NVDA 2014.3 Commands Quick Reference

Getting started with NVDA

NVDA Touch Gestures

Touch Modes

To toggle touch modes, perform a 3-finger tap.

Basic NVDA commands

Name Desktop key Laptop key Touch Description
Stop speech Control control 2-finger tap Instantly stops speaking
Pause Speech shift shift none Instantly pauses speech. Pressing it again will continue speaking where it left off (if pausing is supported by the current synthesizer)
NVDA Menu NVDA+n NVDA+n 2-finger double tap Pops up the NVDA menu to allow you to access preferences, tools and help etc
Toggle Speech Mode NVDA+s NVDA+s none Toggles speech mode between speech, beeps and off.
Toggle Input Help Mode NVDA+1 NVDA+1 none Pressing any key in this mode will report the key, and the description of any NVDA command associated with it
Quit NVDA NVDA+q NVDA+q none Exits NVDA
Pass next key through NVDA+f2 NVDA+f2 none Tells NVDA to pass the next key press straight through to the active application, even if it is normally treeted as an NVDA key command
Toggle application sleep mode on and off NVDA+shift+s NVDA+shift+z none sleep mode disables all NVDA commands and speech/braille output for the current application. This is most useful in applications that provide their own speech or screen reading features. Press this command again to disable self voicing mode.

Reporting System Information

Name key Description
Report date/time NVDA+f12 Pressing once reports the current time, pressing twice reports the date
Report battery status NVDA+shift+b Reports the battery status i.e. whether AC power is in use or the current charge percentage.
Report clipboard text NVDA+c Reports the Text in the clipboard if there is any.

Navigating with NVDA

Navigating with the System Focus

Name Desktop key Laptop key Description
Report current focus NVDA+tab NVDA+tab announces the current object or control that has the System focus. Pressing twice will spell the information
Report title NVDA+t NVDA+t Reports the title of the currently active window. Pressing twice will spell the information. Pressing three times will copy it to the clipboard
Read active window NVDA+b NVDA+b reads all the controls in the currently active window (useful for dialogs)
Report Status Bar NVDA+end NVDA+shift+end Reports the Status Bar if NVDA finds one. It also moves the navigator object to this location

Navigating with the System Caret

Name Desktop key Laptop key Description
Say all NVDA+downArrow NVDA+a Starts reading from the current position of the system caret, moving it along as it goes
Read current line NVDA+upArrow NVDA+l Reads the line where the system caret is currently situated. Pressing twice spells the line.
Read current text selection NVDA+Shift+upArrow NVDA+shift+s Reads any currently selected text

When within a table, the following key commands are also available:

Name Key Description
Move to previous column control+alt+leftArrow Moves the system caret to the previous column (staying in the same row)
Move to next column control+alt+rightArrow Moves the system caret to the next column (staying in the same row)
Move to previous row control+alt+upArrow Moves the system caret to the previous row (staying in the same column)
Move to next row control+alt+downArrow Moves the system caret to the next row (staying in the same column)

Object Navigation

Name Desktop key Laptop key Touch Description
Report current object NVDA+numpad5 NVDA+shift+o none Reports the current navigator object. Pressing twice spells the information, and pressing 3 times copies this object's name and value to the clipboard.
Move to containing object NVDA+numpad8 NVDA+shift+upArrow flick up (object mode) Moves to the object containing the current navigator object
Move to previous object NVDA+numpad4 NVDA+shift+leftArrow flick left (object mode) Moves to the object before the current navigator object
Move to next object NVDA+numpad6 NVDA+shift+rightArrow flick right (object mode) Moves to the object after the current navigator object
Move to first contained object NVDA+numpad2 NVDA+shift+downArrow flick down (object mode) Moves to the first object contained by the current navigator object
Move to focus object NVDA+numpadMinus NVDA+backspace none Moves to the object that currently has the system focus, and also places the review cursor at the position of the System caret, if it is showing
Activate current navigator object NVDA+numpadEnter NVDA+enter double tap Activates the current navigator object (similar to clicking with the mouse or pressing space when it has the system focus)
Move System focus or caret to current review position NVDA+shift+numpadMinus NVDA+shift+backspace none pressed once Moves the System focus to the current navigator object, pressed twice moves the system caret to the position of the review cursor
Report review cursor location NVDA+numpadDelete NVDA+delete none Reports information about the location of the text or object at the review cursor. For example, this might include the percentage through the document, the distance from the edge of the page or the exact screen position. Pressing twice may provide further detail.

