Michel Coornaert
Strasbourg, France

VoiceOver 10.11

Using Preview with VoiceOver Mac OS 10.11 El Capitan


Preview is an application included in MacOS 10.11 El Capitan which may be used to read PDF documents. The compatibility of Preview with VoiceOver is not very good. To read PDF documents with VoiceOver, one can also use Quick Look (see Using Finder), or TeXShop (see Using TeXShop), or VisioVoice (see Using VisioVoice). Remark: one encounters many problems when trying to read a PDF document with VoiceOver whatever the application used.

If a scanner is connected to the computer and properly installed, Preview may also be used to scan paper documents. Before purchasing a scanner, make sure that it is compatible with the Mac OS version on your computer.

  • Important: for the instructions below, it is assumed that VoiceOver is on and that Quick Nav is off.
    To toggle VoiceOver on or off, press Cmd + F5.
    When VoiceOver is on, press simultaneously the Right and Left arrows to toggle Quick Nav on or off.

  • To open a recently used PDF file:
    Go to the Menu Bar by pressing Ctrl + Opt + m, then
    Go to the menu "File" with the Right arrow, then
    Go to the submenu "Open Recent" with the Down Arrow, then
    Press the Right Arrow, then
    Select the file with the Down Arrow, then
    Press Ctrl + Opt + Spacebar.
    VoiceOver starts reading the first page of the document.

  • To open a file contained in the current folder:
    Go to the Menu bar by pressing Ctrl + Opt + m, then
    Go to "File" with the Right Arrow, then
    Go to "Open…" with the Down Arrow, then
    Press Ctrl + Opt + Spacebar, then
    Select the file by using the Up and Down Arrows, then
    Press the Return key.

  • To open a file that is not contained in the current folder:
    Go to the Menu bar by pressing Ctrl + Opt + m, then
    Go to "File" with the Right Arrow, then
    Go to "Open…" with the Down Arrow, then
    Press Ctrl + Opt + Spacebar, then
    Press Ctrl + Opt + Right Arrow (7 times), then
    Select a parent folder of the wanted file by using the Up and Down Arrows, then
    Press Ctrl + Opt + Spacebar, then
    Press Ctrl + Opt + Right Arrow (4 times) until hearing "browser", then
    Use the Arrows to select the file, then
    Press the Return key.

  • To open a file from Finder:
    Select the file in Finder (see Using Finder), then
    Go to the Menu bar by pressing Ctrl + Opt + m, then
    Go to "File" with the Right Arrow, then
    Go to the submenu "Open with" with the Down Arrow, then
    Press Ctrl + Opt + Spacebar, then
    Go to "Preview" with the Down Arrow, then
    Press Ctrl + Opt + Spacebar.

  • To read the current page: Press Ctrl + Opt + Right Arrow.

  • To go to the next page:
    Press Opt + Down Arrow.

  • To go to the previous page:
    Press Opt + Up Arrow.

  • To go to a given page:
    Go to the Menu Bar by pressing Ctrl + Opt + m, then
    Go to the menu "Go" with the Right Arrow, then
    Go to "Go to Page…" with the Down Arrow, then
    Press Ctrl + Opt + Spacebar, then
    Type the page number, then
    Press the Return key.

  • To know the name of the PDF file, the page number of the current page and the total number of pages:
    Press Ctrl + Opt + F2 (on a MacBook fn + Ctrl + Opt + F2).

  • To pause or resume reading:
    Press Ctrl.

  • To spell a word contained in a PDF document:
    Interact with the text by pressing Ctrl + Opt + Shift + Down Arrow, then
    Move to the word by using Ctrl + Opt + one of the Arrows, then
    Press twice Ctrl + Opt + w.
    Stop the interaction with the text by pressing Ctrl + Opt + Shift + Up Arrow.

  • To search a word:
    Press Ctrl + Opt + f, then
    Type the word, then
    Press the Return key.
    VoiceOver reads the first occurence of the word,
    Press Ctrl + Opt + a to hear the sequel of the PDF document.
    Press Ctrl + Opt + g to go to the next occurrence of the word.
    Press Ctrl + Opt + Shift + g to go to the previous occurrence of the word.
    Remark: instead of typing a word in the search field, one can select a word use used in a previous search by moving with the Up and Down Arrows. Press Cmd + Delete to suppress a word from the list of previous searches.

  • To print:
    Go to the Menu bar by pressing Ctrl + Opt + m, then
    Go to "File" with the Right Arrow, then
    Go to "Print…" with the Down Arrow, then
    Press Ctrl + Opt + Spacebar, then
    Press the Return key.

  • To convert a PDF document into a Text document:
    Go to the Menu bar by pressing Ctrl + Opt + m, then
    Go to "Edit" with the Right Arrow, then
    Go to "Select All" with the Down Arrow, then
    Press Ctrl + Opt + Spacebar, then
    Go to the Menu bar by pressing Ctrl + Opt + m, then
    Go to "Edit" with the Right Arrow, then
    Go to "Copy" with the Down Arrow, then
    Press Ctrl + Opt + Spacebar, then
    Open a new Text file in a text editor such as TextEdit (see Using TeXtEdit)or TexShop (see Using TeXShop), then
    Go to the Menu bar by pressing Ctrl + Opt + m, then
    Go to "Edit" with the Right Arrow, then
    Go to "Paste" with the Down Arrow, then
    Press Ctrl + Opt + Spacebar.
    Remark: mathematical symbols are usually replaced by question marks after this operation.

  • To scan a paper document:
    Make sure that a scanner is connected to the computer and properly installed, then
    Go to the Menu Bar by pressing Ctrl + Opt + m, then
    Go to the menu "File" with the Right arrow, then
    Go to the submenu "Import from Scanner" with the Down Arrow, then
    Press the Right Arrow, then
    Select the scanner with the Down Arrow, then
    Press Ctrl + Opt + Spacebar, then
    Press a few times Ctrl + Opt + Right Arrow until hearing "Scan button", then
    Press Ctrl + Opt + Spacebar, then
    Press a few times Ctrl + Opt + Right Arrow until hearing "Close button", then
    Press Ctrl + Opt + Spacebar.
    The scan will be saved as an image file with ".jpeg" extension in the Picture folder (one can select another folder in the first dialog box of the scanning process).
    Remark: one can convert the text contained in a image file obtained from scanning into a text file readable by VoiceOver by using an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software such as FineReader Express (see Using FineReader Express).

  • Some shortcuts:
    To undo: Cmd + z
    To open …: Cmd + o
    New from clipboard: Cmd + n
    To select all: Cmd + a
    To copy: Cmd + c
    To print…: Cmd + p
    To close the current window: Cmd + w
    To close all windows: Cmd + Opt + w
    To quit Preview: Cmd + q

  • VoiceOver Commands

  • To find out the version of Preview on your computer:
    Go to the Menu bar by pressing Ctrl + Opt + m, then
    Go to "Preview" with the Right Arrow, then
    Go to "About Preview" with the Down Arrow, then
    Press Ctrl + Opt + Spacebar.

  • Preview Version: 8.1 (877.7)

    Scanners used: Epson Perfection V37

  • Please send me your comments or suggestions by e-mail


    • Last Update: February 18, 2016