Discover the Hidden Shortcut to Manage Narrator in Windows 11

What to Know

• Press Win+Ctrl+Enter to toggle Narrator on or off.
• You can also turn off Narrator by right-clicking Narrator in the system tray and selecting Turn off Narrator. 
• To access Narrator settings, navigate to Settings > Accessibility > Narrator.

This article explains how to use Narrator in Windows 11, including how to turn this feature on and off.

How to Turn Off Narrator in Windows 11

Narrator can be turned off on Windows 11 using a keyboard shortcut and also through the Settings app. The keyboard shortcut is the fastest option, but it’s important to only use it once, as the same key combination will also turn Narrator back on if you do it again.

To quickly toggle Narrator off in Windows 11, press Win+Ctrl+ Enter. You'll hear “Exiting Narrator” as it's shutting down.

If that doesn’t work, you can also turn off Narrator through the Settings app:

1. Open Settings, then select Accessibility.

   

2. Choose Narrator.

   

3. Select the Narrator toggle to turn it off.

   

   You can optionally select the toggle for Keyboard shortcut for Narrator to off the hotkey if you want to avoid turning this feature on accidentally in the future.

How to Close Narrator in Windows 11

When Narrator is active on Windows 11, you should either see the Narrator window on your screen or a Narrator icon in the system tray. Closing the Narrator window also closes Narrator, which is why you’ll always find its icon in the system tray whenever this feature is active.

Here’s how to close Narrator from the system tray:

1. Right click Narrator in the system tray.

   

   If you have a lot of items in your system tray, you may not see Narrator even though it's there. Use the up arrow to access the overflow menu.

2. Select Turn off Narrator.

   

3. Narrator will close.

How to Turn Narrator On in Windows 11

You can activate Narrator quickly through a keyboard shortcut. This shortcut is really a toggle, as you learned above, so it will turn Narrator on or off, depending on whether it's already on.

Here’s how to turn Narrator on in Windows 11:

1. Press Win+Ctrl+Enter.

2. Narrator will turn on, and you'll immediately see the Narrator Home screen.

   Optional: Deselect the Show Narrator Home when Narrator starts box if you don’t want to see this screen every time you open it.

   

3. Select Minimize.

   

4. Narrator is now on and will start reading your screen, so you can go back to what you were doing before.

How to Turn Narrator On Through Windows 11 Settings

You can also turn Narrator on through the Settings app, which provides you with some additional options. Here's how:

1. Open Settings, and choose Accessibility.

   

2. Select Narrator.

   

3. Select the Narrator toggle to turn it on.

   

4. Select anywhere on the Narrator tile to expand it.

   

5. Select Start Narrator before sign-in if you want Narrator to read the sign-in screen every time your computer is turned on.

   

   If multiple people use your computer, everyone will hear Narrator on the sign-in screen even if they don't have Narrator turned on in their own settings.

6. Select Start Narrator after sign-in if you want Narrator to start reading the screen after you’ve signed into your account.
   

   

   You'll need to sign into Windows without assistance from Narrator if you select this option without also selecting the previous one.

7. You can now press X in the upper right corner of the window to close Narrator settings.

   

What Is Narrator in Windows 11?

Narrator is an accessibility feature that’s designed to help blind and vision-impaired users. This screen reader is built into Windows, so you don’t need to download or install anything to use it. It’s turned off by default, but you can toggle it on at any time by pressing Win+Ctrl+Enter.

Narrator is a multi-function screen reader that goes beyond just reading text documents. This app is capable of reading everything on your screen, and it reads whatever item you currently have selected. In that way, it helps blind and visually-impaired users navigate Windows, change Windows settings, and open and close apps.

For example, if a user has selected a minimize window button, Narrator will read the button text, and the user can press the enter key to execute that function.

When an app is open, Narrator also reads menu options and other controls within the app. It’s also useful as a regular text-to-speech app, as it will read various documents, websites, and other information that’s displayed on the screen.

FAQ

• Can I change the narrator voice in Windows 11?

  Yes. To change the Windows narrator voice, go to Settings > Accessibility > Narrator and select the Voice dropdown to choose a voice. Select Add voices for more options.
  

• Is there a voice assistant for Windows 11?

  Yes. There's voice access built-in to Windows 11, but it's not active by default. Open Settings and access Accessibility > Speech to begin using the voice assistant.

• How do I use voice typing in Windows 11?

  To use voice typing in Windows 11, press Win+H. Alternatively, use a voice typing app like Google Voice Typing.