Complete VoiceOver keyboard shortcuts reference — 18 shortcuts across 2 categories. Quick reference cheat sheet for macOS.
VoiceOver is the screen reader built into macOS, and its commands are chords built on the VoiceOver modifier, written VO — by default Control + Option, or Caps Lock if enabled in VoiceOver Utility. The table follows Apple's guide. The notes cover the interaction model, which is the part sighted developers testing accessibility find least intuitive.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Cmd + F5 | Toggle VoiceOver |
| VO + A | Read all |
| Ctrl | Pause speech |
| VO + Right | Next item |
| VO + Left | Previous item |
| VO + Space | Activate item |
| VO + Shift + Down | Interact with item |
| VO + Shift + Up | Stop interacting |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| VO + U | Open rotor |
| VO + Cmd + H | Next heading |
| VO + Cmd + L | Next link |
| VO + Cmd + T | Next table |
| VO + F | Find text |
| VO + M | Menu bar |
| VO + D | Open Dock |
| VO + H | VoiceOver Help |
| VO + K | Keyboard help |
| VO + F8 | VoiceOver Utility |
The most essential VoiceOver shortcuts are: Cmd + F5 (Toggle VoiceOver), VO + A (Read all), Ctrl (Pause speech).
The VoiceOver shortcut for toggle voiceover is Cmd + F5.
Print the VoiceOver cheat sheet and keep it next to your keyboard for the first week, then switch to active recall: cover the answer column and quiz yourself until each one is automatic.
Yes — use My Stack to combine VoiceOver shortcuts with any other platform on this site into one printable reference, which is useful if your daily workflow spans several tools.
No — VoiceOver is built into macOS and iOS only. On Windows the equivalents are NVDA (free) and JAWS (commercial); both use Insert as their modifier instead of Control + Option.
Cmd + F5 toggles VoiceOver on and off. VO + A reads everything from the VoiceOver cursor onward, and Ctrl alone pauses and resumes speech. VO + Right and VO + Left move the VoiceOver cursor to the next and previous item — a heading, a link, a button, a word of text — and VO + Space activates whatever is under it, the equivalent of a click.
Groups such as tables, toolbars and text areas are single items until you interact with them: VO + Shift + Down steps into the group so the arrows move within it, and VO + Shift + Up steps back out. This is the model to understand when a page seems to skip content — VoiceOver is treating a region as one item. VO + Cmd + H, VO + Cmd + L and VO + Cmd + T jump to the next heading, link and table, which is how well-structured pages are skimmed.
VO + U opens the rotor, a set of lists (headings, links, form controls, landmarks) that can be browsed with the arrow keys; it is the fastest way to audit a page's heading outline. VO + F finds text, VO + M moves to the menu bar and VO + D to the Dock. VO + H opens VoiceOver help, VO + K enters keyboard help, where pressing any key announces what it does, and VO + F8 opens VoiceOver Utility for settings including the modifier key.
Open your assistant with this page preloaded as the source — great for follow-up questions like "which of these work in other apps?"