This article is for people with visual or cognitive impairments who use a screen reader program such as Microsoft's Narrator, JAWS, or NVDA with the 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 home or Fixes or workarounds for recent office issues.
Use PowerPoint with your keyboard and a screen reader to deliver your presentation to the audience using the Presenter View or Slide Show view. To make the most of your presentation, we recommend that you use the Presenter View. 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.
In the Slide Show view, the Presenter View starts automatically when you are connected to a second display. In the Presenter View, you can work with your notes as you present, while the audience sees only your slides.
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
Start a slide show
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Open your presentation in PowerPoint.
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To start the slide show, press F5.
If you're connected to a second display, the Presenter View starts automatically. If you're working on a single monitor, to switch to the Presenter View while you're presenting, press Shift+F10, R or the Menu key and then R.
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To navigate the slides, do the following:
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To move to the next slide, press Page down.
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To go to the previous slide, press Page up.
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To go to a certain slide, type the slide number and press Enter.
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To open the context menu, press Shift+F10 or the Menu key. To navigate the options in the menu, press the Down arrow key. The screen reader announces the items as you move.
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To exit the slide show, press Esc.
Use keyboard shortcuts to deliver your presentation using Presenter View
When in the Presenter View, you can use the following keyboard shortcuts that can help you deliver your PowerPoint presentation:
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To do this |
Press |
|---|---|
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Read the next line of Notes. |
Alt+A |
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Read the previous line of Notes. |
Alt+Z |
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Read the elapsed time (the timer starts to run as soon as you start the Presenter View). |
Alt+W |
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Read the next step (for example, the next slide, next animation, or end of show). |
Alt+Q |
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Close Presenter View. |
Esc |
Display a black screen
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To pause your presentation and display a blank black screen, press B.
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To return to the presentation and show the slides again, press Esc.
Tip: To display a blank white screen instead of a black screen, press W. To show the slides, press W again.
See also
Use a screen reader to read or add speaker notes and comments in PowerPoint
Use a screen reader to print presentations in PowerPoint
Use keyboard shortcuts to deliver PowerPoint presentations
Basic tasks to create a presentation in PowerPoint with a screen reader
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use PowerPoint with your keyboard and VoiceOver, the built-in macOS screen reader, to deliver your presentation to the audience using the Slide Show view or Presenter View. In the Slide Show view, your presentation is shown on your computer screen the same way your audience sees it. In the Presenter View, you can keep your presentation with the speaker notes on your computer screen, while the audience sees the notes-free slides projected to another screen.
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.
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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
Start a slide show
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Open your presentation in PowerPoint.
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To start the slide show, do one of the following:
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To start the slide show from the first slide, press Command+Shift+Return.
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To start the slide show from the current slide, press Command+Return.
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To navigate the slides, do the following:
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To move to the next slide, press either the Right or Down arrow key or Spacebar.
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To go to the previous slide, press the Left or Up arrow key or Delete.
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To exit the slide show, press Esc.
Deliver your presentation on two screens using Presenter View
By using two screens and Presenter View, you can run other programs and access the speaker notes on one screen while the audience sees the slides on the other screen.
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Make sure that your computer can support multiple monitors and the second monitor or computer is connected to your computer.
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Open your presentation in PowerPoint.
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If you're not already sharing your screen, press Command+F2 on the computer you want to show the presentation on.
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On your computer, press Option+Return to start presenting in Presenter View.
Your speaker notes and slides are available on your screen, while the other screen shows the presentation only.
Tip: If the speaker notes are shown on the wrong screen, you can swap the displays. Press Control+Option+I to open the Item Chooser, and type Swap Displays button. Press Control+Option+Spacebar to select the button, and then press Control+Option+Spacebar to swap. The focus stays on the button. To navigate away from the button, press the Right arrow key.
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To move to the next slide, press N. To return to the previous slide, press P.
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To move to the presenter notes section, press Control+Option+Right or Left arrow key repeatedly until you hear: "Notes pane, layout area." Press Control+Option+Shift+Down arrow key to select, and VoiceOver reads the notes. To exit the notes pane, press Control+Option+Shift+Up arrow key.
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To stop presenting, press Esc.
Display a black screen
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To pause your presentation and display a blank black screen during presenting, press B.
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To return to the presentation and show the slides, press B again.
Tip: To display a blank white screen instead of a black screen, press W. To show the slides, press W again.
See also
Use a screen reader to read or add speaker notes and comments in PowerPoint
Use a screen reader to print presentations in PowerPoint
Use keyboard shortcuts to deliver PowerPoint presentations
Basic tasks to create a presentation in PowerPoint with a screen reader
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use PowerPoint with VoiceOver, the built-in iOS screen reader, to navigate through the slides of your presentation. Learn how to start, navigate, and end the slide show, and how to use a black slide to hide the presentation.
