Hear text read aloud with Narrator

Watch a video about how to hear text read aloud with Narrator. (To view captions in your language, tap or click the Closed captioning button

.)

Narrator is a screen reader that reads text on the screen aloud and describes events like error messages so you can use your PC without a display.

Starting Narrator

There are different ways to start Narrator. These are the four ways many people prefer:

• On a keyboard, press the Windows logo key + Enter.
• On a tablet, press the Windows logo button and Volume Up button together.
• On the sign-in screen, tap or click the Ease of access
  
  button in the lower-left corner and choose Narrator.
• Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings.
  (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, click Settings, and then click Change PC settings.) Tap or click Ease of Access, tap or click Narrator, and then move the slider under Narrator to turn it on.

Exiting Narrator

There are also different ways to exit Narrator. These are the two shortcuts many people prefer:

• On a keyboard, press the Windows logo key + Enter.
• On a tablet, press the Windows logo button and Volume Up button together.

New touch gestures

Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1 have new actions and new locations for common commands. Here are a few important gestures to get you started.

New keyboard shortcuts

Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1 have new keyboard shortcuts too. Here are a few helpful ones.

Narrator settings

You can change settings for Narrator in PC settings. To find these settings:

1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings.
   (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, click Settings, and then click Change PC settings.)
2. Tap or click Ease of Access, and then change any of the following settings.

Hear what's on the screen

• Narrator. Use this slider to turn Narrator on or off.
• Start narrator automatically. You can choose whether Narrator starts automatically each time you sign in.

Voice

• Choose a voice. With this drop-down menu you can select different types of voices in Narrator, if they're available in your language.
• Speed. You can change the speed of the voice with this slider.
• Pitch. You can change the pitch of the voice with this slider.

Sounds you hear

• Read hints for controls and buttons. You can choose whether Narrator will read hints about how to interact with common items such as buttons, links, list items, and sliders.
• Characters you type. You can choose whether or not Narrator reads each key you enter
• Words you type. Choose whether or not Narrator reads the words that you type.
• Lower the volume of other apps when Narrator is running. This option makes other apps quieter so it's easier to hear Narrator.
• Play audio cues. This option turns on the extra sounds that Narrator plays when you do certain actions.

Cursor and keys

• Highlight the cursor. This option lets you show or hide the box that highlights where Narrator is on your screen.
• Have insertion point follow Narrator. This option lets you show or hide the box that highlights where Narrator is on your screen.
• Activate keys on touch keyboard when I lift my finger off the keyboard. If touch mode is available, you can turn this setting on so you can type faster using the touch keyboard. With this setting, you can drag to search for the item you're looking for and lift your finger to press the key.

Keyboard commands

Touch Command

Windows comes with a basic screen reader called Narrator, which reads text on the screen aloud and describes some events (such as an error message appearing) that happen while you're using the computer.

Narrator is not available in all languages, so if the steps below don't work, Narrator is not available for your language.

1. To open Narrator click the Start button
   
   , and then, in the search box, type Narrator. In the list of results, click Narrator. 
2. Use the keyboard shortcuts in the following table to specify which text you want Narrator to read:
   
   
   

   Use this keyboard shortcut	To do this
   Ctrl + Shift + Enter	Get information about the current item
   Ctrl + Shift + Spacebar	Read the entire selected window
   Ctrl + Alt + Spacebar	Read the items that are selected in the current window
   Insert + Ctrl + G	Read a description of the items that appear next to the currently selected element
   Ctrl	Stop Narrator from reading text
   Insert + Q	Move the cursor backward to the beginning of any preceding text that has different formatting. For example, the cursor moves from a bold word to the beginning of a non-bold word that precedes it.
   Insert + W	Move the cursor to the beginning of any text that follows it that has different formatting. For example, the cursor moves from a bold word to the beginning of a non-bold word that follows it.
   Insert + E	Move the cursor back to the beginning of any text that has the same formatting. For example, the cursor moves from the middle of a bold word to the beginning of that word.
   Insert + R	Move the cursor to the end of any text that has the same formatting. For example, the cursor moves from the middle of a bold word to the end of that word.
   Insert + F2	Select all of the text that has the same formatting as the character at the cursor
   Insert + F3	Read the current character
   Insert + F4	Read the current word
   Insert + F5	Read the current line
   Insert + F6	Read the current paragraph
   Insert + F7	Read the current page
   Insert + F8	Read the current document