JAWS vs NVDA: The Keystroke Reference

In short

JAWS and NVDA are the two serious screen readers on Windows. NVDA is free and open-source, updated often, and covers web browsing, email, and Office well enough that most blind Windows users never need anything else. JAWS is paid (around $90–$95 a year for home use, seen Oct 2026), and earns that money in exactly two places: deep support for enterprise software like SAP and heavy Excel work, and a scripting system that can automate almost anything.

If you are starting out, learning, or paying your own way: start with NVDA. It costs nothing and teaches you the same concepts. If your job runs on corporate software, or your employer pays for assistive tech: JAWS is the professional standard for a reason. The keystrokes below cover both, side by side, so whichever you use — or switch to — your muscle memory has a map.

Read this first: the modifier keys

Both screen readers revolve around one modifier key you hold while pressing others. On a desktop keyboard layout, the modifier is Insert for both — the JAWS key and the NVDA key are both Insert. On a laptop layout, the modifier is Caps Lock for both. This guide gives desktop keystrokes; on a laptop, swap Insert for Caps Lock and it works the same. Where laptop keys genuinely differ (not just the modifier), both versions are listed.

JAWS also keeps a second modifier alive: the numpad keys. Several JAWS reading commands need the number pad, so on a laptop without one, learn the Caps Lock versions. NVDA's laptop layout was designed for exactly this situation and rarely needs the numpad at all.

The head-to-head

Cost
NVDA: free, forever. Open-source, maintained by the nonprofit NV Access; donations optional. JAWS: around $90–$95 a year for the home license (seen Oct 2026) — check the listing — or roughly $900–$1,600 a year for professional licenses, which employers usually cover. JAWS also offers a free 40-minute demo mode that restarts when you reboot.
Update model
NVDA ships several updates a year, free, and installs them like any app. JAWS ships a major version each fall (JAWS 2026 is current); home subscribers get it included, perpetual-license holders pay an upgrade fee.
Web and Office support
Both handle Chrome, Edge, and Firefox well, and both cover Word, Outlook, and everyday Excel. The gap opens in heavy Excel (large files, named ranges, merged cells) and enterprise software (SAP, older CRMs, Java line-of-business apps) — JAWS is measurably more reliable there. For a student or home user, this gap rarely matters.
Customization and scripting
JAWS has its own scripting language and a Settings Center (Insert + 6) with per-application control over almost everything — the deepest customization of any screen reader. NVDA has community add-ons (Python-based) that extend it enormously, but no built-in equivalent of JAWS scripting.
Braille display support
Both support a wide range of refreshable braille displays out of the box. NVDA's braille tether (NVDA + Control + T) switches the display between following focus and following the review cursor. JAWS pairs braille with its cursor system for the same result.
Remote access
JAWS includes Tandem, its own remote-assistance feature for letting someone else drive your machine. NVDA has a free community add-on that does the same job. Note: the JAWS home annual license does not include remote desktop/Citrix support — that needs a professional license.
Learning curve
NVDA is simpler to start: fewer modes, fewer cursors, one coherent key map. JAWS has more concepts to learn (PC cursor, JAWS cursor, touch cursor, virtual cursor, forms mode) and rewards the learning with more control.

Honest take: the honest answer to "which one" is that most blind Windows users should learn NVDA first because it is free and teaches transferable concepts — then add JAWS if work demands it. Knowing both is the real power move: the keystrokes overlap far more than people expect.

Keystroke reference: reading text

Read continuously from here (say all)
JAWS: Insert + Down arrow. NVDA: NVDA + Down arrow (desktop) or NVDA + A (laptop).
Stop reading
Both: Control. One tap, speech stops.
Read the current line
JAWS: Insert + Up arrow. NVDA: NVDA + Up arrow (desktop) or NVDA + L (laptop). Press twice to spell the line.
Read the previous or next line
Both: Up arrow and Down arrow move and read by line in documents and on web pages.
Read the current word
JAWS: Insert + Numpad 5. NVDA: Numpad 5 (desktop) or NVDA + Control + period (laptop). Press twice to spell it.
Read the previous or next word
JAWS: Insert + Left arrow or Insert + Right arrow. NVDA: Control + Left arrow or Control + Right arrow.
Read the current character
JAWS: Numpad 5. NVDA: Numpad 2 (desktop) or NVDA + period (laptop). Press Numpad 5 twice quickly (JAWS) for the phonetic alphabet word.
Spell the current line
JAWS: Insert + Up arrow, twice quickly. NVDA: NVDA + Up arrow, twice quickly.

