Standard trackpad gestures for VoiceOver on Mac
If you’re using a trackpad, you can use gestures with VoiceOver to perform actions such as navigating and interacting with items on the screen. VO represents the VoiceOver modifier that you press with additional keys to enter VoiceOver commands. By default, you can press Control and Option together or just press Caps Lock.
Note: If a gesture doesn’t mention a specific number of fingers, use a single finger. The standard gestures listed below can’t be customized, but you can assign VoiceOver commands to additional gestures. See Customize key commands and trackpad gestures for VoiceOver.
General
Action | Gesture |
|---|---|
Turn on the option to control VoiceOver with trackpad gestures | VO-two-finger rotate clockwise |
Turn off the option to control VoiceOver with trackpad 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 how you set the “Scroll gesture moves content instead of scroll bar” option). See Change VoiceOver Commands settings. | 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 to access open windows and system dialogs | 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 |
You can also set an option to disable your trackpad when VoiceOver is on. This may be useful if you want to avoid accidentally performing gestures on the trackpad. See Change VoiceOver Commands settings.
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