Use a screen reader to explore and navigate the Microsoft 365 app

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 the Microsoft 365 app with VoiceOver, the built-in iOS screen reader, to navigate around the main views. You'll also learn what the main views contain, how to switch between views, and how to navigate to the app settings.

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

Navigate the main views

When you open the Microsoft 365 app, you land on the tab you used most recently. The app has three tabs:

  • The Home tab contains a list of your documents, notes, and media files. You can browse, open, and search for files on the Home tab. To learn more about its contents, refer to Get to know the Home tab.

  • The Feed tab contains news posts and shared files from your organization. To learn more about its contents, refer to Get to know the Feed tab.

  • The Actions tab contains options for creating PDFs and converting images to text or tables. To learn more about its contents, refer to Get to know the Actions tab.

To navigate in the Microsoft 365 app, do as follows:

  • To move and browse through the items on the Home, Feed, and Actions tabs, swipe left or right.

  • To explore the items on the screen, slide one finger around the screen.

  • To open an item, double-tap the screen when the focus is on the item.

  • To quickly move the focus to the account profile button at the top of a tab, tap near the top of the screen with four fingers.

  • To quickly move the focus to the navigation bar at the bottom of a tab, tap near the bottom of the screen with four fingers.

Get to know the Home tab

The Home tab contains the following main elements:

  • The top navigation bar at the top of the screen, which contains the following buttons from left to right:

    • The account profile button. It leads to your account info, the app settings, help, and feedback channels.

    • The Filter button, which lets you choose what kind of content is displayed on the Home tab.

    • The Activity button which takes you to the Activity view. It contains a list of recent activity in your organization, for example, notifications about shared files having new changes.

    • The Open button which takes you to the Open view. There you can browse for files and folders, and open them.

  • The Search text field below the top navigation bar, where you can type your search words and perform the search.

  • The main area below the Search text field, listing all your files:

    • At the top of this area, you'll find the Recommended section which contains thumbnails of the files you frequently use.

    • Below the Recommended section, the files are grouped into sections based on when you've used the files, for example, Today or Last Week.

    • Next to each file, you'll find the More options button which opens a menu for available file options, such as Share, Rename, Delete, and Pin.

    • Sticky notes have their own section in the main area. To open a list of all your sticky notes, swipe right until you reach the Notes section, and then swipe right once more. You hear: "See all button." Double-tap the screen to select.

    • Media files also have their own section. To open a list of all your images and videos, swipe right until you reach the Media section, and then swipe right once more. You hear: "See all button." Double-tap the screen to select.

Get to know the Feed tab

The Feed tab contains the following main elements:

  • The account profile button at the top of the screen. It leads to your account info, the app settings, help, and feedback channels.

  • Below that is the main area which lists your News posts and Trending documents in separate sections. Next to each item on the Feed tab, you'll find the Share and More options buttons.

Get to know the Actions tab

The Actions tab contains the following main elements:

  • The account profile button at the top of the screen. It leads to your account info, the app settings, help, and feedback channels.

  • Below that is the main area which lists your available options organized in the following sections from top to bottom:

    • The Do more with PDFs section, where you'll find the Sign a PDF, Scan to PDF, Pictures to PDF, Document to PDF, and PDF to Word buttons.

    • The Convert text in images section, where you'll find the Image To Text and Image To Table buttons.

    • The More actions section, where you'll find the Scan QR code and Create a Form buttons.

Use the navigation bar

Use the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen to switch between the Home, Feed, and Actions tabs, or to create a new document or note.

Switch between tabs

  1. To move the focus to the navigation bar, tap near the bottom of the screen with four fingers. You hear: "Actions."

  2. To switch to another tab, swipe left or right until you hear the tab you want, and then double-tap the screen.

Create a new document or note

Note: You must be on the Home or Actions tab to create a new document or note. The Feed tab doesn't have the Create button.

  1. To move the focus to the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen, tap near the bottom of the screen with four fingers. You hear: "Actions."

  2. Swipe left until you hear "Create button," and then double-tap the screen. You hear: "Alert, quick capture."

  3. Do one of the following:

    • To create a new sticky note, swipe right until you hear "Notes button," and then double-tap the screen.

    • To create a new Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document, swipe right until you hear the option you want, for example, "Word button," and then double-tap the screen.

    • To scan content with your phone camera, swipe right until you hear "Scan button," and then double-tap the screen.

Tip: For detailed instructions on how to create and work with files, refer to Use a screen reader to work with files in the Microsoft 365 app.

Navigate to the app settings

In the app settings, you can, for example, review or change the autoformat and notification settings, and access the app help.

  1. Tap near the top of the screen with four fingers. You hear your account name, followed by "Navigation pane button." Double-tap the screen.

  2. Swipe right until you hear "Settings button," and then double-tap the screen. The Settings view opens.

  3. To navigate the Settings view, swipe right until you hear the setting you want to change or review, and then double-tap the screen. Some options open to a new view where you can swipe left or right to navigate. To return to the Settings view, swipe left until you hear "Settings, back button," and then double-tap the screen.

  4. To exit the Settings view, swipe left until you hear "Close button," and then double-tap the screen.

See also

Accessibility in the Microsoft 365 app

Use a screen reader to work with files in the Microsoft 365 app

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Video: Introducing the Microsoft 365 App

Use the Microsoft 365 app with TalkBack, the built-in Android screen reader, to navigate the different views and move between them. You'll also learn how to navigate to the app settings or quickly access only certain types of files.

