Use VoiceOver to navigate menus on Mac

The menu bar at the top of the screen contains several menus, such as the Apple menu , the app menu, and the status menus.

If the Trackpad Commander is on, you can use gestures when navigating menus.

Note: VO represents the VoiceOver modifier. See Use the VoiceOver modifier.

Navigate to the menu bar

  • Press VO-M, or double-tap with two fingers near the top edge of the trackpad.

Navigate in the menu bar

  • Go to a specific menu: Type the first letter of the menu. For example, type “H” to jump to the Help menu.

  • Go to the status menus: Press VO-M-M.

  • Move among the menus in an area of the menu bar: Press VO-Right Arrow or VO-Left Arrow. A sound effect indicates when you’re at the end of an area.

  • Open Spotlight: Press Command-Space bar.

  • Use Siri: Press the keyboard shortcut (as specified in Siri & Spotlight settings). If Siri isn’t shown in the menu bar, choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Control Center in the sidebar (you may need to scroll down). Go to Menu Bar Only on the right, click the pop-up menu next to Siri, then choose Show in Menu Bar.

    Open Control Center settings for me

If you’re using VoiceOver gestures, drag a finger across the trackpad to navigate the areas and menus in the menu bar. You hear a sound effect when moving over a blank space. You can also flick left or right to move between menus.

Navigate a menu

  • Open any menu: Press VO-Space bar.

  • Move down or up a menu: Press VO-Down Arrow or VO-Up Arrow, or drag a finger down or up on the trackpad.

  • Move to a submenu: Press VO-Right Arrow or flick right on the trackpad. To return to the main menu, press VO-Left Arrow or flick left on the trackpad.

Close a menu

To exit a menu without selecting an item, press Escape, or scrub back and forth with two fingers on the trackpad.

To open a shortcut menu for an item, press VO-Shift-M, or use the customized gesture Control-Trackpad click (you can change this default assignment and assign the command to a different gesture).

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