Microsoft Office Tutorials: Use a screen reader to explore and navigate outlook mail

Read out loud symbol with the label Screen reader content. This topic is about using a screen reader with Office

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 Outlook with your keyboard and screen reader to explore and navigate the different views and move between them. 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:

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.
For the best user experience, we recommend turning the Reading Pane off and showing emails as Messages and not as Conversations.

Navigate the main view

Cycle through the elements in the main view

Press F6 (forward or Shift+F6 (backward) to cycle through the elements in the following order:

Ribbon
Folder pane
Message list
Status bar

Navigate the ribbon tabs

The ribbon tabs contain the main Outlook tools for sending and receiving email, tagging messages, and managing email folders.

To navigate the ribbon tabs, press Alt. You hear "Ribbon tabs," followed by the currently selected tab.
To move between ribbon tabs, use the Left or Right arrow key, and press Enter to select a tab.

Navigate the folder pane

The folder pane contains the available email folders. The most commonly used folders are contained in the Favorites folder. Each email account also has its own subfolders. When the focus changes to this pane, Narrator reads the name of the currently active folder.

To navigate the folder pane, press the Up or Down arrow key. Narrator reads the folder names as they are highlighted.
For the Favorites and account folders, Narrator also reads whether the folder is collapsed or expanded. To collapse a folder, press the Left arrow key. To expand a folder, press the Right arrow key.
To open a highlighted folder, press Enter. The folder's contents are displayed in the message list.
To navigate to the message list, press the Tab key.

Navigate the message list

The message list contains the contents of the currently active folder. Messages are grouped by date. When the focus changes to the messages list, Narrator reads the sender, subject, date, and a short preview of the contents of the currently selected message.

To navigate the message list, press the Up or Down arrow key. Narrator reads the sender, subject, date, and a short preview of the contents of the currently selected message.
To open the selected message, press Enter.

Navigate the message window

The message window contains the full text and other information for an email message. The message window has its own ribbon tabs, and below them, a pane containing the message header, any attachments and message body. When the focus changes to the message window, Narrator announces the message subject and format. The focus is placed to the beginning of the message body.

To navigate the ribbon tabs, press Alt. You hear "Ribbon tabs," followed by the currently selected tab.
To move between ribbon tabs, press the Left or Right arrow key, and press Enter to select a tab.
To read the message header information, press Ctrl+Tab until you hear the header field you want.
To access any attachments in the message, press Ctrl+Tab until you hear the name of the attachment you want, and then press Alt+Down arrow key to open the context menu for the attachment. Press the Up or Down arrow key to browse the context menu and then press Enter to select option.
To close the message window and return to the message list, press Alt+F4.

Navigate the status bar

The status bar contains visual information on the current Outlook status. When the focus changes to the status bar, Narrator announces "Status bar," followed by the currently active Outlook view.

To cycle between the view options, press the Up or Down arrow key. Narrator reads the currently highlighted option. Press Enter to select the view option.

Use the Focused inbox

When viewing the inbox in the message list, the Focused inbox is opened by default.
To open the Other inbox, press Ctrl+Tab until you hear "Off, Other button," and press Enter.
To navigate back to the Focused inbox, press Ctrl+Tab until you hear "Off, Focused button," and press Enter.

Move between views

Navigate the File menu

In the File menu, you can set up new email accounts, set up automatic replies, print messages, or access your Office account information.

Press Alt+F to open the File menu.
To move between the menu tabs, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the one you want and then press the Tab key to cycle through the items in the tab.
To close the File menu and return to the main view, press Esc.

Navigate Outlook options

In the Outlook options window, you can change email settings such as message format, message arrival alerts, auto-saving messages, and message tracking options.

Press Alt+F, T to open the Options window.
To move between the options categories, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the one you want and then press the Tab key to select it. Press the Tab key to move between the different options in a category and press Spacebar to toggle the currently highlighted option.
To close the Options window and return to the main view, press Enter.

Navigate between Outlook Mail and Calendar

To navigate to Outlook Mail, press Ctrl+1.
To navigate to Outlook Calendar, press Ctrl+2.

In this topic

Navigate the main view and screen elements
Move between views

Navigate the main view and screen elements

When you open Outlook for Mac, the Mail main view is displayed, showing the message list with the most recent emails in the Inbox folder.

To navigate through and inside the main views and screen elements:

Press the Tab key to move the focus through the screen elements.
To cycle through the main regions of the screen only (menu ribbon, navigation pane, message list view, and quick access bar), press F6.
When the focus is on a button or selectable element, press Control+Option+Spacebar to perform the action or select the element.

