We have made some changes to the way you interact with Narrator, the built-in Windows screen reader. We wanted to make it easier for you to learn and use Narrator, so we're building on the knowledge you may have acquired using other screen readers. In this release, we're introducing the new Standard keyboard layout for Narrator. When you're using Narrator, your keyboard will default to the Standard layout.
This article is just the starting point in telling you all about the changes. All our screen reader content is going to be updated over time, but that's going to take a little while. This article should tide you over until then.
Tip
It's possible to switch back to the old Narrator keyboard layout if you find yourself preferring it. To change back, press the Windows logo key+Ctrl+N. Press the Tab key until you hear: "Select keyboard layout, Standard." To change the layout to Legacy, press the Down arrow key once. You hear: "Legacy, selected." The new Narrator commands will not be available in the Legacy keyboard layout if keystrokes for legacy commands conflict with those used in new Narrator features.
Here are some highlights:
- Narrator now lets you use either the Caps lock or Insert keys as your Narrator modifier key. So, from now on, we'll refer to these modifier keys as the "SR key".
- The Change View commands have been updated. They are now mapped to the SR key+Page up and Page down keys. You can also use Change View by pressing the SR key+Ctrl+Up and Down arrow keys. Move Next and Move Previous haven't changed.
- The Primary and Secondary Action commands in scan mode have changed. Primary Action can be executed by pressing Enter or Spacebar. You can complete Secondary Action by simply adding a Shift key to each of those keys (Shift+Enter or Shift+Spacebar). You'll see this change regardless of the keyboard layout you select.
- Narrator's page, paragraph, line, word, and character commands have been changed in our new Standard keyboard layout. In addition, many of Narrator's commands have been changed to be more mnemonic. Some have also been changed to align to keystrokes that are more familiar to screen reader users.
- You can now use the numeric keypad to issue Narrator commands. We'll talk more about this below.
- We've added a few new commands for Narrator, including List of Links, List of Headings, List of Landmarks, and Narrator Find.
- Several new scan mode keyboard commands for selecting text have been added.
- Several of Narrator's keyboard commands for moving to Links, Headings, and Tables have been deprecated from the Standard keyboard layout. These commands are still available in scan mode and Change View. We've also deprecated the "Move to last item in containing area" command.
Note
- New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
In this topic
The upgrade experience
When you upgrade to this version of Windows and switch on Narrator, a dialog pops up that displays information about the changes we've made to the Narrator keyboard layout. To turn this off, check the Do not show this again box.
The SR key
We've made some changes to the Narrator modifier key. We'll refer to it as the "SR key" throughout Narrator settings and in future documentation.
By default, the Caps lock and Insert keys will be available as your SR key. If you're using a 106 Japanese keyboard, then the NonConvert and Insert keys can be used as your SR key. This is a change from prior releases where the Ctrl and Alt keys were used as Narrator's modifier keys.
Narrator settings changes
We've added a new heading in Narrator settings called Choose keyboard settings. You can get to it in scan mode by using the H key to move to the heading. You'll find the following settings there:
Select keyboard layout
This setting allows you to select your Narrator keyboard layout. By default, the Standard keyboard layout is selected. If you want to return to the keyboard layout from the April 2018 release, select the Legacy layout.
Select Narrator modifier key
This setting allows you to determine the keys used as Narrator's modifier key (the SR key). The following options are available:
- Caps lock and Insert (the default setting)
- Insert
- Caps lock
If you're using a 106 Japanese keyboard, the settings are as follows:
- NonConvert and Insert (the default setting)
- Convert
- Insert
- NonConvert
New Narrator keyboard shortcuts
Several new features have been added to Narrator in this release. Some of these commands only work in scan mode, while others work anytime you're using Narrator.
Note
When describing keystrokes for commands in the tables shown throughout this document, we'll refer to the Narrator modifier key as the SR key. You'll also notice this in the SR key+F1 dialog that shows all of Narrator's commands.
