Turn VoiceOver on or off on your Mac

Why it happens

VoiceOver is the screen reader built into every Mac. It speaks what's on the screen and lets you control the Mac from the keyboard, for people who are blind or have low vision. It's off until you turn it on, and it uses the same shortcut to switch on and off.

How to fix it

1. Press Command-F5. VoiceOver starts speaking straight away, and the first time it may show a short welcome.

2. On a keyboard with Touch ID, you can instead hold Command and quickly press Touch ID three times.

3. If F5 changes the keyboard light or does something else, press fn-Command-F5 instead. On newer keyboards the fn key also shows a globe.

4. Or open System Settings, click Accessibility, then VoiceOver, and turn on VoiceOver.

   Accessibility›VoiceOver›VoiceOver

5. To turn VoiceOver off, press the same keys again, or turn the switch off in the same place.

Still not fixed?

1. Shortcut does nothing? Press Option-Command-F5 to open the Accessibility Shortcuts panel, then choose VoiceOver from the list.

2. Speaking too fast or too slow? Change the speed in VoiceOver Utility, under Speech, then Voices, with Rate.

   VoiceOver Utility›Speech›Voices›Rate

3. If there's no sound, check the volume and the output device in Sound settings, and make sure your Mac isn't muted.

   Sound›Output

4. If VoiceOver won't start or stops speaking after a restart and a macOS update, contact Apple Support. Apple has accessibility specialists who can help.