Macintosh

Macintosh Hotkeys and Tips

VoiceOver

When VoiceOver is turned on, the standard touchscreen gestures have different effects. These and some additional gestures let you move around the screen and control individual elements when they’re selected. VoiceOver gestures include two- and three-finger gestures to tap or flick. For best results when using two- and three-finger gestures, relax and let your fingers touch the screen with some space between them.

You can use standard gestures when VoiceOver is turned on, by double-tapping and holding your finger on the screen. A series of tones indicates that normal gestures are in force. They remain in effect until you lift your finger. Then VoiceOver gestures resume.

You can use different techniques to enter VoiceOver gestures. For example, you can enter a two-finger tap using two fingers from one hand, or one finger from each hand. You can also use your thumbs. Many find the “split-tap” gesture especially effective: instead of selecting an item and double-tapping, you can touch and hold an item with one finger, then tap the screen with another finger. Try different techniques to discover which works best for you.

If your gestures don’t work, try quicker movements, especially for double-tapping and flicking gestures. To flick, try quickly brushing the screen with your finger or fingers. When VoiceOver is turned on, the VoiceOver Practice button appears, which gives you a chance to practice VoiceOver gestures before proceeding.

  • Practice gestures:  Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > VoiceOver, then tap VoiceOver Practice. When you finish practicing, tap Done.

If you don’t see the VoiceOver Practice button, make sure VoiceOver is turned on.

Here’s a summary of key VoiceOver gestures:

Navigate and read

  • Tap:  Speak item.
  • Flick right or left:  Select the next or previous item.
  • Flick up or down:  Depends on the Rotor Control setting. See Using the VoiceOver rotor control.
  • Two-finger tap:  Stop speaking the current item.
  • Two-finger flick up:  Read all from the top of the screen.
  • Two-finger flick down:  Read all from the current position.
  • Two-finger “scrub”:  Move two fingers back and forth three times quickly (making a “z”) to dismiss an alert or go back to the previous screen.
  • Two-finger triple tap:  Open the Item Chooser.
  • Three-finger flick up or down:  Scroll one page at a time.
  • Three-finger flick right or left:  Go to the next or previous page (such as the Home screen, Stocks, or Safari).
  • Three-finger tap:  Speak additional information, such as position within a list or whether text is selected.
  • Four-finger tap at top of screen:  Select the first item on the page.
  • Four-finger tap at bottom of screen:  Select the last item on the page.

Activate

  • Double-tap:  Activate the selected item.
  • Triple-tap:  Double-tap an item.
  • Split-tap:  An alternative to selecting an item and double-tapping is to touch an item with one finger, then tap the screen with another to activate an item.
  • Touch an item with one finger, tap the screen with another finger (“split-tapping”):  Activate the item.
  • Double-tap and hold (1 second) + standard gesture:  Use a standard gesture.
  • The double-tap and hold gesture tells iPhone to interpret the subsequent gesture as standard. For example, you can double-tap and hold, then without lifting your finger, drag your finger to slide a switch.
  • Two-finger double-tap:  Answer or end a call. Play or pause in Music, Videos, YouTube, Voice Memos, or Photos. Take a photo (Camera). Start or pause recording in Camera or Voice Memos. Start or stop the stopwatch.
  • Two-finger double-tap and hold:  Open the element labeler.
  • Two-finger triple-tap:  Open the Item Chooser.
  • Three-finger double-tap:  Mute or unmute VoiceOver.
  • Three-finger triple-tap:  Turn the screen curtain on or off.

Home page