Windows 11 Narrator reads onscreen text out loud to help you navigate your PC if you are visually impaired. Narrator is a screen reading app built into the operating system, so there’s nothing you need to download and install.
This guide describes how to stop or start Windows 11 Narrator.
Windows 11 Narrator keyboard shortcuts
The quickest way to stop or start Narrator on Windows 11 (and Windows 10) is to use the Windows key + Ctrl + Enter keyboard shortcut. Once you use the keyboard shortcut, you will see a Narrator window open.
However, there is another keyboard shortcut that you can use. The Windows key + Ctrl + N keyboard shortcut will take you directly to the Narrator settings.
From Narrator settings, you can turn Narrator on and off. If you want to turn it off, it’s important to turn the Keyboard shortcut for Narrator off too.
Turning off the Narrator keyboard shortcut will help prevent you from inadvertently triggering the keyboard shortcut while typing or you can designate the keyboard shortcut for another command.
Turn off Narrator in Windows 11 Settings
If you can’t use a keyboard, you can also go into Windows Settings and turn Narrator on or off. All you need to do is go to Settings > Accessibility > Narrator. From here, toggle Narrator and Keyboard shortcut for Narrator to off.
Deny Windows 11 Narrator permissions
If you prefer to not use Narrator and don’t want to see it anymore on Windows 11, there is a way. Keep in mind, any edits you make my may be reverted in a future Windows Update.
1. Find Narrator In Windows Search and click Open file location.
2. Right-click Narrator and go to Properties.
3. Go to the Security tab, select SYSTEM under “Group or user names,” and click Edit…
4. Select Deny Full control. By checking Deny Full control, all check boxes will be checked Deny by default and thus disable all Narrator app permissions for that user.
5. Click Apply to apply your changes.
At this point, it’s a good idea to restart Windows 11 to see if Narrator is gone.
It’s important to point out that you may need to change the permission settings for all of the group or user names on your PC to avoid any possible permission conflicts. Otherwise, you may get a similar Windows Security warning message to the one below.
Now that you completed the steps in this guide, you won’t see Narrator popping up ever again on Windows 11.
What are other settings and services you wish you could stop on Windows 11? Let us know in the comments!