New general shortcuts
These shortcuts work whether scan mode is on or off:
| Command | Key |
|---|---|
| Read selection | SR key+Shift+Down arrow key |
| Spell selection | SR key+Shift+Down arrow key twice quickly |
| List of Links | SR key+F7 |
| List of Headings | SR key+F6 |
| List of Landmarks | SR key+F5 |
| Narrator Find | SR key+Ctrl+F |
| Continue Find Next | SR key+F3 |
| Continue Find Previous | SR key+Shift+F3 |
New scan mode shortcuts
In this release, you can select content while in scan mode and copy it to the Windows clipboard. The following shortcuts work while you're using scan mode:
| Command | Key |
|---|---|
| Select or deselect character at Narrator focus | Shift+Left or Right arrow key |
| Select or deselect word at Narrator focus | Ctrl+Shift+Left or Right arrow key |
| Select or deselect line at Narrator focus | Shift+Up or Down arrow key |
| Select or deselect paragraph at Narrator focus | Ctrl+Shift+Up or Down arrow key |
| Select to beginning or end of current line | Shift+Home or End |
| Select to beginning or end of document | Ctrl+Shift+Home or End |
| Select or deselect page | Shift+Page up or Page down |
| Mark block | F9 |
| Select block | F10 |
| Select all | Ctrl+A |
| Read selection | SR key+Shift+Down arrow key |
| Spell selection | SR key+Shift+Down arrow key twice quickly |
| Copy selection to clipboard | Ctrl+C |
| Paste selection | Ctrl+V |
| Cut selection | Ctrl+X |
Using the numeric keypad with Narrator
The new Standard keyboard layout allows use of the numeric keypad for executing Narrator commands. We designed the numeric keypad to allow you to get to any object using one hand. All Narrator commands require the use of the SR key (most likely the Insert key when using the numeric keypad). The Up, Down, Left, Right arrow keys as well as Home, End, Page up and Page down keys act as they would when the SR key is not held down. Those keys are simply passed to your application. A full description of the numeric keypad layout is shown below:
| Command | Key |
|---|---|
| Move to first item in window | SR key+Home |
| Move to last item in window | SR key+End |
| Read current line | SR key+Up arrow key |
| Read from cursor | SR key+Down arrow key |
| Read current selection | SR key+Shift+Down arrow key |
| Spell current selection | SR key+Shift+Down arrow key twice quickly |
| Change View | SR key+Page up |
| Change View | SR key+Page down |
| Move to previous item | SR key+Left arrow key |
| Move to next item | SR key+Right arrow key |
| Read current character | Numeric keypad 5 |
| Read previous word | SR key+Ctrl+Left arrow key |
| Read next word | SR key+Ctrl+Right arrow key |
| Read item | SR key+Ctrl+numeric keypad 5 |
| Read item spelled out | SR key+Ctrl+numeric keypad 5 twice quickly |
| Move Narrator cursor to system cursor | SR key+numeric keypad Minus (-) |
| Set focus to item | Numeric keypad Plus (+) |
| Read which row and column Narrator is in | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+numeric keypad 5 |
The Standard keyboard layout
The following sections tell you more about how Narrator's new Standard keyboard layout differs from the previous keyboard layout (now called Legacy). We'll review the most common keys used in Narrator throughout these sections.
Input learning mode in Narrator
Input learning mode helps you get to know the Standard keyboard layout. Press the SR key+1 to turn on input learning mode. From here, you can try keys on the keyboard to learn their new functions.
Providing feedback changed
The new keystroke to provide feedback is SR key+Alt+F. This will work both in the Standard and Legacy layouts.
Change View commands changed
The new ones are as follows:
| Press these keys | To do this |
|---|---|
| SR key+Page up or Page down SR key+Ctrl+Up or Down arrow key |
Change View |
Some laptop keyboards position the Page up and Page down keys in awkward areas, so we're providing an alternate method of changing Narrator's view with the use of the Up and Down arrow keys.
Note
When changing Narrator's view to either characters, words, lines or paragraphs the Read Current Item command will read the text of that specific view type more reliably.
