Use a screen reader to insert a hyperlink in Outlook

Use new Outlook with your keyboard and a screen reader to link from an email to a web page. 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.

Need instructions on how to create or edit hyperlinks in Outlook, but not using a screen reader? Refer to Create or edit a hyperlink.

In this topic

• Create an automatic hyperlink
• Link to a web page
• Remove a hyperlink

Create an automatic hyperlink

Outlook can turn a web address into a hyperlink automatically.

1. While composing an email, type a web address (URL) like www.contoso.com, or an email address like someone@example.com, and then press Spacebar or Enter. Outlook changes the text to a hyperlink.

Link to a web page

Create a hyperlink to a web page and give the link a descriptive name.

1. While composing an email, move the cursor to where you want to insert the link.

2. Press F6 to move the focus to the ribbon tabs, and then press the Right or Left arrow key until you hear: "Insert tab."

3. Press the Tab key once, and then press the Right arrow key until you hear: "Link, button."

4. Press Enter to open the Insert link dialog box. The focus is on the Web address (URL) text field.

5. Type the address of the web page, or simply press Ctrl+V to paste it, if you have the address copied to the clipboard.

6. Press Shift+Tab once. You hear: "Display as." Type the text you want to appear in the email as the link text. By default, this field is filled with the address you typed.

   Tip

   It's a good idea to use the title of the web page as the link text. When people click the link and go to the page, the screen reader reads the title first.

7. To insert the link, press the Tab key until you hear "OK, button," and then press Enter.

Remove a hyperlink

1. While composing an email, select the link text, and then delete the text.

See also

Use a screen reader to format text in your email in Outlook

Use a screen reader to insert a picture or image in an email in Outlook

Keyboard shortcuts for Outlook

Basic tasks using a screen reader with email in Outlook

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Outlook Mail

Screen reader support for Outlook

Use Outlook with your keyboard and screen reader to link from an email to a web page, file on a shared drive, or a bookmark inside the same email. We have tested it with Narrator in Microsoft Edge and JAWS and NVDA in Chrome, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.

Need instructions on how to create or edit hyperlinks in Outlook, but not using a screen reader? See Create or edit a hyperlink.

In this topic

• Create an automatic hyperlink
• Link to a file or web page
• Link to another location in the current email
• Remove a hyperlink

Create an automatic hyperlink

Outlook can turn a web address into a hyperlink automatically.

While composing an email, type a web address (URL) like www.contoso.com, or an email address like someone@example.com, and then press Spacebar or Enter. Outlook changes the text to a hyperlink.

Link to a file or web page

Create a hyperlink to a file or a web page, and give the link a descriptive name.

Link to a file

1. When you're composing an email, move the cursor to where you want to insert the link.
2. Press Alt+N, I, I. The Insert Hyperlink dialog box opens.
3. To create a link to a file in the current folder, press Alt+X.
4. Press the Tab key until you hear "Look in," and then press the Tab key until you hear: "Current folder, tree." By default, the current folder is the Documents folder.
5. To change the current folder, press Alt+L. You will hear the name of the currently selected folder. Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the location you want, and then press Enter to select.
6. Press the Tab key until you hear "Current folder, tree," and then press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the file you want.
7. Press Alt+T. You hear: "Text to display." Type the text you want to appear in the email as the link text.
8. To insert the file link, press Enter.

Link to a browsed page

1. While composing an email, move the cursor to where you want to insert the link.
2. Press Alt+N, I, I. The Insert Hyperlink dialog box opens.
3. To create a link to a browsed page, press Alt+X and then Alt+B. The Browsed Pages option is selected.
4. Press the Tab key until you hear the first page in the list of browsed pages.
5. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the page you want.
6. Press Alt+T. You hear: "Text to display." Type the text you want to appear in the email as the link text.
7. To insert the file link, press Enter.

Link to a web page

1. While composing an email, move the cursor to where you want to insert the link.

2. Press Alt+N, I, I. The Insert Hyperlink dialog box opens. The focus is on the Address text field.

3. Type the address of the web page.

4. Press Alt+T. You hear: "Text to display." Type the text you want to appear in the email as the link text.

   Tip

   It's a good idea to use the title of the web page as the link text. When people click the link and go to the page, the screen reader reads the title first.

5. To insert the link, press Enter.

Link to another location in the current email

You can create internal links to predefined styles such as headings and bookmarks. For instructions on how to create headings in Outlook, refer to the section "Add headings" in Use a screen reader to format text in your email in Outlook.

Create a bookmark

1. Move the cursor to the link target location. The destination can be a heading, piece of text, or an image.

2. Press Alt+N, K. The Bookmark dialog box opens and the focus moves to the Bookmark name text field.

3. Type a name for the bookmark.

   Note

   Bookmark names must begin with a letter. They can contain letters, numbers, and the underscore character, for example, Dev_Report_2.

4. To add the bookmark in the list of bookmarks, press Alt+A.

Insert a link to a bookmark

1. While composing an email, move the cursor where you want to insert the link.
2. Press Alt+N, I, I. The Insert Hyperlink dialog box opens.
3. Press Alt+A. The Place in This Document option is selected and the focus moves to the bookmark tree.
4. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the bookmark you want, and then press Enter. The bookmark link with the bookmark name is inserted in the email.

Remove a hyperlink

1. While composing an email, select the link text or the hyperlinked image.
2. Press Shift+F10, and then press R. The hyperlink is removed.

See also

Use a screen reader to format text in your email in Outlook

Use a screen reader to insert a picture or image in an email in Outlook

Keyboard shortcuts for Outlook

Basic tasks using a screen reader with email in Outlook

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Outlook Mail

Screen reader support for Outlook