TalkBack gestures help you navigate and perform frequent actions on your Android device.
Single-finger & multi-finger gestures
- Single-finger gestures are available on all devices.
- Single-finger and multi-finger gestures are available on updated Android R, Pixel 3, and other OEM devices like Samsung Galaxy.
To check if your device supports multi-finger gestures, while TalkBack is on, three-finger tap.
- If you get the TalkBack menu: Your device supports both multi-finger gestures and one-finger gestures.
- If you don’t get the TalkBack menu: Your device only supports one-finger gestures. To open the TalkBack menu, swipe down then right, or swipe up and right.
Navigate your screen
| Action |
One-finger gesture |
Multi-finger gesture |
| Move to the next item on the screen |
Right |
-- |
| Move to the previous item on the screen |
Left |
--
|
| Explore by touch: Speaks the item below your finger |
Drag a finger on the screen |
-- |
| Select an item |
Tap |
-- |
| Move to the next reading control |
Up then down |
3-finger swipe down |
| Move to the previous reading control |
Down then up |
3-finger swipe up |
| Change the value for an item selected in reading control |
Up or down |
-- |
|
Jump to the next item
- Follows reading controls setting
|
Down |
-- |
|
Jump to the previous item
- Follows reading controls setting
|
Up |
-- |
| Read from next |
-- |
2-finger triple tap |
| Activate screen search |
Left then down |
-- |
| Magnification settings |
Triple-tap |
-- |
| Action |
Gesture |
| Move to the next item on the screen |
Right |
| Move to the previous item on the screen |
Left |
| Explore by touch: Speaks the item below your finger |
Drag a finger on the screen |
| Select an item |
Tap |
| Move to the next reading controls |
Up then down |
| Move to the previous reading controls |
Down then up |
| Change the value for an item selected in reading control |
Up or down |
|
Jump to the next item
- Follows reading controls setting
|
Down |
|
Jump to the previous item
- Follows reading controls setting
|
Up |
| Read from next |
-- |
| Activate screen search |
Left then down |
| Magnification settings |
Triple-tap |
Scroll the screen
| Action |
Gesture |
Multi-finger gesture |
| Scroll up or down |
2-finger swipe up or down |
-- |
| Scroll left or right |
2-finger swipe left or right |
-- |
| Action |
Gesture |
| Scroll up or down |
2-finger swipe up or down |
| Scroll left or right |
2-finger swipe left or right |
Take action on a focused item
| Action |
Gesture |
| Activate |
Double-tap |
| Long press the focused item |
Double-tap and hold |
|
Move up the slider
|
Up, or right then left |
|
Move down the slider
|
Down, or left then right |
| Action |
Gesture |
| Activate |
Double-tap |
| Long press the focused item |
Double-tap and hold |
|
Move up the slider
|
Up, or right then left |
|
Move down the slider
|
Down, or left then right |
Android system gestures
| Action |
Gesture |
Multi-finger gesture |
| Home |
Up then left |
When Gesture navigation is on, 2-finger swipe up from the bottom |
| Back |
Down then left |
When Gesture navigation is on, 2-finger swipe from the left or right edge of screen |
| Recents (app switcher) |
Left then up |
When Gesture navigation is on, 2-finger swipe up from the bottom and hold |
| Show notifications |
Right then down
- Or, from the top of the screen, 2-finger swipe down.