The main view contains the following regions: quick access bar at the top, menu ribbon right below it, folder pane on the left, message list view that takes up most of the screen in the middle, and status bar at the bottom.

Quick access bar

The quick access bar is at the top of the screen. It contains the Search field and any commands pinned there for easy access, for example, Print. To move the focus to the ribbon, press F6 until you hear the name of the first pinned command, which is "Print" by default. To navigate inside the quick access bar, press Command+Option+Right or Left arrow key, and press Command+Option+Spacebar to select.

Menu ribbon

The menu ribbon contains most commands in Outlook for Mac. It is divided into several tabs, such as Home, Organize, and Tools. To move the focus to the ribbon, press F6 until you hear the name of the current tab, for example, "Home, tab." To navigate between the ribbon tabs, press Command+Option+Right or Left arrow key, and then press Command+Option+Spacebar to open the tab you're currently on. After opening a ribbon tab, use the Tab key or Shift+Tab to browse its commands and options, and press Command+Option+Spacebar to select.

Folder pane

The folder pane contains a list of your email folders. At the bottom of the pane, you can find the quick access buttons for Mail, Calendar, People, Tasks, and Notes.

To check that the folder pane is open, press Control+Option+M anywhere in Outlook for Mac to move the focus to the Mac OS menu bar, and then press Control+Option+Right arrow key until you hear: "View." Press Control+Option+Spacebar to open the View menu, and then press the Down arrow key until you hear: "Checkmark, Sidebar." If you only hear "Sidebar," press Control+Option+Spacebar to open the folder pane. You hear "Sidebar, checked," and the focus returns to Outlook for Mac.

To move the focus to the folder pane, press F6 until you hear "Table, Inbox," followed by the number of any unread messages, and then press Control+Option+Shift+Down arrow key. To navigate the list of folders, press the Down or Up arrow key. VoiceOver reads the name of each folder and, in the case of Inbox, the number of unread messages. The contents of the message list view change to display the messages in the selected folder as you move between folders. To exit the folder pane, press Control+Option+Shift+Up arrow key.

Message list view

The message list view contains a list of the emails in the currently selected folder, with the most recent one at the top. You can read and create messages in the message list view.

To browse the message list, press F6 until you hear "Message list outline view, table," and press the Down or Up arrow key to find the email you want. VoiceOver reads the details of each email. Press Return to open the currently selected email. The email replaces the message list on the screen, and VoiceOver reads the title of the email.
To read the contents of the opened email, press Control+Option+Shift+Down arrow key. Press the Down arrow key to hear the next line of the message. To close the email window, press Command+W.
To start composing a new email, press Command+N. The mail composer replaces the message list on the screen. Press the Tab key or Shift+Tab to move between the message fields. When you are done, press Command+Return to send the email.
To close the mail composer without sending the message, press Command+W. If you had started writing the message, Outlook for Mac asks you if you want to discard it, continue writing, or save the message as a draft. Press the Tab key or Shift+Tab to move between the options, and press Return to select.

Tip: To continue writing a message you saved as a draft, use the folder pane to navigate to the Drafts folder as instructed in Folder pane, and then open the draft from the message list view.

Status bar

The status bar contains status messages that tell you if your email folders are up to date, for example.

Move between views

To move from Mail to Calendar, People, Tasks, or Notes and back to Mail, use the following keyboard shortcuts:

Press Command+1 to go to Mail view.
Press Command+2 to go to Calendar view.
Press Command+3 to go to People view.
Press Command+4 to go to Tasks view.
Press Command+1 to go to Notes view.

Navigate Outlook settings

Press Command+comma key (,). The Settings dialog opens.
To navigate the dialog, press the Tab key to move forwards or Shift+Tab to move backwards, and press Control+Option+Spacebar to make a selection.
To close the Settings dialog, press Command+W.

In this topic

Navigate the main view
Move between views

Navigate the main view

When you open Outlook, the main view shows the inbox. The top edge of the main view has the Show navigation pane button, the mailbox name and the Compose button for creating a new message. The Focused and Other buttons are located immediately below, followed by the Filter button for filtering the inbox contents.

Below the buttons is the messages list, showing the newest message first. At the bottom of the screen are the Email, Search and Calendar tabs, for moving between the main Outlook views.

To explore the main view, slide one finger across the screen. VoiceOver announces the items as you move.

Tip: You can also navigate the main view using the VoiceOver rotor. For example, to move between headings, turn the rotor until you hear "Headings," and then swipe up or down to move between headings.

