Use a screen reader to work with slides in powerpoint

This article is for people with visual impairments who use a screen reader program with the Office products and is part of the Office Accessibility content set. For more general help, see Office Support home.

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Use PowerPoint with your keyboard a screen reader to add, delete, and arrange slides in your presentation. We have tested it with Narrator and JAWS, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques. You'll also learn how to change the size and orientation of the slides.

Notes: 

• New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.

• To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft Office.

In this topic

• Add a new slide

• Delete a slide

• Rearrange slides

• Organize slides into sections

• Change the orientation of all slides in a presentation

• Change the size of your slides

Add a new slide

You can easily add new slides to your presentation, either based on the current slide's layout or on a new template layout.

Add a new slide based on current slide's layout

In a new presentation, the title slide is added automatically. You can add the new slide based on the previous slide's layout.

1. Press Ctrl+M. You hear "Slide," followed by the number of slides and the place of the new slide on the list, and "Selected."

Add a new slide based on a template layout

1. In the Normal view, press Alt+H , I. You hear the title of the first slide layout. With JAWS, you hear: "Leaving menu bar, Office theme," followed by the number of the current slide.

2. Press the Tab key until you hear the slide layout you want, and then press Enter. You hear the number of the new slide. With JAWS, you hear: "Enter, no selection."

   The focus moves to the slide pane.

Delete a slide

1. In the thumbnail pane, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the number of the slide you want to delete.

2. Press Delete. You hear the number of the current slide and its place on the list, followed by "Selected." With JAWS, you hear: "Enter, leaving menus, no selection."

Rearrange slides

You can rearrange your slides by cutting the slide out of the old location and pasting it into the new location.

1. In the thumbnail pane, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the number of the slide you want to move.

2. Do one of the following:

   • To move the slide up the list of slides, press Ctrl+Up arrow key. You hear the new number of the slide in the list.

   • To move the slide down the list of slides, press Ctrl+Down arrow key. You hear the new number of the slide in the list.

   • To move the slide to the beginning of the presentation, press Ctrl+Shift+Up arrow key.

   • To move the slide to the end of the presentation, press Ctrl+Shift+Down arrow key.

Organize slides into sections

To group your slides into meaningful entities, you can organize them into sections. For example, if you work with others on a presentation, you can assign each colleague a section to work on.

The sections are displayed and announced in the thumbnail pane of the Normal view and in the Slide Sorter view. They are not displayed or announced in the Slide Show view.

1. In the thumbnail pane, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the slide which you want to be the first slide in a section.

2. Press Alt+H, T1. You hear: "Add section."

3. To add an untitled section, press Enter. You hear: "Rename section."

4. Type the new name for the section and then press Enter.

5. Move slides under appropriate the sections as instructed in Rearrange slides.

   To hear Narrator announce the section names, in the thumbnail pane, press the Up or Down arrow key. JAWS doesn't announce the section names.

Change the orientation of all slides in a presentation

You can change the orientation of the whole slide set from landscape to portrait or vice versa.

1. In the Normal view, press Alt+G, S, C. The Slide Size window opens.

2. In the Slide Size window, press the Tab key until you hear "Slides, Selected," followed by the current slide orientation, for example, "Landscape."

   With JAWS, you hear: "Orientation, slides, <currently selected option>, radio button checked."

   Tip: With Narrator, to listen to and move through the options in the Slide Size window, you can also press the SR key+Up or Down arrow key.

3. To change the orientation, press the Up or Down arrow key. You hear the selected orientation.

4. Once you're done with your selection, press Enter. You hear: "Microsoft PowerPoint window, button." A confirmation window opens.

5. Do one of the following:

   • To maximize the size of your content, press the Tab key until you hear: "Maximize." If you have a lot of content on a slide, all the text may not fit on the slide when using this option.

   • To scale your content down to fit it on the slide, press the Tab key until you hear: "Ensure Fit." This option may resize your content to a smaller font size to fit everything on the slide.