Keystroke reference: moving through a page

These single-letter keys work in browse mode on web pages and documents. Add Shift to any of them to move backward instead of forward. JAWS and NVDA agree on almost all of them — the differences are noted.

Next heading (Shift + H: previous)
Both: H.
Headings of a specific level, 1 through 6
Both: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6.
Next link
JAWS: Tab (moves to the next link or control). NVDA: K.
Next unvisited link / next visited link
Both: U for unvisited, V for visited.
Next form field
Both: F.
Next button
Both: B.
Next checkbox
Both: X.
Next combo box (drop-down)
Both: C.
Next radio button
JAWS: A. NVDA: R. One of the few keys that genuinely differ — relearn this one.
Next list / next list item
Both: L for the list, I for the item.
Next graphic
Both: G.
Next landmark or region
JAWS: R (ARIA regions). NVDA: D (landmarks). Another genuine difference.
Main content region
JAWS: Q.

Keystroke reference: element lists

When a page is long, stop hunting and pull up the list.

List all links
JAWS: Insert + F7. NVDA: NVDA + F7, then the Links tab.
List all headings
JAWS: Insert + F6. NVDA: NVDA + F7, then the Headings tab.
List all form fields
JAWS: Insert + F5. NVDA: NVDA + F7, then the Form fields tab.
Find text on the page
JAWS: Control + Insert + F. NVDA: NVDA + Control + F.
Find next / find previous
JAWS: Insert + F3 / Insert + Shift + F3. NVDA: NVDA + F3 / NVDA + Shift + F3.

Keystroke reference: tables

Next table (Shift + T: previous)
Both: T.
Move to the cell right, left, below, above
Both: Control + Alt + Right, Left, Down, or Up arrow.
First or last row, first or last column
NVDA: Control + Alt + Page Up moves to the first row in the current column; Control + Alt + Page Down moves to the last row. Control + Alt + Home moves to the first column in the current row; Control + Alt + End moves to the last column. JAWS: no single command — move cell to cell with Control + Alt + arrow keys.
Read the current cell
Both: move with Control + Alt + arrow keys — the screen reader announces each cell as you land on it.
Read the current row or column (JAWS)
JAWS: press Insert + Spacebar, then T for the table layer. Then Windows + Comma (or Windows + Numpad 5) reads the current row; Windows + Period reads the current column.
Read the current row or column (NVDA)
NVDA: NVDA + Control + Alt + Left arrow reads the whole row; NVDA + Control + Alt + Up arrow reads the whole column. NVDA + Control + Alt + Right arrow reads continuously from the current cell to the end of the row; NVDA + Control + Alt + Down arrow reads continuously to the end of the column. Neither moves your position.

Keystroke reference: forms and browse mode

Switch between browse mode and focus mode (NVDA)
NVDA: NVDA + Space toggles. Browse mode is for reading and single-letter navigation; focus mode passes your keys straight to the form. NVDA switches automatically when you Tab into a field.
Enter forms mode (JAWS)
JAWS: JAWS switches automatically when you Tab into a field; if it doesn't, press Enter on the field. Leave forms mode with Numpad Plus. Toggle the virtual cursor with Insert + Z.
Leave focus mode and go back to browse mode (NVDA)
NVDA: Escape, if focus mode was entered automatically — or NVDA + Space to toggle manually.
Toggle or select a checkbox
Both: Spacebar (or Enter in JAWS).
Open a combo box
Both: Alt + Down arrow; browse the options with the arrow keys.
Move a radio button selection
Both: Up and Down arrows.

Keystroke reference: getting your bearings

Announce the window title
JAWS: Insert + T. NVDA: NVDA + T (twice spells it, three times copies it).
Read the whole dialog or window
JAWS: Insert + B reads top to bottom in tab order. NVDA: NVDA + B reads all the controls in the active window.
Announce the focused control
JAWS: Insert + Tab reads the control and its prompt. NVDA: NVDA + Tab announces the focused object (twice spells it).
Announce the time (twice: the date)
JAWS: Insert + F12. NVDA: NVDA + F12.
Announce the font at the cursor
JAWS: Insert + F. NVDA: NVDA + F.
Announce the default button in a dialog
JAWS: Insert + E — tells you what Enter will activate before you press it.
Read selected text
JAWS: Insert + Shift + Down arrow.