Navigate the messages list

To browse the messages list, swipe right. VoiceOver reads the name of the message sender, subject, date, and a short preview of the message contents.
Double-tap the screen to open the currently selected message in a separate window.

Use the Focused inbox

When viewing the inbox in the main view, the Focused inbox is active by default. To switch to the Other inbox, swipe left or right until you hear "Other button," and then double-tap the screen.
To return to the Focused inbox, swipe left or right until you hear "Focused button," and then double-tap the screen.

Move between views

Navigate to email folders

The navigation pane contains a list of all the email accounts added to Outlook. In the navigation pane, you can also add a new email account and access the settings. Additionally, you can edit the list of favorite email folders that is shown at the top of the list.

To open the navigation pane, swipe left or right until you hear "Show navigation pane button," and double-tap the screen.
If you have added more than one account, swipe right until you hear the correct one and double-tap the screen to select it.
Swipe right until you hear the folder you want, and then double-tap the screen to close the navigation pane and open the selected in the main view.

Navigate to and inside the Outlook settings

To open the navigation pane, swipe left or right until you hear "Show navigation pane button," and double-tap the screen.
Swipe right until you hear "Settings button," and then double-tap the screen to open the Settings window.
To move between the different settings, swipe left and right until you hear the one you want and double-tap the screen to select it. Some settings open in a separate window. If so, you can return to the Settings window by swiping left until you hear "Back button," and double-tapping the screen.
To close the Settings window and return to the main view, swipe left until you hear "Close button," and double-tap the screen.

Navigate between Outlook Mail and Calendar

To access the calendar, swipe right in the main view until you hear "Calendar tab," and double-tap the screen.
To access your email, swipe right in the main view until you hear "Email tab," and double-tap the screen.

In this topic

Navigate the main view and screen elements
Move between views

Navigate the main view and screen elements

When you open Outlook for Android, the Inbox view is displayed, showing your most recent emails. To navigate through and inside the main view and screen elements:

Swipe right or left to move the focus through the screen elements.
To cycle through the main regions of the screen only (Navigation drawer button, Filters button, Compose button, and any pop-up dialog that might be open, such as an account sign-in dialog), swipe up once. You hear: "Controls." Swipe right or left to cycle through the main regions. Swipe down once to switch back to the Default navigation setting.

Note: If you hear TalkBack prompting you to sign in to an account when you open Outlook for Android, navigate to the pop-up dialog as described above. You hear: "Sign in button." Double-tap the screen and then follow the prompts to sign in to your account.
When the focus is on a button or selectable element, double-tap the screen to perform the action or select the element.

The Inbox contains the following regions: menu area at the top, message list view in the middle, and navigation bar at the bottom.

Menu area

The menu area is at the top of the screen. It contains the Navigation drawer button in the top left corner which lets you to jump to mail accounts, folders, and Outlook for Android settings.

Below the menu area, you can toggle between the Focused and Other inboxes.

Move between the Focused and Other inboxes

To switch from the Focused inbox to the Other inbox, swipe right or left until you hear "Toggle to Other mail, switch," and double-tap the screen. You hear: "Focused inbox is off, showing Other mail."
When you want to switch back to the Focused inbox, swipe right or left until you hear "Toggle to Focused inbox, switch," and double-tap the screen.

Navigate to mail folders and accounts

To open the navigation drawer, swipe right or left until you hear "Open navigation drawer, button," and double-tap the screen. You hear "Menu," followed by the number of items displayed.
While the navigation drawer is open, swipe right or left to move between your mail accounts and folders in each account.
To close the navigation drawer and return to the Inbox, swipe down-then-left.

Navigate to Settings

To open the Settings menu, swipe right or left until you hear "Open navigation drawer, button," and double-tap the screen.
Swipe right until you hear "Settings," and double-tap the screen.
To close the Settings menu and return to the Inbox, swipe down-then-left.

Message list view

The message list view lists your emails. To browse the currently displayed messages in the list, swipe right or left. To scroll the message list to display more messages, swipe up or down with two fingers. The message list view also contains the Compose button, which is located after the currently displayed messages in the list.

You can read and create messages in the message list view:

To open the currently selected email, double-tap the screen. The email replaces the message list on the screen. Swipe right to hear the contents of the email, one heading or paragraph at a time. To return to the Inbox, swipe down-then-left.
To start composing a new email, swipe right or left until you hear "Compose button," and then double-tap the screen. The mail composer replaces the message list on the screen. To return to the Inbox, swipe down-then-left.

