Accessibility Turn On or Off Narrator in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off Narrator for your account in Windows 11.

Narrator is a screen reader included with Windows 11 that describes what's on your screen.

Narrator lets you use your PC without a mouse to complete common tasks if you’re blind or have low vision. It reads and interacts with things on the screen, like text and buttons. Use Narrator to read and write email, browse the internet, and work with documents.

Narrator can use installed legacy and natural voices.

Specific commands let you navigate Windows, the web, and apps. Navigation is available using headings, links, landmarks, and more. You can read text (including punctuation) by page, paragraph, line, sentence, word, and character, as well as determine characteristics like font and text color. Efficiently review tables with row and column navigation.

Narrator also has a navigation and reading mode called scan mode. Use it to get around Windows 11 using just the up and down arrows on your keyboard. You can also use a braille display to navigate your PC and read text.

You can also customize the speaking rate, pitch, and volume of the voice that Narrator uses, and install other text-to-speech voices.

Every time you turn on Narrator you’ll go to Narrator Home, which gives you one place where you can open everything you need, whether you want to change your Narrator settings or learn basics with QuickStart. The links at Narrator Home include QuickStart, Narrator guide, What’s New, Settings, and Feedback. You can also control whether Narrator Home opens when Narrator starts in Narrator settings or by using the checkbox on Narrator home.

Starting with Windows 11 build 22635.2915 (Beta) and build 26231.5000 (Canary), Narrator users can now use voice access to open applications, dictate text and interact with elements on the screen using their voice. Narrator users can use voice access to give Narrator commands using their voice . For e.g., “speak faster”, “read next line”, etc. To get started, set up voice access.

Starting with Windows 11 build 26220.6682 (Dev 25H2), build 26120.6682 (Beta 24H2), Microsoft has made several improvements to ensure Narrator delivers smoother, more reliable experience when working with documents in Word. These updates focus on making reading, writing, and editing more natural and efficient.

• More natural voice feedback: Narrator no longer raises pitch dramatically when announcing headings or grammar/spelling errors, making the experience smoother and less distracting when using Natural Voices.
• Better footnote navigation: You can now navigate a document via footnotes and clearly hear the footnote number, helping you stay oriented while reading or editing documents with references.
• Reliable continuous reading: Narrator will no longer stop unexpectedly during long passages of text. Continuous reading now flows smoothly from start to finish.
• Improved comment reading: Narrator now correctly tracks focus when moving from the document canvas into the comments pane, so you can review and read comments without losing context

Creating & Consuming List

• Coherent and consistent announcements: Narrator now reads lists in a consistent manner across surfaces and navigation methods. List entities such as style and level will be announced as per the chosen verbosity to ensure users have context about the formatting and their position in the list.
• Complete list reading: Narrator will no longer cut off when a list item continues onto the next line — the entire content is announced properly.
• Navigation List Items: You can now navigate Up and down from one list item to another using Ctrl + Up/Down keys.

Creating & Consuming Tables

• Easier navigation commands:Narrator now supports quick navigation in Scan Mode to the first or last cell in a row or column, helping users move through tables more efficiently. You can navigate using the following commands:
  • Beginning of Row – Ctrl + Alt + comma
  • End of Row – Ctrl + Alt + period
  • Beginning of Column – Ctrl + Alt + Shift + comma
  • End of Column – Ctrl + Alt + Shift + period
• Clearer guidance at table boundaries: When navigating with the Tab key inside an editable table, Narrator now provides an announcement when reaching the last cell. This prevents confusion and accidental row additions.
• Less confusing entry announcements: Narrator no longer announces “entering table” twice when moving across cells. You’ll now hear this feedback only once, making it easier to track whether you’re still inside the same table.
• Better feedback during selection: Narrator now make clear announcements as you select one or more cells across row and columns or both. It also clearly announces when a text selection extends across multiple cells, so you know exactly how much content they’ve selected.
• Awareness of non-uniform tables: Narrator now alerts users if a table is non-uniform (for example, missing cells in certain rows or columns), giving important context about table structure.

Starting with Windows 11 build 26220.7262 (Dev and Beta), Microsoft is introducing the first phase of Math reading in Narrator, bringing clearer and more natural math experiences to users who are blind or have low vision. With this update, equations in Microsoft 365 apps such as Word can now be read in a structured way that reflects how they’re meant to be understood. Math is at the heart of STEM education and learning, and this improvement helps ensure that students and professionals can independently explore equations, formulas, and scientific notations with confidence. To try out this experience, turn on Narrator (press Win + Ctrl + Enter) and open a Word document containing mathematical equations. Use any of the standard Narrator reading commands to hear equations read aloud in a more natural, structured way. We’re continuing to refine this experience and plan to expand it to more scenarios in the future.

Starting with Windows 11 build 26100.8116 (24H2) and build 26200.8116 (25H2), and build 2800.1896 (26H1), Narrator provides rich image descriptions on Copilot+ PCs and now works with Copilot on all Windows11 devices. Press Narrator key + Ctrl + D to describe the focused image or Narrator key + Ctrl + S to describe the full screen. Copilot opens with the image ready, allowing you to enter a prompt for a customized description. The image is shared only after you choose to describe it. On Copilot+ PCs, Narrator gives instant, on‑device descriptions, and you can select Ask Copilot for more detail. This feature isn’t available in the European Economic Area.

Starting with Windows 11 build 26100.7705 (24H2) and build 26200.7705 (25H2), Narrator now gives you more control over how it announces on‑screen controls. You can choose which details are spoken and adjust their order to match how you navigate apps. These settings apply throughout the app to help reduce extra speech and make Narrator easier to follow.

Starting with Windows 11 build 26220.7934 (Beta 25H2) and build 26300.7939 (Dev 25H2), Narrator users can now use a new command Narrator key + \ to read contents of status bar in Apps such as Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. For example, in Microsoft Word, users can use this to read count of pages or words in a document. In Microsoft Excel, users can select a few data cells and hear sum or average of the data in the selected cells without having to change your focus.

Reference:





EXAMPLE: Narrator Home







1 While on the Sign-in screen with your account selected, click/tap on the Accessibility icon. (see screenshot below)

2 Turn On or Off (default) Narrator for what you want.







1 Press the Win + Ctrl + Enter keys to toggle Narrator on and off.

OR

2 Press the Caps lock + Esc keys to turn off Narrator.





1 Open Quick Settings (Win+A).

2 Click/tap on the Accessibility button. (see screenshot below)


3 Turn On or Off (default) Narrator for what you want. (see screenshot below)






1 Open Settings (Win+I).

2 Click/tap on Accessibility on the left side, and click/tap on Narrator on the right side. (see screenshot below)



3 Turn On or Off (default) Narrator for what you want. (see screenshot below)


4 You can now close Settings if you like.





1 Open the Control Panel (icons view), and click/tap on the Ease of Access Center icon.

2 Click/tap on Start Narrator. (see screenshot below)

3 You can now close the Control Panel if you like.







1 Open Windows Search (Win+S). (see screenshot below)

2 Type Narrator into the search box.

3 Either press Enter or click/tap on Open.







1 Open Run (Win+R). (see screenshot below)

2 Type Narrator into Run.

3 Either press Enter or click/tap on OK.







1 Click/tap on the Narrator notification icon on the taskbar corner. (see screenshot below)

2 Click/tap on the Turn off Narrator.







1 Perform one of the following actions: (see screenshot below)

• Close Narrator Home.
• Click/tap on Exit Narrator in Narrator Home.

That's it,
Shawn Brink