Use a screen reader to align text and paragraphs in outlook

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.

Use Outlook with Narrator, the built-in Windows screen reader, to modify text and paragraph alignment. You can center text, align it right or left, or justify it to adjust the spacing between words in a paragraph so the left and right edges are even.

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 Windows screen reader, Narrator. To learn more about using Narrator, go to Complete guide to Narrator.

In this topic

• Align text

• Customize paragraph alignment

Align text

Alignment determines the appearance and orientation of the edges of the paragraph: left-aligned, right-aligned, centered, or justified text.

1. When composing an email, select the paragraphs you want to align.

   Tip: To select a paragraph, in the message body, swipe up or down on the screen with one finger until you hear "Paragraphs," swipe left or right to browse to the paragraph you want to select, and then triple-tap the screen. After selecting the paragraph, swipe up or down on the screen with one finger until you hear: "Items."

2. Swipe right with one finger until you hear: "More Options button, button collapsed, double-tap to expand." Double-tap the screen. The More Options menu expands. You hear: "Discard, button."

3. Swipe right until you hear "Format," and then double-tap the screen. The Format menu opens.

4. Do one of the following:

   • To align the text to the left, swipe right until you hear "Align left button," and double-tap the screen.

   • To align the text to the right, swipe right until you hear "Align right button," and double-tap the screen.

   • To center the text, swipe right until you hear "Center button," and double-tap the screen.

   • To justify the text, swipe right until you hear "Justify button," and double-tap the screen.

   Note: In the Format menu, if you hear "On" followed by the alignment option, that option is already selected.

   Note: For people who have a reading disability, such as dyslexia, justified text can be very difficult to read.

Customize paragraph alignment

You can add indentation in paragraphs from the left or right margin of the page.

1. When composing a message, select the paragraphs you want to indent.

2. Swipe right with one finger until you hear: "More Options button, button collapsed, double-tap to expand." Double-tap the screen. The More Options menu expands. You hear: "Discard, button."

3. Swipe right until you hear "Format," and then double-tap the screen. The Format menu opens.

4. Do one of the following:

   • To add indent to the left, swipe right until you hear "Decrease indent button," and double-tap the screen.

   • To add indent to the right, swipe right until you hear "Increase indent button," and double-tap the screen.

Tip: In Outlook you can also use the paragraph formatting options to, for example, change the amount of space between lines of text or between paragraphs. To learn more about line and paragraph spacing, refer to Use a screen reader to change the indentation and spacing options in Outlook.

See also

Use a screen reader to change the indentation and spacing options in Outlook

Use a screen reader to create bulleted or numbered lists in Outlook

Basic tasks using a screen reader with email in Outlook

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Outlook Mail

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