Navigation bar

The navigation bar is located at the bottom of the screen. It contains quick access buttons for Mail, Search, and Calendar.

Move between views

To move from Mail to Search or Calendar and back to Mail, swipe right or left until you hear "Mail," "Search;" or "Calendar," and double-tap the screen. TalkBack announces the current view. You hear: "Selected," followed by the view name.

In this topic

Navigate the main view and screen elements
Move between views

Navigate the main view and screen elements

When you open Mail in Outlook on the web, the main view is displayed. The focus is on the message list, with the latest email. To navigate through and inside the main view and screen elements:

Press the Tab key to move the focus through the screen elements.
To cycle through the main regions of the screen only (the search field in the App Launcher tool bar, the navigation pane, the command toolbar, and the message list), press Ctrl+F6 to move forward and Shift+Ctrl+F6 to move backward.
When the focus is on a button or selectable element, press Enter to perform the action or select the element.

The main view contains the following regions: horizontal navigation bar at the top, navigation pane on the left, and message list view on the right.

Horizontal navigation bar

The horizontal navigation bar is at the top of the screen below the URL address field. It contains the App Launcher and any pinned apps on the left, and access to general information, such as Notifications and Settings, on the right.

If you access general information, such as Notifications, it opens in a separate pane on the right side of the message list view.

Navigation pane

The navigation pane contains a search field at the top, and a list of email folders and groups below it. At the bottom of the pane, you can find the quick access buttons for Mail, Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks.

To jump between folders and groups, press the Tab key. To navigate within the folder or group area, press the Up or Down arrow key. For example, to open an email draft, press Ctrl+F6 or Shift+Ctrl+F6 until you hear "Navigation pane," press the Tab key until you hear the name of the first email folder, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear "Drafts," and then press Enter.

Message list view

The message list view lists your emails. To browse the messages in the list, press the Down arrow key.

Above the message list, you can select the basic Inbox content with the Focused, Other, and All tabs, view information about the next scheduled event and upcoming agenda, and filter the messages shown in the list. To move between the Inbox content tabs, press the SR key+Left or Right arrow key.

At the top of the message list view, there's a command toolbar, which displays the most frequent tasks related to the currently shown content (message list, received email, or mail composer). Press Ctrl+F6 or Shift+Ctrl+F6 until you hear "Command," then press the Left or Right arrow key to move between the toolbar items, and press Enter to select an item.

You can read and create messages in the message list view:

To open an email, press Ctrl+F6 until you hear "Message list," press the Down arrow key until you find the email you want, and then press Enter. The email replaces the message list on the screen.
To enter Scan Mode and navigate the opened email, press the SR key+Spacebar. Press the Up or Down arrow key to scan through the email. To exit Scan Mode, press the SR key+Spacebar again. To return to the message list, press Esc.
To start composing a new email, press Ctrl+N. The mail composer replaces the message list on the screen.

Move between views

To move from Mail to Calendar, Contacts, or Tasks, press Ctrl+F6 or Shift+Ctrl+F6 until you hear "Navigation pane," then press the Tab key until you hear the name of a view. Press the Left or Right arrow keys until you hear the name of the view you want, and press Enter.

To open the Settings pane, press the Tab key until you hear "Settings button," and press Enter. Use the Tab key to navigate to the setting you want, and press Enter.

Technical support for customers with disabilities

Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.

If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk.

Wednesday, June 9, 2021

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate outlook mail

In this topic

Navigate the main view

Cycle through the elements in the main view

Navigate the ribbon tabs

Navigate the folder pane

Navigate the message list

Navigate the message window

Navigate the status bar

Use the Focused inbox

Move between views

Navigate the File menu

Navigate Outlook options

Navigate between Outlook Mail and Calendar

See also

In this topic

Navigate the main view and screen elements

Quick access bar

Menu ribbon

Folder pane

Message list view

Status bar

Move between views

Navigate Outlook settings

See also

In this topic

Navigate the main view

Navigate the messages list

Use the Focused inbox

Move between views

Navigate to email folders

Navigate to and inside the Outlook settings

Navigate between Outlook Mail and Calendar

See also

In this topic

Navigate the main view and screen elements

Menu area

Move between the Focused and Other inboxes

Navigate to mail folders and accounts

Navigate to Settings

Message list view

Navigation bar

Move between views

See also

In this topic

Navigate the main view and screen elements

Horizontal navigation bar

Navigation pane

Message list view

Move between views

See also

Technical support for customers with disabilities

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