6. Press Enter. The focus moves to the thumbnail pane.

Change the size of your slides

To change the slide size, you can choose between two default size options, Standard (4:3) and Widescreen (16:9), or you can customize the size of your slides.

Change the slide size from widescreen to standard or vice versa

1. In the Normal view, press Alt+G, S. You hear the first item in the Slide Size menu. With JAWS, you hear: "Lower ribbon, customized group box."

2. In the Slide Size menu, do one of the following:

   • To select the standard size, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear: "Standard."

   • To select the widescreen size, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear: "Widescreen."

3. Press Enter. You hear: "Microsoft PowerPoint window, button." A confirmation window opens.

4. In the Microsoft PowerPoint window, do one of the following:

   • To maximize the size of your content, press the Tab key until you hear: "Maximize." If you have a lot of content on a slide, all the text may not fit on the slide when using this option.

   • To scale your content down to fit it on the slide, press the Tab key until you hear: "Ensure Fit". This option may resize your content to a smaller font size to fit everything on the slide.

5. Press Enter. The focus moves to the thumbnail pane.

Customize the size of your slides

You can resize your slides to use custom dimensions for different screen or paper sizes.

1. In the Normal view, press Alt+G, S, C. The Slide Size window opens.

2. In the Slide Size window, to change the size of your slides, either select the target format of your presentation or set the height, width, and the orientation of the presentation:

   • To select the target format of the presentation, press the Tab key until you hear: "Slides sized for." Press the Down arrow key to expand the drop down menu. Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the option you want, and then press Enter.

   • To set width and height:

     • To change the slide width, press the Tab key until you hear: "Width." Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the value you want, or type a value.

     • To change the slide height, press the Tab key until you hear: "Height." Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the value you want, or type a value.

   Tip: With Narrator, to listen to and move through the options in the Slide Size window, you can also press the SR key+Up or Down arrow key.

3. Once you're done with your selection, press Enter. You hear: "Microsoft PowerPoint window, button." A confirmation window opens.

4. In the Microsoft PowerPoint window , do one of the following:

   • To maximize the size of your content, press the Tab key until you hear "Maximize." If you have a lot of content on a slide, all the text may not fit on the slide when using this option.

   • To scale your content down to fit it on the new slide, press the Tab key until you hear: "Ensure Fit". This option may resize your content to a smaller font size to fit everything on the slide.

5. Press Enter. The focus moves to the thumbnail pane.

See also

Use a screen reader to add and format text in PowerPoint

Use a screen reader to insert and edit pictures and tables in PowerPoint

Use keyboard shortcuts to create PowerPoint presentations

Basic tasks to create a presentation in PowerPoint with a screen reader

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate PowerPoint

Use PowerPoint with your keyboard and VoiceOver, the built-in macOS screen reader, to add, delete, and arrange slides in your presentations. You can also change the size and orientation of the slides.

In the following, the tasks are performed in the Normal view in PowerPoint. To go to the Normal view, press Command+1.

Notes: 

• New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.

• This topic assumes that you are using the built-in macOS screen reader, VoiceOver. To learn more about using VoiceOver, go to VoiceOver Getting Started Guide.

In this topic

• Add a new slide

• Delete a slide

• Rearrange the slides

• Organize the slides into sections

• Change the orientation of the slides in a slide set

• Resize your slides

Add a new slide

You can easily add new slides to your presentation, either based on the current slide's layout or on a new template layout.

Add a new slide based on the current slide

1. In your PowerPoint slide deck, to add a new slide based on the layout of the previous slide, press Command+Shift+N. VoiceOver announces "New slide," and the slide is added.

   Tip: To duplicate the current slide, press Command+Shift+D.

Add a new slide based on a template layout

1. In the Normal view, press F6 until you land on a tab. You will land on the tab that is currently selected. If needed, press the Left arrow key until you hear VoiceOver announce the Home tab. Press Control+Option+Spacebar to select the tab.