Reviewing Text

Name Desktop key Laptop key Touch Description
Move to top line in review shift+numpad7 NVDA+control+home none Moves the review cursor to the top line of the text
Move to previous line in review numpad7 NVDA+upArrow flick up (text mode) Moves the review cursor to the previous line of text
Report current line in review numpad8 NVDA+shift+. none Announces the current line of text where the review cursor is positioned. Pressing twice spells the line. Pressing three times spells the line using character descriptions.
Move to next line in review numpad9 NVDA+downArrow flick down (text mode) Move the review cursor to the next line of text
Move to bottom line in review shift+numpad9 NVDA+control+end none Moves the review cursor to the bottom line of text
Move to previous word in review numpad4 NVDA+control+leftArrow 2-finger flick left (text mode) Moves the review cursor to the previous word in the text
Report current word in review numpad5 NVDA+control+. none Announces the current word in the text where the review cursor is positioned. Pressing twice spells the word. Pressing three times spells the word using character descriptions.
Move to next word in review numpad6 NVDA+control+rightArrow 2-finger flick right (text mode) Move the review cursor to the next word in the text
Move to start of line in review shift+numpad1 NVDA+home none Moves the review cursor to the start of the current line in the text
Move to previous character in review numpad1 NVDA+leftArrow flick left (text mode) Moves the review cursor to the previous character on the current line in the text
Report current character in review numpad2 NVDA+. none Announces the current character on the line of text where the review cursor is positioned. Pressing twice reports a description or example of that character. Pressing three times reports the numeric value of the character in decimal and hexadecimal.
Move to next character in review numpad3 NVDA+rightArrow flick right (text mode) Move the review cursor to the next character on the current line of text
Move to end of line in review shift+numpad3 NVDA+end none Moves the review cursor to the end of the current line of text
Say all with review numpadPlus NVDA+shift+a 3-finger flick down (text mode) Reads from the current position of the review cursor, moving it as it goes
Copy from review cursor NVDA+f9 NVDA+f9 none starts copying text from the current position of the review cursor. The actual copy is not performed until you tell NVDA where to copy to
Copy to review cursor NVDA+f10 NVDA+f10 none Copies from the position of the review cursor currently set with Copy from review cursor, to the review cursor's current position. After pressing this key, the text will be copied to the Windows clipboard
Report text formatting NVDA+f NVDA+f none Reports the formatting of the text where the review cursor is currently situated

Review Modes

Name Desktop key Laptop key Touch Description
switch to next review mode NVDA+numpad7 NVDA+pageUp 2-finger flick up switches to the next available review mode
switch to previous review mode NVDA+numpad1 NVDA+pageDown 2-finger flick down switches to the previous available review mode

Navigating with the Mouse

Name Desktop key Laptop key Description
Left mouse button click numpadDivide NVDA+[ clicks the left mouse button once. The common double click can be performed by pressing this key twice in quick succession
Left mouse button lock shift+numpadDivide NVDA+control+[ Locks the left mouse button down. Press again to release it. To drag the mouse, press this key to lock the left button down and then move the mouse either physically or use one of the other mouse routing commands
Right mouse click numpadMultiply NVDA+] Clicks the right mouse button once.
Right mouse button lock shift+numpadMultiply NVDA+control+] Locks the right mouse button down. Press again to release it. To drag the mouse, press this key to lock the right button down and then move the mouse either physically or use one of the other mouse routing commands
Move mouse to current navigator object NVDA+numpadDivide NVDA+shift+m Moves the mouse to the location of the current navigator object and review cursor
Navigate to the object under the mouse NVDA+numpadMultiply NVDA+shift+n Set the navigator object to the object located at the position of the mouse

Browse Mode

Name Key Description
Toggle browse/focus modes NVDA+space Toggles between focus mode and browse mode
Exit focus mode escape switches back to browse mode if focus mode was previously switched to automatically
Refresh browse mode document NVDA+f5 Reloads the current document content (useful if certain content seems to be missing from the document)
Find NVDA+control+f Pops up a dialog in which you can type some text to find in the current document
Find next NVDA+f3 Finds the next occurrence of the text in the document that you previously searched for
Find previous NVDA+shift+f3 Finds the previous occurrence of the text in the document you previously searched for
open long description NVDA+d Opens a new window containing a long description for the element you are on if it has one.

