This article is for people who use a screen reader program such as Windows Narrator, JAWS, or NVDA with Windows tools or features and Microsoft 365 products. This article is part of the Accessibility help & learning content set where you can find more accessibility information on our apps. For general help, visit Microsoft Support.
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.
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
Create an automatic hyperlink
Outlook can turn a web address into a hyperlink automatically.
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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.
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While composing an email, move the cursor to where you want to insert the link.
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Press F6 to move the focus to the ribbon tabs, and then press the Right or Left arrow key until you hear: "Insert tab."
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Press the Tab key once, and then press the Right arrow key until you hear: "Link, button."
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Press Enter to open the Insert link dialog box. The focus is on the Web address (URL) text field.
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Type the address of the web page, or simply press Ctrl+V to paste it, if you have the address copied to the clipboard.
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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.
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To insert the link, press the Tab key until you hear "OK, button," and then press Enter.
Remove a hyperlink
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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 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.
Notes:
-
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.
-
To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
In this topic
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
Tip: To quickly create a link to a recent file, press Alt+N, I. A list of recent files opens. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the file you want, and then press Enter.
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When you're composing an email, move the cursor to where you want to insert the link.
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Press Alt+N, I, I. The Insert Hyperlink dialog box opens.
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To create a link to a file in the current folder, press Alt+X.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Press Alt+T. You hear: "Text to display." Type the text you want to appear in the email as the link text.
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To insert the file link, press Enter.
Link to a browsed page
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While composing an email, move the cursor to where you want to insert the link.
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Press Alt+N, I, I. The Insert Hyperlink dialog box opens.
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To create a link to a browsed page, press Alt+X and then Alt+B. The Browsed Pages option is selected.
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Press the Tab key until you hear the first page in the list of browsed pages.
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Press the Down arrow key until you hear the page you want.
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Press Alt+T. You hear: "Text to display." Type the text you want to appear in the email as the link text.
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To insert the file link, press Enter.
Link to a web page
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While composing an email, move the cursor to where you want to insert the link.
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Press Alt+N, I, I. The Insert Hyperlink dialog box opens. The focus is on the Address text field.
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Type the address of the web page.
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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.
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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
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Move the cursor to the link target location. The destination can be a heading, piece of text, or an image.
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Press Alt+N, K. The Bookmark dialog box opens and the focus moves to the Bookmark name text field.
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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.
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To add the bookmark in the list of bookmarks, press Alt+A.
Insert a link to a bookmark
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While composing an email, move the cursor where you want to insert the link.
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Press Alt+N, I, I. The Insert Hyperlink dialog box opens.
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Press Alt+A. The Place in This Document option is selected and the focus moves to the bookmark tree.
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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
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While composing an email, select the link text or the hyperlinked image.
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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 Outlook for Mac with your keyboard and VoiceOver, the built-in macOS screen reader, to link from an email to a web page or file on a shared drive.
Notes:
-
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.
-
This topic assumes that you are using the built-in macOS screen reader, VoiceOver. To learn more about using VoiceOver, go to VoiceOver Getting Started Guide.
In this topic
Create an automatic hyperlink
Outlook can turn a web address into a hyperlink automatically.
When you're composing an email, in the message body, type a web address (URL) like www.contoso.com, or an email address like someone@example.com, and then press Spacebar or Return. Outlook changes the text to a hyperlink.
Link to a file or web page
Create a hyperlink to a file or web page, and give the link a descriptive name.
Insert hyperlink to a file
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In the email you're composing, move the cursor to where you want to insert the link.
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Press Command+K. The Insert Hyperlink dialog box opens.
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To create a link to a file, press the Tab key until you hear the name of the current tab.
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Press Control+Option+Right or Left arrow key until you hear "Web page or file, tab," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar to select.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Select, button," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar to select. You hear: "Choose a file to link to."
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Press the Tab key to move to the location you want, and then use the arrow keys to browse the items. To navigate between folders and subfolders, press the Right or Left arrow keys until you hear the file you want to link to.
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When on the correct file, press the Tab key until you hear "Open, button," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar. The file is selected and the focus returns to the Insert Hyperlink dialog box.
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To add text that shows in the email instead of the file address, press the Tab key until you hear the file address, followed by "Text to display, edit text," and then type your text.
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To insert the link, press Return. The dialog box closes and the hyperlink is inserted.
Insert hyperlink to a web page
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In the email you're composing, move the cursor to where you want to insert the link.
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Press Command+K. The Insert Hyperlink dialog box opens.
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To create a link to a web page, press the Tab key until you hear the name of the current tab.
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Press Control+Option+Right or Left arrow key until you hear "Web page or file, tab," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar to select.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Address, edit text," and then type or paste the web address of the web page.
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To add text that shows in the email instead of the web address, press the Tab key until you hear the web address, followed by "Text to display, edit text," and then type your 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.
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To insert the link, press Return. The dialog box closes and the hyperlink is inserted.
Remove a hyperlink
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In the email you're composing, place the cursor within the link text or on the hyperlinked image.
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Press Command+K, press the Tab key until you hear "Remove link button," and press Spacebar.
The Insert Hyperlink dialog box closes, and the hyperlink is removed from the text. The text and image remain intact.
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 Outlook for iOS with VoiceOver, the built-in iOS screen reader, to link from an email to a web page or file on a shared drive.
Notes:
-
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.
-
This topic assumes that you are using the built-in iOS screen reader, VoiceOver. To learn more about using VoiceOver, visit Apple accessibility.
Create a link
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When composing an email, place the cursor where you want to insert the link.
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To open the context menu, double-tap and hold the screen. You hear: “Add link.”
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Double-tap the screen. The Add Link dialog box opens. The focus is on the Text to display text field.
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Use the on-screen keyboard to type the link text. When you’re done, tap near the top of the screen with four fingers.
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Swipe right until you hear “URL,” and double-tap the screen.
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Paste or use the on-screen keyboard to type URL of the web page. When you’re done, tap near the top of the screen with four fingers.
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Swipe right until you hear “Done, button,” and double-tap the screen. The link is inserted in the email message body.
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
Basic tasks using a screen reader with email in Outlook
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use Outlook for Android with TalkBack, the built-in Android screen reader, to link from an email to a web page or file on a shared drive.
Notes:
-
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.
-
This topic assumes that you are using the built-in Android screen reader, TalkBack. To learn more about using TalkBack, go to Android accessibility.
Create a link
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When composing an email, place the cursor where you want to insert the link.
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To open the context menu, double-tap and hold the screen.
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Swipe right until you hear "Add link," and then double-tap the screen. The Edit Link dialog box opens with focus on the Text to display text field.
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Use the on-screen keyboard to type the link text. When you’re done, swipe down-then-left to close the on-screen keyboard.
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To add the address of the page or file you want to link to, swipe right until you hear "Link, edit box," and double-tap the screen.
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Paste or use the on-screen keyboard to type the address. When you’re done, swipe down-then-left to close the on-screen keyboard.
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Swipe right until you hear "Save button," and then double-tap the screen. The link is inserted in the email message body.
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
Basic tasks using a screen reader with email in Outlook
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.