2. On the Home tab, press the Down arrow key once to move to the ribbon.

3. Press Control+Option+Shift+Down arrow to enter the ribbon.

4. Press the Right arrow key repeatedly until VoiceOver announces: "New Slide, menu button."

5. Press Control+Option+Shift+M to open the menu. VoiceOver announces: "New slide, window. New slide, gallery."

6. Press Control+Option+Shift+Down arrow to enter the gallery.

7. Press the arrow keys to navigate the items. VoiceOver announces the items as you move.

8. To select a layout, press Enter. The slide is added to your slide deck.

Delete a slide

1. Press Command+1 to go to the Normal view.

2. Press F6 until VoiceOver announces: "Thumbnail pane, list, 1 item selected."

3. Press Control+Option+Shift+Down arrow to enter the thumbnail pane. VoiceOver announces: "In thumbnail pane, list, 1 item selected."

4. Press the Up or Down arrow key to navigate the slides. VoiceOver announces the slide titles as you move.

5. When on the slide you want to delete, press Delete. The slide is removed.

Rearrange the slides

You can rearrange the slides by cutting a slide out of the current location and pasting it into a new place.

1. In the Normal view, press F6 until VoiceOver announces: "Thumbnail pane, list, 1 item selected."

2. Press Control+Option+Shift+Down arrow to enter the thumbnail pane. VoiceOver announces: "In thumbnail pane, list, 1 item selected."

3. Press the Up or Down arrow key to navigate the slides. VoiceOver announces the slide titles as you move.

4. When on the slide you want to move, press Command+X to cut out the slide.

5. Press the Up or Down arrow key to navigate the slides. VoiceOver announces the slide titles as you move.

6. When on the slide after which you want to place the cut slide, press Command+V to paste it.

Organize the slides into sections

You can group your slides into sections to make up meaningful entities. For example, if you work with others on a presentation, you can assign each colleague a section to work on.

The sections are displayed and announced in the thumbnail pane of the Normal view and in the Slide Sorter view.

1. In the thumbnail pane of the Normal view, navigate to the first slide of the section.

2. Press F6 until you land on a tab. If you did not land on the Home tab, press the Left arrow key until you reach it. VoiceOver announces: "Home, tab, 1 of 8." Press Control+Option+Spacebar to select the tab.

3. Press the Down arrow key to move to the ribbon. VoiceOver announces: "Scroll area. You are currently on a scroll area."

4. Press Control+Option+Shift+Down arrow to enter the ribbon. VoiceOver announces: "In scroll area, <the number of items>, <the name of the button where the focus is>."

5. Press the Right arrow key repeatedly until VoiceOver announces: "Section, menu button." Press Control+Option+Space to open the menu.

6. Press Control+Option+Space to select the Add Section option.

7. Type in the section name, and press Enter. The section is now visible in the thumbnail pane, and VoiceOver reads the section name when you navigate to it in the thumbnail pane.

Change the orientation of the slides in a slide set

PowerPoint slides are automatically set up in landscape orientation, but you can change the slide orientation to portrait or vice versa.

1. In the Normal view, press F6 until you land on a tab. If you did not land on the Design tab, press the Right or Left arrow key until you reach it. VoiceOver announces: "Design, tab, 3 of 8." Press Control+Option+Spacebar to select the tab.

2. On the Design tab, press the Tab key repeatedly until VoiceOver announces: "Slide Size, menu button."

3. Press Control+Option+Spacebar to open the menu. VoiceOver announces: "Pressed Slide Size, menu button. You are currently on a gallery."

4. Press Control+Option+Shift+Down arrow to enter the menu. VoiceOver announces: "In Slide Size, gallery, <the number of items on the menu>, <the currently selected size>."

5. Press the Tab key until VoiceOver announces: "Page Setup."

6. Press Control+Option+Spacebar. The Page Setup dialog opens.

7. Press the Right arrow key until you land on the orientation option you want, such as "Portrait Orientation for Slides" or "Landscape Orientation for Slides", and then press Control+Option+Spacebar to select.

