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Use a screen reader to work with folders in Mail

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 create a new folder and move items to it. We have tested it with Narrator, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques. You'll also learn how to rename, move, or delete folders.

Notes: 

In this topic

Create a new folder

You can create a new folder to organize, for example, your emails according to the subject or sender.

  1. In the inbox, press the Tab key until you hear "Folders button," and then press Enter. The All folders pane opens.

  2. Press the Tab key until you hear "Create new folder for Outlook," and then press Enter. You hear: "Create new folder, editing."

  3. Type the name for the folder, and then press Enter.

    The folder is created, and the focus moves to the first folder in the All folders pane.

Move emails to a folder

  1. In the inbox, navigate to the email you want to move to a folder, and then press Shift+F10. The context menu opens.

  2. Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Move button," and then press Enter. The Move to pane opens.

  3. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the folder you want, and then press Enter. The email is moved, and the focus returns to the inbox.

Rename a folder

  1. In the inbox, press the Tab key until you hear "Folders button," and then press Enter. The All folders pane opens.

  2. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the folder you want to rename, and then press Shift+F10. The context menu opens.

  3. Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Rename button," and then press Enter. You hear "Create new folder, editing," followed by the current name of the folder.

  4. Type the new name of the folder, and then press Enter.

    The folder name has been changed, and the focus returns to the All folders pane.

Move a folder

  1. In the inbox, press the Tab key until you hear "Folders button," and then press Enter. The All folders pane opens.

  2. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the folder you want to move, and then press Shift+F10. The context menu opens.

  3. Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Move button," and then press Enter.

  4. Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the location where you want move the folder, and then press Enter.

Delete a folder

When you delete a folder, it's first moved to the Deleted folder in Mail for Windows 10. To permanently delete the folder, you can either empty the Deleted folder or separately delete just the one folder from the Deleted folder.

Note: When you delete a folder you’re also deleting everything inside of it.

Move a folder to the Deleted folder

When you've moved a folder to the Deleted folder, you can still retrieve it by moving it to another folder. For instructions, go to Move a folder.

  1. In the inbox, press the Tab key until you hear "Folders button," and then press Enter. The All folders pane opens.

  2. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the folder you want to delete, and then press Shift+F10. The context menu opens.

  3. Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Delete button," and then press Enter. A confirmation dialog opens. The focus is on the OK button.

  4. To move the folder to the Deleted folder, press Enter.

Empty the Deleted folder

When you empty the Deleted folder, all items in it are deleted permanently.

  1. In the inbox, press the Tab key until you hear "Folders button," and then press Enter. The All folders pane opens.

  2. Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Deleted folder," and then press Shift+F10. The context menu opens.

  3. Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Empty folder button," and then press Enter. A confirmation dialog opens. The focus is on the OK button.

  4. To permanently remove all items from the Deleted folder, press Enter.

Delete a single folder from the Deleted folder

If you don't want to delete all items in the Deleted folder, you can delete a single folder separately.

  1. In the inbox, press the Tab key until you hear "Folders button," and then press Enter. The All folders pane opens.

  2. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the folder you want, and then press Shift+F10. The context menu opens.

  3. Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Delete button," and then press Enter. A confirmation dialog opens. The focus is on the OK button.

  4. To remove the folder from the Deleted folder, press Enter.

See also

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Mail

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Calendar

Keyboard shortcuts in Mail

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Mail

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.

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