Single Letter Navigation

The following keys by themselves jump to the next available element, while adding the shift key causes them to jump to the previous element:

To move to the beginning or end of containing elements such as lists and tables:

Name Key Description
Move to start of container shift+comma Moves to the start of the container (list, table, etc.) where the caret is positioned
Move past end of container comma Moves past the end of the container (list, table, etc.) where the caret is positioned

The Elements List

Name Key Description
Browse mode elements list NVDA+f7 Brings up the Elements list which contains links, headings and landmarks from the current document

Embedded Objects

Name Key Description
Move to containing browse mode document NVDA+control+space Moves the focus out of the current embedded object and into the document that contains it

Application Specific NVDA Commands

Microsoft Word

Name Key Description
Report current comment NVDA+Alt+c Reports the text of the comment at the position of the System Caret.
Set column headers NVDA+shift+c Pressing this once tells NVDA this is the first header cell in the row that contains column headers, which should be automatically announced when moving between columns below this row. Pressing twice will clear the setting.
Set row headers NVDA+shift+r Pressing this once tells NVDA this is the first header cell in the column that contains row headers, which should be automatically announced when moving between rows after this column. Pressing twice will clear the setting.

Microsoft Excel

Name Key Description
Set column headers NVDA+shift+c Pressing this once tells NVDA this is the first header cell in the row that contains column headers, which should be automatically announced when moving between columns below this row. Pressing twice will clear the setting.
Set row headers NVDA+shift+r Pressing this once tells NVDA this is the first header cell in the column that contains row headers, which should be automatically announced when moving between rows after this column. Pressing twice will clear the setting.
Report comment NVDA+alt+c Reports the comment on the current cell if any.

Microsoft PowerPoint

Name Key Description
Toggle speaker notes reading control+shift+s When in a running slide show, this command will toggle between the speaker notes for the slide and the content for the slide. This only affects what NVDA reads, not what is displayed on screen.

foobar2000

Name Key Description
Report remaining time control+shift+r Reports the remaining time of the currently playing track, if any.

Miranda IM

Name Key Description
Report recent message NVDA+control+1-4 Reports one of the recent messages, depending on the number pressed; e.g. NVDA+control+2 reads the second most recent message.

Poedit

Name Key Description
Report Comments Window control+shift+c Reports any comments in the comments window.
Report notes for translators control+shift+a Reports any notes for translators.

Configuring NVDA

Preferences

Voice Settings (NVDA+control+v)

Name Desktop key Laptop key Description
Punctuation/Symbol Level NVDA+p NVDA+p This allows you to choose the amount of punctuation and other symbols that should be spoken as words.

Synth settings ring

Name Desktop key Laptop key Description
Move to next synth setting NVDA+control+rightArrow NVDA+shift+control+rightArrow Moves to the next available speech setting after the current, wrapping around to the first setting again after the last
Move to previous synth setting NVDA+control+leftArrow NVDA+shift+control+leftArrow Moves to the next available speech setting before the current, wrapping around to the last setting after the first
Increment current synth setting NVDA+control+upArrow NVDA+shift+control+upArrow increases the current speech setting you are on. E.g. increases the rate, chooses the next voice, increases the volume
Decrement current synth setting NVDA+control+downArrow NVDA+shift+control+downArrow decreases the current speech setting you are on. E.g. decreases the rate, chooses the previous voice, decreases the volume

Braille Settings

Name Desktop key Laptop key Description
Braille Tethered to NVDA+control+t NVDA+control+t This option allows you to choose whether the braille display will follow the system focus, or whether it follows the navigator object / review cursor.

Keyboard Settings (NVDA+control+k)

Name Desktop key Laptop key Description
Speak Typed Characters NVDA+2 NVDA+2 When enabled, NVDA will announce all characters you type on the keyboard.
Speak Typed Words NVDA+3 NVDA+3 When enabled, NVDA will announce all words you type on the keyboard.
Speak Command Keys NVDA+4 NVDA+4 When enabled, NVDA will announce all non-character keys you type on the keyboard. This includes key combinations such as control plus another letter.