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.
In this topic
Start a slide show
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Open your presentation in PowerPoint.
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Do one of the following:
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To start the slide show from the slide currently in focus, swipe right until you hear "Start slide show from this slide, button," and double-tap the screen.
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To start the slide show from the first slide in your presentation, tap near the top of the screen with four fingers, swipe right until you hear "Show ribbon," and then double-tap the screen. You hear the name of the currently selected tab. Double-tap the screen, swipe right or left until you hear "Slide show, tab, " and double-tap the screen. Swipe right until you hear "Play slide show from start," and then double-tap the screen.
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Progress through the slides
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In your slide show presentation, do one of the following:
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To proceed to the next slide, swipe left with three fingers.
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To go back to the previous slide, swipe right with three fingers.
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VoiceOver reads the slide number and title as you land on a slide. To read the rest of the slide contents, swipe right. The focus moves to the next text box and VoiceOver reads the contents.
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When you hear "End of slide show," there are no more slides to show. To exit a slide show, swipe left with three fingers.
If you want to exit a slide show right away before reaching the end of your presentation, swipe down with three fingers to show the toolbar. Then swipe left or right until you hear "End slide show, button," and double-tap the screen.
Hide the presentation
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In your slide show presentation, swipe down with three fingers to show the toolbar.
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Swipe left or right until you hear "Slide show black, button," and double-tap to hide the presentation. The focus stays on the button.
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To show the slides again, double-tap the screen. If you've moved the focus away from the button, swipe left or right until you hear "Slide show normal, button," and then double-tap the screen.
See also
Use a screen reader to work with slides in PowerPoint
Use a screen reader to save your presentation in PowerPoint
Basic tasks to create a presentation in PowerPoint with a screen reader
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use PowerPoint for Android with TalkBack, the built-in Android screen reader, to navigate through the slides of your presentation. Learn how to start, navigate, and end the slide show, and how to use a black slide to hide the presentation.
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.
In this topic
Start a slide show
You can start a slide show from the editing or the reading view.
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Open your presentation in PowerPoint.
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Swipe right or left until you hear: "Present button." Double-tap the screen to start the slide show.
Progress through the slides
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While presenting your slide show, do one of the following:
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To proceed to the next slide, swipe left with two fingers.
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To go back to the previous slide, swipe right with two fingers.
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TalkBack reads the slide number and title as you land on a slide. To read the rest of the slide contents, swipe right with one finger. The focus moves to the next element and Talkback reads the content. TalkBack announces a text element as "Content placeholder," followed by the text inside the placeholder.
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When you hear "End of show button," you've reached the last slide in your presentation. To exit the slide show, swipe left with two fingers.
Hide the presentation
Pause your presentation and display a blank black screen.
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While presenting your slide show, swipe up with three fingers to display the slide show toolbar.
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Swipe left or right until you hear "Off, blank screen, switch," and then double-tap the screen. You hear: "On."
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To show the slides again, double-tap the screen. You hear: "Off." If you've moved the focus away from the blank screen button, swipe left or right until you hear "On, blank screen, switch," and double-tap the screen.
See also
Use a screen reader to work with slides in PowerPoint
Use a screen reader to save your presentation in PowerPoint
Basic tasks to create a presentation in PowerPoint with a screen reader
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use PowerPoint for the web with your keyboard and a screen to deliver your presentation to the audience. We have tested it with Narrator in Microsoft Edge and JAWS and NVDA in Chrome, but it might work with other screen readers and web browsers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques. You'll learn how to start, navigate, and end a slide show.
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.
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If you're using Narrator, switch off the Narrator scan mode. Press the SR key+Spacebar to toggle the scan mode off or on.
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When you use PowerPoint for the web with a screen reader, use the full screen mode. Press F11 to toggle the full screen on or off.
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When you use PowerPoint for the web, we recommend that you use Microsoft Edge as your web browser. Because PowerPoint for the web runs in your web browser, the keyboard shortcuts are different from those in the desktop program. For example, you’ll use Ctrl+F6 instead of F6 for jumping in and out of the commands. Also, common shortcuts like F1 (Help) and Ctrl+O (Open) apply to the web browser – not PowerPoint for the web.
Start a slide show
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To move the focus to the Slide Show tab, press Alt+Windows logo key, S.
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Do one of the following:
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To start a slide show from the first slide in the presentation, press B.
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To start a slide show from the current slide, press C.
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The slide show starts. To go to the next slide, press N. To go to the previous slide, press P.
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To end the slide show, press Esc.
See also
Use a screen reader to work with slides in PowerPoint
Use a screen reader to add and format text in PowerPoint
Use keyboard shortcuts to deliver PowerPoint presentations
Basic tasks to create a presentation in PowerPoint with a screen reader
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.
