This article is for people with visual or cognitive impairments 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 Mail for Windows 10 with your keyboard and a screen reader to automatically check for potential spelling and grammatical errors as you type and to go through the errors and fix them. 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.
Notes:
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New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
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To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
In this topic
Check the spelling in an email
Check your email for spelling mistakes and then decide if you agree with the spellchecker.
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In the email you want to check for spelling mistakes, press F7. With Narrator and NVDA, you hear: "Pop-up." With JAWS, you hear the misspelled word. A context menu opens up showing a list of suggested corrections for the first spelling mistake.
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To browse the list of correction suggestions, press the Right arrow key, and then do one of the following:
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To select a suggestion, press Enter.
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To ignore the suggestions, press the Right arrow key until you hear "Ignore all," and then press Enter.
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To go to the next spelling mistake, press F7 and repeat step 2.
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When there are no more spelling mistakes, you hear "Spelling check complete," and the focus is on the Dismiss button. Press Enter to close the dialog box.
Hide and unhide proofing marks
You can hide the proofing marks so that your screen reader won't announce spelling errors as you work on your email. When you're done, you can unhide the marks, and check the spelling with a screen reader.
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Press F6 until you hear "Ribbon," followed by the currently selected tab.
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Press the Right arrow key until you hear: "Options tab."
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To move to the ribbon, press the Down arrow key once. You hear the first option on the ribbon, for example, "High importance, button, off."
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Press the Right arrow key until you hear "Proofing and language, button collapsed," and then press Enter to expand the menu.
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The focus is on the Hide All Proofing Marks option. Press Spacebar to select the checkbox.
Tip: To hide the proofing marks for a particular part of the text, first select the text in the email and then navigate to the Proofing and Language menu as instructed in steps 1 to 4. In the menu, press the Down arrow key until you hear "Hide proofing marks in selected text, checkbox unchecked," and then press Spacebar.
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To close the Proofing and Language menu, press Esc.
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When you're done and want to unhide the proofing marks, open the Proofing and Language menu as instructed in steps 1 to 4, and then press Spacebar to clear the Hide All Proofing Marks checkbox. To close the menu, press Esc.
See also
Use a screen reader to format your email text in Mail
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Mail
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
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.