8. Press the Tab key until VoiceOver announces: "OK, default, button." Press Control+Option+Spacebar to press the button.

9. If the current contents do not fit the selected orientation, a dialog opens asking how you want to scale the content to fit the selected orientation:

   • To scale your content down, press the Tab key until VoiceOver announces: "Scale Down, button." This option resizes your content and may use a smaller font size to fit everything on the slide.

   • To maximize the size of your content, press the Tab key until VoiceOver announces: "Scale Up, button." If you have a lot of content on a slide, all of it may not fit on the slide when choosing this option.

   To select an option, press Enter.

Resize your slides

To change the slide size, you can choose between the two default options, Standard (4:3) and Widescreen (16:9), or customize the size for a perfect fit.

Change from widescreen to standard size or vice versa

1. In the Normal view, press F6 until you land on a tab. If you did not land on the Design tab, press the Right or Left arrow key until you reach it. VoiceOver announces: "Design, tab, 3 of 8." Press Control+Option+Spacebar to select the tab.

2. Press the Tab key repeatedly until VoiceOver announces: "Slide Size, menu button."

3. To open the menu, press Control+Option+Spacebar. VoiceOver announces: "Pressed Slide Size, menu button. You are currently on a gallery."

4. To enter the menu, press Control+Option+Shift+Down arrow. VoiceOver announces: "In Slide Size, gallery, <the number of items on the menu>, <the currently selected size>."

5. Press the Up or Down arrow key to move between the options. VoiceOver announces the options as you move.

6. To select a size, press Control+Option+Spacebar.

7. If you're converting to a smaller size, you may get a dialog asking if you want to scale the content to fit the selected size:

   • To scale your content down, press the Tab key until VoiceOver announces: "Scale, default, button." This option resizes your content and may use a smaller font size to fit everything on the slide.

   • To maximize the size of your content, press the Tab key until VoiceOver announces: "Don't scale, button." If you have a lot of content on a slide, all of it may not fit on the slide when choosing this option.

   To select an option, press Enter.

Customize the size of your slides

1. In the Normal view, press F6 until you land on a tab. If you did not land on the Design tab, press the Right or Left arrow key until you reach it. VoiceOver announces: "Design, tab, 3 of 8." Press Control+Option+Spacebar to select the tab.

2. Press the Tab key repeatedly until VoiceOver announces: "Slide Size, menu button."

3. To open the menu, press Control+Option+Spacebar. VoiceOver announces: "Pressed Slide Size, menu button. You are currently on a gallery."

4. To enter the menu, press Control+Option+Shift+Down arrow.

5. Press the Tab key until VoiceOver announces: "Page Setup."

6. Press Control+Option+Spacebar. The Page Setup dialog opens.

7. Press the Right arrow key twice. VoiceOver announces the currently selected size, such as "Widescreen" or "On-screen-Show (4:3)."

8. To show the options, press Control+Option+Spacebar.

9. Press the Up or Down arrow key to browse the options. VoiceOver announces them as you move. To select one, press Control+Option+Spacebar.

10. Press the Tab key repeatedly until VoiceOver announces: "OK, default, button." To select the button, press Control+Option+Spacebar.

11. When converting to another size, you may get a dialog asking if you want to scale the content to fit the selected size:

    • To scale your content down, press the Tab key until VoiceOver announces: "Scale down, button." This option resizes your content and may use a smaller font size to fit everything on the slide.

    • To maximize the size of your content, press the Tab key until VoiceOver announces: "Scale up, button." If you have a lot of content on a slide, all of it may not fit on the slide when choosing this option.

    To select an option, press Enter.

