This article is for people who use a screen reader program such as Windows Narrator, JAWS, or NVDA with Windows tools or features and Microsoft 365 products. This article is part of the Accessibility help & learning content set where you can find more accessibility information on our apps. For general help, visit Microsoft Support.
Use PowerPoint with your keyboard and a screen reader to explore and navigate the different views and move effectively between them. We have tested it with Narrator, JAWS, and NVDA, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.
Notes:
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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.
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To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
In this topic
Navigate the main view
To navigate in PowerPoint and to cycle through the main screen elements, press F6. The elements are, in order:
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The active slide
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The status bar
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The ribbon tabs
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The Notes pane (if it's open)
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The Thumbnails pane
Navigate inside a screen element
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To cycle within the current screen element, press the Tab key (forward) or Shift+Tab (backward). For example, press the Tab key to switch between the text fields of the active slide.
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To select an item, press Enter.
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To browse within menus or lists, press the arrow keys. For example, to move between the slide thumbnails in the Thumbnails pane, press the Down and Up arrow keys.
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To exit a menu or mode, press Esc.
Tip: To quickly move the focus to the first floating shape, such as a text box or an image, press Ctrl+Alt+5. Then, to cycle through the floating shapes, press the Tab key. To return to the normal navigation, press Esc.
Navigate the Quick Access toolbar
The Quick Access toolbar at the upper-left corner of the screen contains, for example, the Save button.
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To navigate to the Quick Access toolbar, press Alt+H. You hear: "Home tab."
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Press the Up arrow key. The focus moves to the Quick Access toolbar.
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To navigate the toolbar, press the Left and Right arrow keys.
Navigate to the App controls
The App controls at the upper-right corner of the screen include, for example, the Minimize and Close buttons.
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To navigate to the App controls, press Alt+H. You hear: "Home tab." Then press the Up arrow key. The focus moves to the Quick Access toolbar.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Ribbon display options," and then press the SR key+Right arrow key until you hear the button you want.
Switch between views
In addition to the main view, PowerPoint has the following commonly used views:
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The File menu, which contains options, for example, for creating a new presentation, and opening or saving an existing presentation.
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To open the File menu, press Alt+F. You hear: "File, info."
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To navigate the File menu, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the menu item you want, and then press Enter to open the tab with further options.
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To navigate inside the further options tab, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear the option you want.
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To exit the File menu and return to the main view, press Esc.
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The Options window, which contains PowerPoint settings, such as personalization, ease of access, proofreading, and language preferences.
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To open the Options window, press Alt+F, T. You hear: "PowerPoint options window." The focus is on the option categories pane.
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To navigate the option categories, press the Down arrow key until you hear the name of the category you want.
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To move the focus to the options of the selected category, press the Tab key.
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To navigate the options, press the Up and Down arrow keys until you hear the option you want and then press Enter to select it.
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To exit the Options window and return to the main view, press the Tab key until you hear "OK," and press Enter. To return to the main view without making changes, press Esc.
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For instructions on how to work with the Slide Show view, go to Use a screen reader to show your presentation with PowerPoint or Use keyboard shortcuts to deliver PowerPoint presentations.
Special considerations for PowerPoint
To make the content easier to read and select, you can increase contrast or invert colors on your computer using the high contrast settings of Windows. To start using a high contrast theme quickly, press left Alt+left Shift+Print Screen, then press Enter to activate the high contrast theme.
Windows offers you several high contrast themes. To find the one that works best for you:
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Press the Windows logo key, then type "high contrast" in the search box. The search results are updated as you type.
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Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Change high contrast theme," and then press Enter. The High contrast settings window opens.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "High contrast theme," followed by the currently selected theme.
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Use the Down and Up arrow keys to browse the high contrast themes until you find one that works for you.
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Press the SR key+Right arrow key until you hear "Apply button," and then press Enter to activate the selected theme.
Use Search
To find an option or perform an action quickly, use the Search text field. To learn more about the Search feature, go to Find what you need with Microsoft Search.
Note: Depending on the version of Microsoft 365 you are using, the Search text field at the top of the app window might be called Tell Me instead. Both offer a largely similar experience, but some options and search results can vary.
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Select the item or place in your document, presentation, or spreadsheet where you want to perform an action.
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To go to the Search text field, press Alt+Q.
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Type the search words for the action that you want to perform. For example, if you want to add a bulleted list, type bullets.