Keystroke reference: speech, rate, and verbosity

Open speech and voice settings
JAWS: Insert + V opens Quick Settings for the current application. Insert + 6 opens the full Settings Center. NVDA: NVDA + Control + V opens voice settings; NVDA + Control + G opens general settings.
Change the speech rate
JAWS: Alt + Windows key + Control + Page Up (faster) or Page Down (slower) — permanent until changed. NVDA: NVDA + Control + Left or Right arrow picks the setting (rate, volume, pitch), then NVDA + Control + Up or Down arrow changes it. Hold NVDA and Control and just tap the arrows.
Mute or toggle speech
JAWS: Insert + Spacebar, then S — cycles full speech, on-demand, and mute. NVDA: NVDA + S cycles speech, beeps, and off.
Punctuation level
NVDA: NVDA + P cycles how much punctuation is spoken. JAWS: set it per application in Quick Settings (Insert + V).
Typing echo (hear what you type)
JAWS: Insert + 2 cycles characters, words, both, or neither. NVDA: NVDA + 2 announces typed characters, NVDA + 3 announces typed words, NVDA + 4 announces command keys.
Pass the next key through to the application
JAWS: Insert + 3. NVDA: NVDA + F2. Use it when the app needs a key your screen reader would otherwise grab.
Keyboard help (learn any key)
JAWS: Insert + 1 — press any key to hear what it does. NVDA: NVDA + 1 — same idea, called Input Help. Press the help key again to exit.
Hotkey help for the current application
JAWS: Insert + H reads the application's own shortcuts. Insert + W does the same for Windows keys.

Keystroke reference: cursors and object navigation

This is where the two readers think most differently. JAWS gives you several cursors for different jobs; NVDA gives you one navigator object plus a review cursor. Learn your own reader's model — don't try to map them one to one.

JAWS cursor (reads the screen like a mouse)
JAWS: Numpad Minus (desktop) or Caps Lock + P (laptop). Back to the PC cursor with Numpad Plus or Caps Lock + semicolon.
Touch cursor (JAWS)
JAWS: Shift + Numpad Plus. For modern apps where the other cursors can't reach.
Restrict the JAWS cursor to the active window
JAWS: Insert + R — keeps the JAWS cursor from wandering into other windows.
Move the NVDA navigator object
NVDA: Numpad 8 (up a level), Numpad 4 and 6 (previous/next object), Numpad 2 (down into). Laptop: NVDA + Shift + arrow keys.
Review text with the NVDA review cursor
NVDA: Numpad 7, 8, 9 move by line; Numpad 4, 5, 6 move by word; Numpad 1, 2, 3 move by character. Laptop: NVDA + arrow keys for the same moves.
Switch NVDA review modes
NVDA: NVDA + Numpad 7 and Numpad 1 cycle through object, document, and screen review.
Read anything with Windows OCR (NVDA)
NVDA: NVDA + R recognizes the text in the current object — the fallback for inaccessible screens.
Refresh the screen (JAWS)
JAWS: Insert + Escape repaints everything — the fix when JAWS seems to be reading stale content.

Keystroke reference: braille

Choose what the braille display follows (NVDA)
NVDA: NVDA + Control + T switches the display between following the system focus, the navigator object, or both.
Braille display support (both)
Both work with a wide range of refreshable braille displays with no extra software. The exact keys live on the display itself and vary by model — check your display's documentation.

Switching sides

Going from one to the other is easier than people fear. H, T, F, B, X, C, L, I, G, U, V, and 1 through 6 do the same thing in both readers' browse modes. Control stops speech in both. The NVDA key and the JAWS key are both Insert on a desktop keyboard, so your modifier finger doesn't move.

What breaks: JAWS to NVDA — K replaces Tab for link-hopping; D replaces R for landmarks; R replaces A for radio buttons; the elements list is one dialog (NVDA + F7) instead of three (Insert + F5/F6/F7); and there is no forms-mode Numpad Plus — NVDA + Space toggles modes instead. NVDA to JAWS — the reverse of all that, plus learning the cursor model: PC cursor, JAWS cursor, and touch cursor instead of NVDA's single navigator object.

Honest take: run both for a month. NVDA is free, so there is no reason not to have it installed even if JAWS is your daily driver. The week your JAWS license lapses or an update breaks something, you'll be glad the backup is already muscle memory.

Where to learn more

Honest limits

Neither reader does everything. JAWS costs real money every year and its deepest strengths — enterprise apps, scripting — don't matter to most home users. NVDA has no paid support line; when something breaks you are reading forums and issue trackers, which is fine until it isn't.

And don't forget the third option already on your computer: Narrator, built into Windows (Windows key + Control + Enter to start). It used to be a joke; it isn't anymore. For basic web browsing and email on a machine where you can't install software, it genuinely works. It is not a JAWS or NVDA replacement for daily driving — but it is free, always there, and improving every Windows release.

Last reviewed: October 2026.