Use a screen reader with Sticky Notes

This article is for people who use a screen reader program such as Windows Narrator, JAWS, or NVDA with Microsoft 365 products. This article is part of the Microsoft 365 screen reader support content set where you can find more accessibility information on our apps. For general help, visit Microsoft Support.

Use Sticky Notes with your keyboard and Narrator, the built-in Windows screen reader, to quickly do all essential basic tasks, such as creating and deleting a sticky note, using notes lists, or moving between sticky notes.

For keyboard shortcuts, go to Keyboard shortcuts for Sticky Notes.
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.
This topic assumes you are using this app with a PC. Some navigation and gestures might be different for a Windows phone or tablet.

In this topic

Open Sticky Notes
Create a new sticky note
Navigate between sticky notes
Use the notes list
Search sticky notes
Format a sticky note
Delete a sticky note
Sign in to sync your sticky notes across devices
Exit Sticky Notes

Open Sticky Notes

Sticky notes stay on your screen even after you restart the computer.

Press the Windows logo key, type sticky notes, and then press Enter. Sticky Notes opens. If there are no existing sticky notes, one is created for you.
Type text in your sticky note.

Create a new sticky note

You can have multiple sticky notes.

Open Sticky Notes, and press Ctrl+N. A new sticky note is created.
Type text in your sticky note.

Navigate between sticky notes

You can navigate between multiple sticky notes.

To move to the next sticky note, press Ctrl+Tab. If the notes list is active, it is included in the loop as you navigate from one note to the next.
To move to the previous sticky note, press Ctrl+Shift+Tab.

Use the notes list

The notes list allows you to hide notes from your screen without deleting them. You can also search the notes list to find any of your notes, closed or open.

To open the notes list, do one of the following:
- From the Sticky Notes taskbar menu, select All notes and press Enter.
- From a sticky note, press Ctrl+H.
To move in the notes list, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the note you want, and press Enter to move the focus to it. If the note is closed, this also opens it.
To close the notes list, press the Tab key until you hear "Close window," and then press Enter.

Search sticky notes

In the notes list, press Ctrl+F to move the focus to the Search field. You hear: "Start typing and hit Enter to search."
Type your search term and then press Enter to move the focus to the notes list. The notes list is automatically filtered based on your search term.
To move in the notes list, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the note you want, and press Enter to move the focus to it. If the note is closed, this also opens it.
To stop filtering the notes list, press Ctrl+F to navigate back to the Search field and delete your search term.

Format a sticky note

To format the text of your sticky notes, do one of the following:

Use keyboard shortcuts:
- Press Ctrl+B to bold text.
- Press Ctrl+I to italicize text.
- Press Ctrl+U to underline text.
- Press Ctrl+T to strikethrough text.
- Press Ctrl+Shift+L to toggle bullets for the current line.
Press the Tab key until you hear name of the formatting command you want to use, and press Enter.

Close a sticky note

Closing a note hides it from the desktop, but does not delete it. Closed notes can be reopened from the notes list. To close a note, press Ctrl+W.

Delete a sticky note

You can delete a sticky note from the notes list by navigating to the note you want and pressing Delete. To delete a note you currently have open:

In an open note, press Ctrl+D. You hear: “Delete button."
Press Enter. The sticky note is deleted. The focus moves to the next sticky note.

Sign in to sync your sticky notes across devices

In the notes list, press the Tab key until you hear "Settings," and then press Enter.
If you are signed out, you hear: "Sign in to sync your notes to the cloud." Press Enter to sign in.
Select your sign-in credentials by pressing the Down arrow key until you hear the one you want and then press Enter. To sign in using the chosen account, press the Tab key until you hear "Continue," and press Enter. If you are signing in with an account that is not currently signed in on your device, or adding a new account, you are asked to input additional information such as your email address or password.

Exit Sticky Notes

To prevent your open sticky notes from showing on the screen after you restart the computer, exit Sticky Notes.

In Sticky Notes, press Alt+F4.

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.