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Press the Down arrow key to browse through the search results.
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Once you've found the result that you want, press Enter to select it and to perform the action.
See also
Use a screen reader to work with slides in PowerPoint
Use a screen reader to add and format text in PowerPoint
Use keyboard shortcuts to create PowerPoint presentations
Use keyboard shortcuts to deliver PowerPoint presentations
Basic tasks to create a presentation in PowerPoint with a screen reader
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible to people with disabilities
Use PowerPoint with your keyboard and VoiceOver, the built-in macOS screen reader, to explore and navigate the different views and move effectively 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 macOS screen reader, VoiceOver. To learn more about using VoiceOver, go to VoiceOver Getting Started Guide.
In this topic
Switch between views
In addition to the main view, PowerPoint has the following commonly used views:
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The Preferences window, which contains PowerPoint settings, such as editing, proofreading, and security preferences.
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To open the Preferences window, press Command+Comma (,). You hear: "PowerPoint preferences."
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To navigate the option categories, press Control+Option+Left or Right arrow key. To select a category, press Spacebar.
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To navigate the options window, press Control+Option+Left or Right arrow key.
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To exit the Preferences window and return to the main view, press the Tab key until you hear "OK," and press Spacebar. To return to the main view without making changes, press Esc.
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The Slide Show view, for sharing your presentation with an audience. For instructions on how to work with the Slide Show view, go to Use a screen reader to show your presentation with PowerPoint or Use keyboard shortcuts to deliver PowerPoint presentations.
See also
Use a screen reader to work with slides in PowerPoint
Use a screen reader to add and format text in PowerPoint
Use keyboard shortcuts to create PowerPoint presentations
Use keyboard shortcuts to deliver PowerPoint presentations
Basic tasks to create a presentation in PowerPoint with a screen reader
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible to people with disabilities
Use PowerPoint with VoiceOver, the built-in iOS screen reader, to explore and navigate the different views and move effectively 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 iOS screen reader, VoiceOver. To learn more about using VoiceOver, visit Apple accessibility.
In this topic
Switch between views
In addition to the main views, PowerPoint also has other commonly used and useful views. To work efficiently and optimize PowerPoint, you need to move from one view to another.
Switch from the editing view to the Home view
If you need, for example, to open another presentation or access the PowerPoint settings while editing a slide, you need to move from the editing view to the Home view.
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If the ribbon is active, swipe left or right until you hear "Hide ribbon," and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe left until you hear "Done, button," and double-tap the screen.
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Swipe left until you hear "Close file, button," and double-tap the screen.
Switch to and navigate the More options menu
The More options menu contains useful options such as Save a Copy, Print, and Properties.
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In the editing view, swipe left or right until you hear "More options, button," and double-tap the screen. You hear the name of your presentation.
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To browse through the options in the More options menu, swipe right or left until you hear the option you want, and then double-tap the screen.
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To return to the editing view, swipe left until you hear "Done, button," and double-tap the screen.
Switch to and navigate the account menu
In the account menu, you can access your account info, app help, and PowerPoint settings.
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In the Home view, swipe left until you hear your account address, followed by: "Navigation pane, button."
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To browse through the options in the account menu, swipe left or right until you hear the option you want, and then double-tap the screen. To return to the Home view after selecting, for example, the Settings option, swipe left until you hear "Close, button," and double-tap the screen.
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To close the account menu and return to the Home view, swipe right until you hear "Dismiss, button," and double-tap the screen.
Use the VoiceOver Rotor
You can also use the VoiceOver Rotor to navigate PowerPoint. For instructions, refer to About the VoiceOver rotor on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
See also
Use a screen reader to work with slides in PowerPoint
Use a screen reader to add and format text in PowerPoint
Use keyboard shortcuts to create PowerPoint presentations
Basic tasks to create a presentation in PowerPoint with a screen reader
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible to people with disabilities
Use PowerPoint for Android with TalkBack, the built-in Android screen reader, to explore and navigate the different views and move effectively 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 Android screen reader, TalkBack. To learn more about using TalkBack, go to Android accessibility.
In this topic
Switch between views
In addition to the main views, PowerPoint also has other commonly used and useful views. To work efficiently and optimize PowerPoint, you need to move from one view to another.
Switch from the editing or reading view to the Recent view
If you need, for example, to open another presentation or access the settings, you need to move from the editing or reading view to the Recent view.