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

Navigate the main views

When you open the Microsoft 365 app, you land on the Home tab. The app has three tabs:

  • The Home tab contains a list of your files and notes. You can create, browse, open, and search for files on the Home tab.

  • The Feed tab contains a list of files that are trending in your organization.

  • The Apps tab opens a menu that contains options for creating PDFs, converting images to text or tables, and more.

To navigate in the Microsoft 365 app, do as follows:

  • To move and browse through the items on the Home, Feed, and Apps tabs, swipe left or right.

  • To explore the items on the screen, slide one finger around the screen.

  • To open an item, double-tap the screen when on the item.

Get to know the Home tab

The Home tab contains the following main elements:

  • The top navigation bar at the top of the screen, which contains the following buttons from left to right:

    • The account profile button, which takes you to your account info, the app settings, and feedback channels.

    • The Activity button that opens the Activity view that lists the alerts and notifications that need your attention.

    • The Open button to browse for files and folders.

    • The Search button which opens the Search text field where you can type your search words and perform a search.

  • The filter buttons below the top navigation bar:

    • Use these buttons to filter the files on the Home tab based on file type.

    • By default, the filters are: Recent, Scans, PDF, Word, Notes, Cloud files, and Videos.

  • The main content area below the filter buttons, listing all your files:

    • At the top of this area, you'll find the Recommended section which contains thumbnails of the files you frequently use.

    • Below the Recommended section, the files are grouped into sections based on when you've used the files, for example, Today or Last week.

    • Next to each file, you'll find the Document actions button which opens a menu for available file options, such as Share, Convert to PDF, and Remove from list.

Get to know the Feed tab

The Feed tab contains the following main elements:

  • The top navigation bar at the top of the screen, which contains the following buttons from left to right:

    • The account profile button. When selected, it leads to your account info, the app settings, and feedback channels.

    • The Activity button which takes you to the Activity view that lists the alerts and notifications that need your attention.

    • The Search button which opens the Search text field where you can type your search words and perform a search.

  • The main content area below the top navigation bar, which contains thumbnails of the files that are trending. Below each file, you’ll find the Share button which opens the Send link menu.

Get to know the Apps tab

When you select the Apps tab, a menu opens that contains options for creating or signing PDFs, converting images to text or table, and scanning a QR code, for example.

Use the navigation bar

Use the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen to switch between the tabs, or to create a new file or note.

Switch between tabs

  1. To move to the navigation bar, slide one finger around the bottom of the screen until you hear one of the tab names: "Home, button," "Feed, button," or "Apps, button." Double-tap the screen to open the tab. 

  2. To switch to another tab, swipe left or right until you hear the tab you want, and then double-tap the screen. For example, to move from the Apps tab to the Home tab, swipe left until you hear "Home, button," and then double-tap the screen.

Create a new file or note

  1. Slide one finger around the lower-left corner of the screen until you hear "Home, button," and then double-tap the screen.

  2. Swipe left until you hear "Create, button," and then double-tap the screen.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • To create a new sticky note, swipe right until you hear "Button, note," and then double-tap the screen.

    • To create a new Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file, swipe right until you hear "Button," followed by "Word," "Excel," or "PowerPoint," and then double-tap the screen. Swipe right until you hear how you want to create the new file, for example, "Blank document" or "Create from template," and then double-tap the screen. If you selected to create a new file from a template, the template menu opens. Swipe right until you find the template you want, and then double-tap the screen.

    • To import content using Microsoft Lens, swipe right until you hear "Button, Scan," and then double-tap the screen.

    For detailed instructions on how to create and work with files, refer to Use a screen reader to work with files in the Microsoft 365 app.

Jump to a file list filtered by file type

If you have a lot of items on your Home tab, you can filter the tab contents by file type, and quickly jump to the files of the selected file type, for example, Word or PDF.

  1. On the Home tab, slide one finger around the upper-left corner of the screen until you hear: "Recent."

  2. Swipe right until you hear the file type you want, and then double-tap the screen. For example, to display all your PDF files, swipe right until you hear "PDF button," and then double-tap the screen.

  3. The list of files of the selected file type opens. To go to the file list, swipe right until you hear the first file. To browse the file list, swipe right or left. When on a file you want to open, double-tap the screen.

  4. To close a file you opened and return to the file list on the Home tab, swipe down-then-left.

Navigate to the app settings

In the app settings, you can, for example, review or change your file preferences and access the app help.

  1. In the Microsoft 365 app, slide one finger around the upper-left corner of the screen until you hear "Your profile," and then double-tap the screen. The profile view opens.

  2. Swipe right until you hear "Settings," and then double-tap the screen. The Settings view opens.

  3. To navigate the Settings view, swipe right until you hear the setting you want to change or review, and then double-tap the screen. Some options open to a new view where you can swipe left or right to navigate. To return to the Settings view, swipe down-then-left.

  4. To exit the Settings view, swipe down-then-left.

  5. To exit the profile view and return to the Home tab, swipe down-then-left.

See also

Accessibility in the Microsoft 365 app

Use a screen reader to work with files in the Microsoft 365 app

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Video: Introducing the Microsoft 365 App

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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