Mouse Settings (NVDA+control+m)

Name Desktop key Laptop key Description
Enable mouse tracking NVDA+m NVDA+m When enabled, NVDA will announce the text currently under the mouse pointer, as you move it around the screen. This allows you to find things on the screen, by physically moving the mouse, rather than trying to find them through object navigation.

Review Cursor Settings

Name Desktop key Laptop key Description
Follow System Focus NVDA+7 NVDA+7 When enabled, The review cursor will always be placed in the same object as the current system focus whenever the focus changes.
Follow System Caret NVDA+6 NVDA+6 When enabled, the review cursor will automatically be moved to the position of the System caret each time it moves.

Object Presentation Settings (NVDA+control+o)

Name Desktop key Laptop key Description
Progress bar output NVDA+u NVDA+u This option controls how NVDA reports progress bar updates to you.
Report dynamic content changes NVDA+5 NVDA+5 Toggles the announcement of new content in particular objects such as terminals and the history control in chat programs.

Browse Mode Settings (NVDA+control+b)

Name Desktop key Laptop key Description
Use screen layout NVDA+v NVDA+v This option allows you to specify whether content in browse mode should place content such as links and other fields on their own line, or if it should keep them in the flow of text as it is visually shown. If the option is enabled then things will stay as they are visually shown, but if it is disabled then fields will be placed on their own line.

Saving and Reloading the configuration

Name Desktop key Laptop key Description
Save configuration NVDA+control+c NVDA+control+c Saves your current configuration so that it is not lost when you exit NVDA
Revert configuration NVDA+control+r NVDA+control+r Pressing once resets your configuration to when you last saved it. Pressing three times will reset it back to factory defaults.

Configuration Profiles

Basic Management

Supported Braille Displays

Freedom Scientific Focus/PAC Mate Series

Name Key
Scroll braille display back topRouting1 (first cell on display)
Scroll braille display forward topRouting20/40/80 (last cell on display)
Scroll braille display back leftAdvanceBar
Scroll braille display forward rightAdvanceBar
Toggle braille tethered to leftGDFButton+rightGDFButton
Toggle left wiz wheel action leftWizWheelPress
Move back using left wiz wheel action leftWizWheelUp
Move forward using left wiz wheel action leftWizWheelDown
Toggle right wiz wheel action rightWizWheelPress
Move back using right wiz wheel action rightWizWheelUp
Move forward using right wiz wheel action rightWizWheelDown
Route to braille cell routing
backspace key dot7
enter key dot8
shift+tab key brailleSpaceBar+dot1+dot2
tab key brailleSpaceBar+dot4+dot5
upArrow key brailleSpaceBar+dot1
downArrow key brailleSpaceBar+dot4
control+leftArrow key brailleSpaceBar+dot2
control+rightArrow key brailleSpaceBar+dot5
leftArrow brailleSpaceBar+dot3
rightArrow key brailleSpaceBar+dot6
home key brailleSpaceBar+dot1+dot3
end key brailleSpaceBar+dot4+dot6
control+home key brailleSpaceBar+dot1+dot2+dot3
control+end key brailleSpaceBar+dot4+dot5+dot6
alt key brailleSpaceBar+dot1+dot3+dot4
alt+tab key brailleSpaceBar+dot2+dot3+dot4+dot5
escape key brailleSpaceBar+dot1+dot5
windows key brailleSpaceBar+dot2+dot4+dot5+dot6
space key brailleSpaceBar
windows+d key (minimize all applications) brailleSpaceBar+dot1+dot2+dot3+dot4+dot5+dot6
Report Current Line brailleSpaceBar+dot1+dot4
NVDA menu brailleSpaceBar+dot1+dot3+dot4+dot5

For newer Focus models that contain rocker bar keys (focus 40, focus 80 and focus blue):

Name Key
Move braille display to previous line leftRockerBarUp, rightRockerBarUp
Move braille display to next line leftRockerBarDown, rightRockerBarDown

For Focus 80 only:

Name Key
Scroll braille display back leftBumperBarUp, rightBumperBarUp
Scroll braille display forward leftBumperBarDown, rightBumperBarDown