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Do one of the following:
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In the reading view, swipe down-then-left.
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In the editing view, swipe down-then-left. The focus moves to the reading view. Swipe down-then-left again.
You hear "Closing," followed by the name of the presentation. The focus moves the Recent view.
Switch from the reading view to the editing view
To edit a slide, you need to move to the editing view.
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In the reading view, swipe left or right until you hear "Edit button," and double-tap the screen.
The editing view opens, and the focus is on the first slide in the thumbnails pane.
Switch to and navigate the PowerPoint menu
The PowerPoint menu contains useful options such as adding a new slide or notes, printing, and saving.
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In the editing view, swipe left or right until you hear "Menu," and double-tap the screen.
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To browse through the options in the menu, swipe left or right until you hear the option you want, and then double-tap the screen.
Note: You can also access some of the PowerPoint menu options from the reading view.
Switch to and navigate the Settings menu
In the Settings menu, you can access your account info and app help, and toggle the Autosave feature on or off.
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In the reading or editing view, swipe left or right until you hear "Menu," and double-tap the screen.
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To browse through the options in the menu, swipe left or right until you hear the option you want, and then double-tap the screen.
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To return to the reading or editing view, swipe down-then-left.
Use Tell Me
To find a command or an option quickly, use the Tell Me search.
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In the editing view, swipe left or right until you hear "Not checked, More options, switch," and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe right until you hear "Tell me button," and then double-tap the screen. You hear: “Tell me what you want to do, edit box.” Double-tap the screen.
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Use the on-screen keyboard to type a search word, for example, bullets or table. The list of search results is updated as you type.
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To browse the search results, swipe left or right until you hear the command or option you want.
Some commands and options may have submenus with more choices. TalkBack announces the search result, followed by "Menu." To open the menu, double-tap the screen.
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To select the option, double-tap the screen.
See also
Use a screen reader to work with slides in PowerPoint
Use a screen reader to add and format text in PowerPoint
Use keyboard shortcuts to create PowerPoint presentations
Basic tasks to create a presentation in PowerPoint with a screen reader
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible to people with disabilities
Use PowerPoint for the web with your keyboard and a screen reader to explore and navigate the different views and move between them. We have tested it with Narrator in Microsoft Edge and JAWS and NVDA in Chrome, but it might work with other screen readers and web browsers 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 365.
-
When you use PowerPoint for the web, we recommend that you use Microsoft Edge as your web browser. Because PowerPoint for the web runs in your web browser, the keyboard shortcuts are different from those in the desktop program. For example, you’ll use Ctrl+F6 instead of F6 for jumping in and out of the commands. Also, common shortcuts like F1 (Help) and Ctrl+O (Open) apply to the web browser – not PowerPoint for the web.
In this topic
Switch between views
In addition to the main view, PowerPoint has the File menu, which contains options, for example, for creating a new presentation, and opening or saving an existing presentation.
-
To open the File menu, press Alt+Windows logo key+F. You hear: "Close menu."
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To navigate the File menu, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the menu item you want, and then press Enter to open the pane with further options.
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To navigate inside the further options pane, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear the option you want.
-
To exit the File menu and return to the main view, press Esc.
For instructions on how to work with the Slide Show view, go to Use a screen reader to show your presentation with PowerPoint or Use keyboard shortcuts to deliver PowerPoint presentations.
Use Search
To find an option or perform an action quickly, use the Search text field. To learn more about the Search feature, go to Find what you need with Microsoft Search.
Note: Depending on the version of Microsoft 365 you are using, the Search text field at the top of the app window might be called Tell Me instead. Both offer a largely similar experience, but some options and search results can vary.
-
Select the item or place in your document, presentation, or spreadsheet where you want to perform an action.
-
To go to the Search text field, press Alt+Q.
-
Type the search words for the action that you want to perform. For example, if you want to add a bulleted list, type bullets.
-
Press the Down arrow key to browse through the search results.
-
Once you've found the result that you want, press Enter to select it and to perform the action.
See also
Use a screen reader to work with slides in PowerPoint
Use a screen reader to add and format text in PowerPoint
Use a screen reader to insert and edit pictures and tables in PowerPoint
Use keyboard shortcuts to create PowerPoint presentations
Use keyboard shortcuts to deliver PowerPoint presentations
Basic tasks to create a presentation in PowerPoint with a screen reader
Make your PowerPoint presentations 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.
