Up |
Read the sentence in the VoiceOver cursor | VO-S |
Read the next sentence | VO-Command-Page Down |
Read the previous sentence | VO-Command-Page Up |
Read the line in the VoiceOver cursor | VO-L |
Read the next line | VO-Down Arrow |
Read the previous line | VO-Up Arrow |
Read the word in the VoiceOver cursor | VO-W |
Spell the word in the VoiceOver cursor alphabetically | VO-W-W |
Spell the word in the VoiceOver cursor phonetically | VO-W-W-W |
Read the next sentence | VO-Right Arrow |
Read the previous word | VO-Left Arrow |
Read the character in the VoiceOver cursor | VO-C |
Read the character in the VoiceOver cursor phonetically | VO-C-C |
Move to the first visible word | VO-Shift-Home On a portable Mac, press VO-Fn-Left Arrow. |
Move to the last visible word | VO-Shift-End On a portable Mac, press VO-Fn-Right Arrow. |
Move to the beginning of text, scrolling if necessary | VO-Home On a portable Mac, press VO-Shift-Fn-Left Arrow. |
Move to the end of text, scrolling if necessary | VO-End On a portable Mac, press VO-Shift-Fn-Right Arrow. |
Add a new tab stop in TextEdit (the VoiceOver cursor must be on a tab stop in the ruler) | VO-Space bar |
Delete the current tab stop in TextEdit (the VoiceOver cursor must be on a tab stop in the ruler) | VO-Delete |
Interact with a tab stop in TextEdit (the VoiceOver cursor must be on a tab stop in the ruler) | VO-Shift-Down Arrow Then use the Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys to move the stop. |
Reads the current word and character in the VoiceOver cursor | VO-F3 |
Reads the total number of lines and the number of visible lines in a document | VO-F3-F3 |