Optelec ALVA BC640/680

Name Key
Scroll braille display back t1
Move braille display to previous line t2
Move braille display to next line t4
Scroll braille display forward t5
Route to braille cell routing
shift+tab key sp1
alt key sp2
escape key sp3
tab key sp4
upArrow key spUp
downArrow key spDown
leftArrow key spLeft
rightArrow key spRight
enter key spEnter
NVDA Menu sp1+sp3
windows+d key (minimize all applications) sp1+sp4
windows key sp2+sp3
alt+tab key sp2+sp4

Handy Tech Displays

Name Key
Scroll braille display back left, up
Scroll braille display forward right, down
Move braille display to previous line b4
Move braille display to next line b5
Route to braille cell routing
shift+tab key esc
alt key b2+b4+b5
escape key b4+b6
tab key enter
enter key esc+enter
upArrow key leftSpace
downArrow key rightSpace
NVDA Menu b2+b4+b5+b6
Handy Tech configuration b4+b8

MDV Lilli

Name Key
Scroll braille display backward LF
Scroll braille display forward RG
Move braille display to previous line UP
Move braille display to next line DN
Route to braille cell route
shift+tab key SLF
tab key SRG
alt+tab key SDN
alt+shift+tab key SUP

Baum/Humanware/APH Braille Displays

Name Key
Scroll braille display back d2
Scroll braille display forward d5
Move braille display to previous line d1
Move braille display to next line d3
Route to braille cell routing

For displays which have a joystick:

Name Key
upArrow key up
downArrow key down
leftArrow key left
rightArrow key right
enter key select

hedo ProfiLine USB

Name Key
Scroll braille display back K1
Scroll braille display forward K3
Move braille display to previous line B2
Move braille display to next line B5
Route to braille cell routing
Toggle braille tethered to K2
Say all B6

hedo MobilLine USB

Name Key
Scroll braille display back K1
Scroll braille display forward K3
Move braille display to previous line B2
Move braille display to next line B5
Route to braille cell routing
Toggle braille tethered to K2
Say all B6

HumanWare Brailliant BI/B Series

Name Key
Scroll braille display back left
Scroll braille display forward right
Move braille display to previous line up
Move braille display to next line down
Route to braille cell routing
Toggle braille tethered to up+down
upArrow key space+dot1
downArrow key space+dot4
leftArrow key space+dot3
rightArrow key space+dot6
NVDA Menu c1+c3+c4+c5 (command n)
shift+tab key space+dot1+dot3
tab key space+dot4+dot6
alt key space+dot1+dot3+dot4 (space+m)
escape key space+dot1+dot5 (space+e)
enter key dot8
windows+d key (minimize all applications) c1+c4+c5 (command d)
windows key space+dot3+dot4
alt+tab key space+dot2+dot3+dot4+dot5 (space+t)
Say all c1+c2+c3+c4+c5+c6

HIMS Braille Sense/Braille EDGE Series

Name Key
Scroll braille display back left side scroll down
Scroll braille display forward right side scroll down
Move braille display to previous line left side scroll up
Move braille display to next line right side scroll up
Route to braille cell routing
shift+tab key dot1+dot2+space
alt key dot1+dot3+dot4+Space
escape key dot1+dot5+Space
tab key dot4+dot5+Space
enter key dot8
backspace key dot7
upArrow key dot1+Space
downArrow key dot4+Space
capsLock dot1+dot3+dot6+space
shift+alt+tab key advance2+advance3+advance1
alt+tab key advance2+advance3
end key dot4+dot6+space
Control+end key dot4+dot5+dot6+space
home key dot1+dot3+space
control+home key dot1+dot2+dot3+space
leftArrow key dot3+space
control+shift+leftArrow key dot2+dot8+space+advance1
control+leftArrow key dot2+space
shift+alt+leftArrow key dot2+dot7+advance1
alt+leftArrow key dot2+dot7
rightArrow key dot6+space
control+shift+rightArrow key dot5+dot8+space+advance1
control+rightArrow key dot5+space
shift+alt+rightArrow key dot5+dot7+advance1
alt+rightArrow key dot5+dot7
pageUp key dot1+dot2+dot6+space
control+pageUp key dot1+dot2+dot6+dot8+space
control+shift+upArrow key dot2+dot3+dot8+space+advance1
control+upArrow key dot2+dot3+space
shift+alt+upArrow key dot2+dot3+dot7+advance1
alt+upArrow key dot2+dot3+dot7
shift+upArrow key left side scroll down + space
pageDown key dot3+dot4+dot5+space
control+pagedown key dot3+dot4+dot5+dot8+space
control+shift+downArrow key dot5+dot6+dot8+space+advance1
control+downArrow key dot5+dot6+space
shift+alt+downArrow key dot5+dot6+dot7+advance1
alt+downArrow key dot5+dot6+dot7
shift+downArrow key right side scroll down + space
delete key dot1+dot3+dot5+space
f1 key dot1+dot2+dot5+space
f3 key dot1+dot2+dot4+dot8
f4 key dot7+advance3
windows+b key dot1+dot2+advance1
windows+d key dot1+dot4+dot5+advance1