See also

Use a screen reader to add and format text in PowerPoint

Use a screen reader to insert and edit pictures and tables in PowerPoint

Use keyboard shortcuts to create PowerPoint presentations

Basic tasks to create a presentation in PowerPoint with a screen reader

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate PowerPoint

Use PowerPoint with VoiceOver, the built-in iOS screen reader, to add, delete, and arrange slides in your presentations.

Notes: 

• New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.

• For touch capabilities in PowerPoint, go to PowerPoint for iPhone touch guide.

• This topic assumes that you are using the built-in iOS screen reader, VoiceOver. To learn more about using VoiceOver, visit Apple accessibility.

In this topic

• Add, rearrange, and delete slides in PowerPoint

  • Add a new slide

  • Rearrange the slides

  • Delete a slide

Add, rearrange, and delete slides in PowerPoint

You can easily add new slides to your presentation either based on the current slide's layout or on a new template layout, or delete the ones that you don't need anymore. You can also rearrange the slides by cutting a slide out of the current location and pasting it into a new place.

Add a new slide

1. In your presentation, swipe right or left until you hear the slide before which you want add the new slide. The slides are announced as you move: "Slide <slide number> of <total number of slides>."

2. Double-tap the screen. You hear: "Selected."

3. Swipe right or left until you hear "New slide button" and then double-tap the screen.

   The slide is added to your slide deck.

4. To change the layout of the inserted slide, swipe right until you hear "Layout button" and then double-tap the screen. To browse the template options, swipe right. VoiceOver announces the templates as you move. For the currently selected layout, you hear "Selected" and the layout name. To select a template, double-tap the screen.

Rearrange the slides

1. In your presentation, swipe right or left until you hear the slide you want to move. The slides are announced as you move.

2. Double-tap the screen. You hear: "Selected."

3. Double-tap the screen with two fingers. You hear: "Show more items, menu item." A context menu pops out.

4. On the context menu, swipe left until you hear "Cut, menu item" and then double-tap the screen.

5. Swipe right or left until you hear the slide before which you want move the cut slide and then double-tap the screen. You hear: "Selected."

6. Double-tap the screen with two fingers. You hear: "Select all, menu item."

7. To paste the slide, swipe left until you hear "Paste, menu item" and then double-tap the screen. The slide is moved to the new location.

Delete a slide

1. In your presentation, swipe right or left until you hear the slide you want to delete. The slides are announced as you move.

2. Double-tap the screen. You hear: "Selected."

3. Double-tap the screen with two fingers. You hear: "Show more items, menu item."

4. Double-tap the screen, and then swipe left until you hear: "Delete, menu item."

5. To delete the slide, double-tap the screen.

See also

Use a screen reader to add and format text in PowerPoint

Use a screen reader to read or add speaker notes and comments in PowerPoint

Use keyboard shortcuts to create PowerPoint presentations

Basic tasks to create a presentation in PowerPoint with a screen reader

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate PowerPoint

Use PowerPoint for Android with TalkBack, the built-in Android screen reader, to add, delete, and arrange slides in your presentations.

Notes: 

• New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.

• For touch capabilities in PowerPoint for Android, go to PowerPoint for Android touch guide.

• This topic assumes that you are using the built-in Android screen reader, TalkBack. To learn more about using TalkBack, go to Android accessibility.

In this topic

• Add, rearrange, and delete slides in PowerPoint

  • Add a new slide

  • Rearrange the slides

  • Delete a slide

Add, rearrange, and delete slides in PowerPoint

You can easily add new slides to your presentation either based on the current slide's layout or on a new template layout, or delete the ones that you don't need anymore. You can also rearrange the slides by cutting a slide out of the current location and pasting it in a new place.

Add a new slide

1. In the thumbnail pane of your presentation, swipe right or left until you hear the slide prior to where you want to add a slide. The slides are announced as you move: "Slide <slide number>."

2. Double-tap the screen with two fingers. The slide is selected and the editing view is opened.

3. Swipe right until you hear "Back switch not checked" and then double-tap the screen. The focus moves to the thumbnail pane.