Changing Narrator's voice settings
The following changes have been made to control Narrator's speech settings:
| Command | Key 1 | Key 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Increase voice volume | SR key+Ctrl+Plus sign (+) | SR key+Ctrl+numeric keypad Plus (+) |
| Decrease voice volume | SR key+Ctrl+Minus sign (-) | SR key+Ctrl+numeric keypad Minus (-) |
| Increase verbosity mode | SR key+V | |
| Decrease verbosity mode | SR key+Shift+V | |
| Toggle character reading | SR key+2 |
Scan mode changes
We've changed scan mode's Primary and Secondary Action commands to make them easier for you to use. These are the new keystrokes to use with these commands:
| Command | Key 1 | Key 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Action | Enter | Spacebar |
| Secondary Action | Shift+Enter | Shift+Spacebar |
General purpose commands
The following changes have been made to these commands:
| Command | Key 1 | Key 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Toggle Search Mode | SR key+Ctrl+Enter | |
| Read Current Time and Date | SR key+F12 | |
| Describe Image Using an Online Service | SR key+Ctrl+D | |
| Toggle Developer Mode | SR key+Ctrl+F12 | |
| Mouse Mode | SR key+Alt+M | |
| Pass keys to application | SR key+3 | |
| Move Narrator Cursor to System Cursor | SR key+Open square bracket ([) | SR key+numeric keypad Minus (-) |
| Set Focus to Item | SR key+Single quote (') | SR key+numeric keypad Plus (+) |
| Jump to Linked Item | SR key+A | |
| Jump to Annotated Content | SR key+Shift+A | |
| Navigate to parent (when structural navigation is provided) | SR key+Alt+Up arrow key | |
| Navigate to next sibling (when structural navigation is provided) | SR key+Alt+Right arrow key | |
| Navigate to previous sibling (when structural navigation is provided) | SR key+Alt+Left arrow key | |
| Navigate to first child (when structural navigation is provided) | SR key+Alt+Down arrow key |
General reading commands
The following commands have changed:
| Command | Key 1 | Key 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Read Item | SR key+Tab | SR key+numeric keypad 5 |
| Read Item Spelled Out | SR key+Tab twice quickly | SR key+numeric keypad 5 twice quickly |
| Repeat Phrase | SR key+X | |
| Start reading document | SR key+Down arrow key | SR key+Ctrl+R |
| Move to beginning of text | SR key+B | SR key+Ctrl+Home |
| Move to end of text | SR key+E | SR key+Ctrl+End |
| Read Document | SR key+C | |
| Read text from start to cursor | SR key+Shift+J | SR key+Alt+Home |
Character, Word, Line, Paragraph and Page Reading commands
Here are the command changes:
| Command | Key 1 | Key 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Read Current Character | SR key+Comma (,) | Num pad 5 |
| Read Previous Character | SR key+M | Left arrow key (when editing text) |
| Read Next Character | SR key+Period (.) | Right arrow key (when editing text) |
| Read Current Word | SR key+K | SR key+Ctrl+numeric keypad 5 |
| Spell Current Word | SR key+K twice quickly | SR key+Ctrl+Left arrow key |
| Read Previous Word | SR key+J | SR key+Ctrl+End |
| Read Next Word | SR key+L | SR key+Ctrl+Right arrow key |
| Read Current Line | SR key+I | SR key+Up arrow key |
| Read Previous Line | SR key+U | Up arrow key (when editing text) |
| Read Next Line | SR key+O | Down arrow key (when editing text) |
| Read Current Paragraph | SR key+Ctrl+K | |
| Read Previous Paragraph | SR key+Ctrl+J | |
| Read Next Paragraph | SR key+Ctrl+L | |
| Read Current Page | SR key+Ctrl+I | |
| Read Previous Page | SR key+Ctrl+U | |
| Read Next Page | SR key+Ctrl+O |
Table-reading behavior
We are unifying the table-reading behavior experience. Here are the new keystrokes for reading tables when you're not using scan mode:
| Command | Key 1 | Key 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Jump to Next Cell in Current Row | Ctrl+Alt+Right arrow key | |
| Jump to Previous Cell in Current Row | Ctrl+Alt+Left arrow key | |
| Jump to Next Cell in Current Column | Ctrl+Alt+Down arrow key | |
| Jump to Previous Cell in Current Column | Ctrl+Alt+Up arrow key | |
| Jump to First Cell in Table | Ctrl+Alt+Home | |
| Jump to Last Cell in Table | Ctrl+Alt+End | |
| Read Current Row Header | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Left arrow key | |
| Read Current Row | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Right arrow key | |
| Read Current Column Header | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Up arrow key | |
| Read Current Column | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Down arrow key | |
| Read Which Row and Column Narrator is in | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Forward slash (/) | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+numeric keypad 5 |
| Jump to Table Cell | Ctrl+Alt+Page up | |
| Jump to Cell Contents | Ctrl+Alt+Page down |
See also
Technical support for customers with disabilities
Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.
If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk.