Get started with Narrator
Narrator is a screen-reading app built into Windows 10. This guide describes how to use Narrator with the Windows 10 Creators Update on desktop PCs, providing you with enough info to start exploring Windows, using apps, and browsing the web. It’s written for those who use a screen reader regularly.
To use this guide, choose a link from the following table of contents. When you’re done reading a chapter or appendix, select the Back button in your browser to return to this page and select another chapter. There are also links at the end of each chapter and appendix to go to the next chapter or return to this table of contents.
Following the table of contents on this page is a section about what's new in Narrator in the Windows 10 Creators Update.
Table of contents
| Chapter | What's in it |
|---|---|
| Chapter 1: Introducing Narrator | An overview of Narrator including how to start and stop it. |
| Chapter 2: Learning Narrator basics | How to get around the screen, find and open apps, change what Narrator reads, and adjust speech rate and volume. |
| Chapter 3: Using Scan Mode | How to use Scan Mode to navigate apps, email, and the web. |
| Chapter 4: Reading text | How to read and get info about text, such as font, text color, and punctuation. |
| Chapter 5: Using Narrator with touch | How to use Narrator with touch, including basic gestures. |
| Chapter 6: Customizing Narrator | How to change how Narrator starts, determine how much feedback you hear when typing, change Narrator commands, and use third-party text-to-speech (TTS) software. |
| Chapter 7: Using Narrator with braille | How to use Narrator with a refreshable braille display. |
| Appendix A: Supported languages | A list of supported languages in Narrator. |
| Appendix B: Narrator keyboard commands and touch gestures | A list of Narrator keyboard commands and touch gestures. |
| Appendix C: TTS voices | A list of the text-to-speech (TTS) voices available in Narrator. |
| Appendix D: Supported braille displays | A list of braille displays supported by Narrator. |
What's new
Narrator contains several improvements in the Windows 10 Creators Update.
New keyboard shortcut to start and stop Narrator
In the Windows 10 Creators Update, press the Windows logo key + Ctrl + Enter to start and stop Narrator. If you’re using a previous version of Windows, the keyboard shortcut remains Windows logo key + Enter.
Use Narrator with a refreshable braille display
Narrator now provides beta support for refreshable braille displays from 27 different manufacturers. For more info about braille, see Chapter 7: Using Narrator with braille.
Navigate text and form fields using scan mode
Press the Home or End keys to move to the start or end of any line you read in scan mode. Press Ctrl + Home and Ctrl + End to move to and read the start or end of any text you’re reading in scan mode, such as the start or end of a web page.
Scan mode also lets you move to form fields in web pages and apps by pressing F or Shift + F. A form field view has also been added, allowing you to jump directly to form fields whether scan mode is on or off.
To learn more about text and form field navigation, see Chapter 3: Using Scan Mode.
Read in different languages
Narrator can now read text in multiple languages. Narrator will automatically speak the text in the appropriate language when the text-to-speech (TTS) voice for that language is installed and the text has been marked up with the appropriate language tags.
When you haven’t added the appropriate TTS voice, Narrator will tell you the language of the text and speak it using the default TTS voice.
To learn more, see Chapter 4: Reading text.
More formatting info
Narrator now communicates more formatting info for text and other objects, like shapes in PowerPoint slides. Press Caps lock + F to hear various levels of formatting info. Pressing this repeatedly will move through nine categories of information. To learn more about text formatting, see Chapter 4: Reading text.
Read window title
Press Caps lock + T at any time to read the title of the active window. For a full list of keyboard shortcuts, see Appendix B: Narrator keyboard commands and touch gestures.
Keyboard shortcut for advanced info
Press Caps lock + 0 to get advanced info on an item. For a full list of keyboard shortcuts, see Appendix B: Narrator keyboard commands and touch gestures.
Context reading
Narrator provides varying levels of context as you navigate your PC. You control how much context is given, and if context is read before or after the current item.
- To hear the current context at any time, press Caps lock + forward slash (/).
- To change the level of context that’s read, press Caps lock + Alt + forward slash (/).
- To change whether context is read before or after the current item, press Caps lock + Ctrl + forward slash (/).
Article ID: 22798 - Last Review: 11 Apr 2017 - Revision: 38