4. Swipe left until you hear "New slide button" and then double-tap the screen.

   The slide is added to your slide deck.

5. To change the layout of the inserted slide, in the slide editing view, swipe right until you hear "Layout menu" and then double-tap the screen. In the Layout menu, to browse the template options, swipe right. TalkBack announces the templates as you move. For the currently selected layout, you hear the layout name and "Selected." To select a template, double-tap the screen.

Rearrange the slides

1. In the thumbnail pane of your presentation, swipe right or left until you hear the slide you want to move. The slides are announced as you move.

2. Double-tap the screen. A context menu pops out, and you hear: "Edit button."

3. On the context menu, swipe right until you hear: "Cut button." Then double-tap the screen.

4. Swipe right or left until you hear the slide after which you want move the cut slide, and then double-tap the screen. You hear: "Edit button."

5. To paste the slide, swipe right until you hear "Paste button" and then double-tap the screen. The slide is moved to the new location.

Delete a slide

1. In the thumbnail pane of your presentation, swipe right or left until you hear the slide you want to delete. The slides are announced as you move.

2. To open the context menu, double-tap the screen. You hear: "Edit button."

3. On the context menu, swipe right until you hear: "Delete button."

4. To delete the slide, double-tap the screen.

See also

Use a screen reader to add and format text in PowerPoint

Use keyboard shortcuts to create PowerPoint presentations

Basic tasks to create a presentation in PowerPoint with a screen reader

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate PowerPoint

Use PowerPoint for the web with your keyboard and a screen reader to add, delete, and arrange your slides in your presentations. We have tested it with Narrator and JAWS, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.

Notes: 

• If you use Narrator with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, you have to turn off scan mode in order to edit documents, spreadsheets, or presentations with Office for the web. For more information, refer to Turn off virtual or browse mode in screen readers in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.

• New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.

• To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft Office.

• When you use PowerPoint for the web, we recommend that you use Microsoft Edge as your web browser. Because PowerPoint for the web runs in your web browser, the keyboard shortcuts are different from those in the desktop program. For example, you'll use Ctrl+F6 instead of F6 for jumping in and out of the commands. Also, common shortcuts like F1 (Help) and Ctrl+O (Open) apply to the web browser – not PowerPoint for the web.

In this topic

• Add a new slide

• Rearrange slides

• Delete slides

Add a new slide

You can add new slides to your presentation, either based on the current slide's layout or on another layout.

1. In Editing View, press Alt+Windows logo key, N, S, I. The New Slide menu opens.

2. In the menu, a slide layout based on the current slide is selected. To navigate the other layouts, press the arrow keys until you hear the layout you want, and then press Enter. The new slide is added to your presentation.

Rearrange slides

You can move the slides around to change their sequence in your presentation.

1. In the Editing View, press Ctrl+F6 until you hear the number of the current slide. JAWS announces: "Slide panel."

2. Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the number of the slide you want to move.

3. Do one of the following:

   • To move the slide towards the beginning of the presentation, press Ctrl+Up arrow key. The slide is moved one slide up.

   • To move the slide towards the end of the presentation, press Ctrl+Down arrow key. The slide is moved one slide down.

   • To place the slide as the first slide in the presentation, press Ctrl+Shift+Up arrow key.

   • To place the slide as the last slide in the presentation, press Ctrl+Shift+Down arrow key.

Delete slides

1. In the Editing View, press Ctrl+F6 until you hear the number of the current slide. JAWS announces: "Slide panel."

2. Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the number of the slide you want to remove.

3. Press Delete.

   Tip: To undo the deletion, press Ctrl+Z.

See also

Use a screen reader to add and format text in PowerPoint

Use a screen reader to insert and edit pictures and tables in PowerPoint

Use keyboard shortcuts to create PowerPoint presentations

Basic tasks to create a presentation in PowerPoint with a screen reader

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate PowerPoint

Technical support for customers with disabilities

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