HIMS SyncBraille

Name Key
Scroll braille display back left side scroll down
Scroll braille display forward right side scroll down
Route to braille cell routing

Seika Braille Displays

Name Key
Scroll braille display back left
Scroll braille display forward right
Move braille display to previous line b3
Move braille display to next line b4
Toggle braille tethered to b5
Say all b6
tab b1
shift+tab b2
alt+tab b1+b2
NVDA Menu left+right
Route to braille cell routing

Papenmeier BRAILLEX Newer Models

Name Key
Scroll braille display back left
Scroll braille display forward right
Move braille display to previous line up
Move braille display to next line dn
Route to braille cell routing
Report current character in review l1
Activate current navigator object l2
Report title l1+up
Report Status Bar l2+down
Move to containing object up2
Move to first contained object dn2
Move to previous object left2
Move to next object right2
Report text formatting upper routing row
Name Key
backspace key dot 7
enter key dot 8
escape key space with dot 7
upArrow key space with dot 2
leftArrow key space with dot 1
rightArrow key space with dot 4
downArrow space with dot 5
control key lt+dot2
alt key lt+dot3
control+escape key space with dot 1 2 3 4 5 6
tab key space with dot 3 7

Papenmeier Braille BRAILLEX Older Models

Devices with EAB:

Name Key
Scroll braille display back left
Scroll braille display forward right
Move braille display to previous line up
Move braille display to next line dn
Route to braille cell routing
Report current character in review l1
Activate current navigator object l2
Report title l1up
Report Status Bar l2down
Move to containing object up2
Move to first contained object dn2
Move to next object right2
Move to previous object left2
Report text formatting Upper routing strip

BRAILLEX Tiny:

Name Key
Report current character in review l1
Activate current navigator object l2
Scroll braille display back left
Scroll braille display forward right
Move braille display to previous line up
Move braille display to next line dn
Toggle braille tethered to r2
Move to containing object r1+up
Move to first contained object r1+dn
Move to previous object r1+left
Move to next object r1+right
Report text formatting reportf

BRAILLEX 2D Screen:

Name Key
Report current character in review l1
Activate current navigator object l2
Toggle braille tethered to r2
Report text formatting reportf
Move braille display to previous line up
Scroll braille display back left
Scroll braille display forward right
Move braille display to next line dn
Move to next object left2
Move to containing object up2
Move to first contained object dn2
Move to previous object right2

HumanWare BrailleNote

Name Key
Scroll braille display back back
Scroll braille display forward advance
Move braille display to previous line previous
Move braille display to next line next
Route to braille cell routing
Toggle braille tethered to previous+next
Up arrow key space+dot1
Down arrow key space+dot4
Left Arrow key space+dot3
Right arrow key space+dot6
Page up key space+dot1+dot3
Page down key space+dot4+dot6
Home key space+dot1+dot2
End key space+dot4+dot5
Control+home keys space+dot1+dot2+dot3
Control+end keys space+dot4+dot5+dot6
Space key space
Enter key space+dot8
Backspace key space+dot7
Tab key space+dot2+dot3+dot4+dot5 (space+t)
Shift+tab keys space+dot1+dot2+dot5+dot6
Windows key space+dot2+dot4+dot5+dot6 (space+w)
Alt key space+dot1+dot3+dot4 (space+m)
Toggle input help space+dot2+dot3+dot6 (space+lower h)

BRLTTY

Name BRLTTY command
Scroll braille display back fwinlt (go left one window)
Scroll braille display forward fwinrt (go right one window)
Move braille display to previous line lnup (go up one line)
Move braille display to next line lndn (go down one line)
Route to braille cell route (bring cursor to character)