VoiceOver standard gestures on Mac
If you’re using a trackpad, you can use standard VoiceOver gestures to perform actions such as navigating and interacting with items on the screen. You can’t modify the standard gestures. VO represents the VoiceOver modifier.
Note: If a gesture doesn’t mention a specific number of fingers, use a single finger.
General
Action | Gesture |
|---|---|
Enable the Trackpad Commander and VoiceOver gestures | VO-two-finger rotate clockwise |
Disable the Trackpad Commander and VoiceOver gestures | VO-two-finger rotate counterclockwise |
Turn the screen curtain on or off | Three-finger triple-tap |
Mute or unmute VoiceOver | Three-finger double-tap |
Navigation
Action | Gesture |
|---|---|
Force the VoiceOver cursor into a horizontal or vertical line when you drag a finger across the trackpad | Hold down the Shift key and drag a finger horizontally or vertically |
Move the VoiceOver cursor to the next item | Flick right |
Move the VoiceOver cursor to the previous item | Flick left |
Move content or the scroll bar (depending on the Trackpad Commander setting) | Three-finger flick in any direction |
Go to the Dock | Two-finger double-tap near the bottom of the trackpad |
Go to the menu bar | Two-finger double-tap near the top of the trackpad |
Open the Application Chooser | Two-finger double-tap on the left side of the trackpad |
Open the Window Chooser | Two-finger double-tap on the right side of the trackpad |
Jump to another area of the current app | Press Control while touching a finger on the trackpad |
Interaction
Action | Gesture |
|---|---|
Speak the item in the VoiceOver cursor or, if there isn’t an item, play a sound effect to indicate a blank area | Touch (includes tap or dragging) |
Select an item | Double-tap anywhere. You can also split-tap (touch one finger, then tap with a second finger). |
Start interacting with the item in the VoiceOver cursor | Two-finger flick right |
Stop interacting with the item in the VoiceOver cursor | Two-finger flick left |
Scroll one page down or up | Three-finger flick up or down |
Escape (close a menu without making a selection) | Two-finger scrub back and forth |
Increase or decrease the value of a slider, splitter, stepper, or other control | Flick up (increase) or flick down (decrease) |
Text
Action | Gesture |
|---|---|
Read the current page, starting at the top | Two-finger flick up |
Read from the VoiceOver cursor to the end of the current page | Two-finger flick down |
Read the current scroll page | Three-finger tap |
Pause or resume speaking | Two-finger tap |
Describe what’s in the VoiceOver cursor | Triple-tap |
Change the granularity with which VoiceOver reads text (by word, line, sentence, or paragraph) | Press Command while dragging your finger around on the trackpad in a text field or while interacting with a text element, until VoiceOver reads with the expected granularity |
Rotor
Action | Gesture |
|---|---|
Change the rotor settings | Two-finger rotate |
Move to the previous item based on the rotor setting | Flick up |
Move to the next item based on the rotor setting | Flick down |
To customize other gestures by assigning VoiceOver commands to them, use the Trackpad Commander. See Assign VoiceOver commands to gestures.