This article is for people 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 OneDrive with your keyboard and a screen reader to explore and navigate the different views and move between 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.
OneDrive is built into Windows. It appears automatically in Windows File Explorer as a location where you can save files. Files that you save to OneDrive are available online at OneDrive.com and offline on your PC, so you can use them anytime—even when you’re not connected to the internet. When you reconnect, OneDrive syncs the online files with the files on your computer.
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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.
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Navigate the OneDrive main content area
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Navigate to and select a OneDrive folder as instructed in Navigate to OneDrive and to a OneDrive folder in File Explorer.
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To navigate to the main content area, press the Tab key until you hear: "Items view."
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To browse the list of items, use the Up and Down arrow keys.
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When you hear the item you want, press Enter to select it.
When you select a folder, the folder opens and displays a list of its subfolders and files. When you select a file, it opens in the appropriate application, such as Word or Excel.
See also
Basic tasks using a screen reader with OneDrive
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use OneDrive for the web at OneDrive.com with your keyboard and a screen reader to explore and navigate the different views and move between them. 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.
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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.
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When you use OneDrive, we recommend that you use Microsoft Edge as your browser. Because OneDrive 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 OneDrive.
In this topic
Navigate the OneDrive main view
The OneDrive main view contains the following main elements:
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The toolbar at the top of the screen
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Navigation pane on the left
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The main content area to the right of the navigation pane
To navigate between the elements in the main view, press the Tab key to go forward or Shift+Tab to go backward until you reach the element you want.
Navigate the OneDrive toolbar
The toolbar at the top of the screen shows the app launcher that contains tiles for Microsoft services and applications. The toolbar also contains options to manage notifications, settings, and your account, find help, and sign out.
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To navigate to the toolbar, press the Tab key until you hear with Narrator: "Banner, App launcher." With JAWS, you hear: "Banner region, App launcher." With NVDA, you hear: "App launcher, menu button."
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To move on the toolbar, press the Tab key until you hear the option you want, and then press Enter to select it.
Navigate the main content area
The main content area shows the folders and files in the selected category. Depending on the selected category, the main content area might also show a taskbar at the top of the area.
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To navigate between the screen elements, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab.
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To browse menus and lists, press the Right, Left, Up, or Down arrow key.
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To move to the taskbar, press the Tab key until you hear with Narrator "Command bar," followed by the command in focus, for example, "Command bar, New." With JAWS, you hear "Menu, command bar, menu," followed by the command in focus. With NVDA, you hear the command in focus.
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To move on the taskbar, press the Up, Down, Left, or Right arrow key.
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To select a file to display further options or actions on the toolbar, press Spacebar.
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To select and activate an item, button, or option, press Enter.
For example, when you're on a Word for the web file and press Enter, the file opens in Word for the web, either in the current browser tab or in a separate tab.
If you're on a folder and press Enter, that folder displays its subfolders and files in the main content area.
The menus and the taskbar are context sensitive. Depending on the selected item and the level of the item in the tree, the content of the menus and toolbar can change.
See also
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.
