Use a screen reader to explore and navigate outlook mail

Screen reader content

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 Microsoft Support home.

Use Outlook Mail with Narrator, the built-in Windows screen reader, to explore and navigate the different views and move between them.

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

• Navigate the main view and screen elements

• Move between the Outlook Mail and Outlook Calendar apps

Navigate the main view and screen elements

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

• Swipe up until you hear "Items," and then swipe right or left to move the focus through the screen elements.

• 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 button in the top left corner which lets you to jump to mail accounts, and folders.

Navigate to mail folders and accounts

1. To open the navigation pane, swipe left until you hear "Navigation, button collapsed," and double-tap the screen. You hear: "Navigation, button expanded."

2. While the navigation pane is open, swipe right or left to move between your mail accounts and folders in each account. The selected account is announced as: "Selected," followed by the email account name and the number of unread messages. The selected folder is announced by the selected folder and the number of unread messages.

3. To close the navigation pane and return to the Inbox, swipe left until you hear "Navigation, button expanded," and double-tap the screen.

Message list view

The message list view lists your emails or meeting requests. To browse the currently displayed items in the list, swipe right or left. To scroll the message list to display more messages, swipe up or down with two fingers.

You can read 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 right until you hear "Back, button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.

Navigation bar

The navigation bar is located at the bottom of the screen. From the navigation bar you can, for example, compose a new email, search for an email, or access the More options menu. From the More options menu, you can access the Outlook Mail settings.

Navigate to Settings

1. To open the Settings menu, swipe right or left until you hear "More options, button collapsed," and double-tap the screen. You hear: "More options, menu."

2. Swipe right until you hear "Settings button," and double-tap the screen.

3. To close the Settings menu and return to the Inbox, swipe right until you hear "Back, button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.

Move between the Outlook Mail and Outlook Calendar apps

1. In Outlook Mail, to go to the home screen, swipe right until you hear "Start, button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.

2. Swipe right until you hear "All apps, button," and double-tap the screen. The apps list opens.

3. Swipe right until you hear "Outlook calendar," and then double-tap the screen. Outlook Calendar opens.

4. To move back to Outlook Mail, in Outlook Calendar, swipe right until you hear "Start, button collapsed," double-tap the screen, swipe right until you hear "Outlook mail," and then double-tap the screen.

See also

Use a screen reader to format text in your email in Outlook

Use a screen reader to insert a picture or image in an email in Outlook

Basic tasks using a screen reader with email in Outlook

Basic tasks using a screen reader with the calendar in Outlook

Make your Outlook email accessible to people with disabilities

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.