|
2-finger swipe down from the top |
| Show quick settings |
While a notification is open, 2-finger swipe down |
-- |
| Dismiss notifications |
Down then left |
2-finger swipe up from the bottom |
| Open the app section |
In the Home screen, 2-finger swipe up |
-- |
| Action |
Gesture |
| Home |
Up then left |
| Back |
Down then left |
| Recents (app switcher) |
Left then up |
| Show notifications |
Right then down
|
| Show quick settings |
While a notification is open, 2-finger swipe down |
| Dismiss notifications |
Down then left |
| Open the app section |
In the Home screen, 2-finger swipe up |
Control TalkBack
| Action |
Gesture |
Multi-finger gesture |
| Pause or resume speech |
-- |
2-finger tap |
| Start or stop media |
-- |
2-finger double tap |
| Answer or hang up a call |
-- |
2-finger double tap |
| TalkBack menu |
Down then right |
3-finger tap |
| Practice gestures |
-- |
4-finger tap |
| TalkBack help |
-- |
4-finger double tap |
| Show or hide the Accessibility menu, if you’ve turned it on |
When Gesture navigation is on, 2-finger swipe up from the bottom |
When Gesture navigation is on, 3-finger swipe up from bottom |
|
Pass-through
- When you use the pass-through gesture, the system interprets the next gesture like TalkBack is off. For example, if you single-finger swipe from the top of the screen, you get the notification shade.
|
-- |
4-finger double tap and hold |
| Copy text in focused item |
-- |
3-finger double tap |
| Action |
Gesture |
| Pause or resume speech |
-- |
| Start or stop media |
-- |
| Answer or hang up a call |
-- |
| TalkBack menu |
Down then right |
| Practice gestures |
-- |
| TalkBack help |
-- |
|
Show or hide the Accessibility menu
|
When Gesture navigation is on, 2-finger swipe up from the bottom |
|
Pass-through
- When you use the pass-through gesture, the system interprets the next gesture like TalkBack is off. For example, if you single-finger swipe from the top of the screen, you get the notification shade.
|
-- |
| Copy text in focused item |
-- |
Edit & select text
| Action |
Gesture |
Multi-finger gesture |
| Start or end selection mode |
-- |
2-finger double tap and hold |
| Copy selected text |
-- |
3-finger double tap |
| Cut, while in selection mode |
-- |
3-finger double tap and hold |
| Paste |
-- |
3-finger triple tap |
| Action |
Gesture |
| Start or end selection mode |
-- |
| Copy selected text |
-- |
| Cut, while in selection mode |
-- |
| Paste |
-- |
Tip: When you use TalkBack on your Android, most one-finger gestures become two-finger gestures. For example, with TalkBack on, you can two-finger scroll, but with TalkBack off, you can one-finger scroll.
Customize TalkBack gestures
You can assign most TalkBack gestures to most actions. For example, assign the “Next” reading control to swipe down. You can also reset assignments to their default settings.
Important: Two-finger swipe gestures can’t be reassigned.
To customize gestures:
- Open the TalkBack menu.
- On devices with multi-finger gestures: Three-finger tap. Or, in one motion, swipe down then right.
- On devices without multi-finger gestures (prior to updated Android R with TalkBack 9.1): In one motion, swipe down then right.
Tip: If your Android device has a fingerprint sensor, you can use fingerprint gestures with TalkBack. Select TalkBack settings 
Customize gestures. Choose the gesture that you want to assign to a different action. Choose the action you want to assign to the gesture.
Actions you can choose
- Tap
- Touch and hold
- Previous item
- Next item
- Focus on first item on the screen
- Focus on last item on the screen
- Scroll back
- Scroll forward
- Scroll up
- Scroll down
- Scroll left
- Scroll right
- Home
- Back
- Recents (app switcher)
- Notifications
- Quick settings
- All apps
- Accessibility shortcut
- Hold accessibility shortcut
- Read from the top
- Read from the next item
- Pause or resume speech
- Turn TalkBack sound on or off
- Change spoken language
- Open TalkBack menu
- Previous reading control
- Next reading menu
- Move navigation focus backward or adjust reading control up
- Move navigation focus forward or adjust reading control down
- Start or end selection mode
- Copy
- Cut
- Paste
- Show edit options
- Switch to braille keyboard
- Play or pause media
- Start voice command
- Screen search
- Pass through next gesture
- Show custom actions
- Open tutorial
- Practice gestures
Get help
For more help with Android Accessibility, contact the Google Disability Support team.
