Follow these links to learn how to use a screen reader to do things in Windows 11: An overview of Narrator including how to start and stop it. How to get around the screen, find and open apps, change what Narrator reads, and adjust speech rate and volume. How to use scan mode to navigate apps, email, and the web.

The Narrator key is referred to as simply “Narrator” in commands. You can change your Narrator key in Narrator settings. Note : If you’re using a Japanese 106 keyboard, Insert and NonConvert are your default Narrator keys.

Input learning tells you what keys you’re pressing on your keyboard, and the Narrator command associated with them. Turn input learning on or off by pressing Narrator + 1 (the number 1 key). Press the Ctrl key to stop Narrator from reading at any time.

This chapter outlines how to customize Narrator so it works best for you, including changing how Narrator starts, how much feedback you hear when typing, whether the audio from other apps is decreased when Narrator is running, and changing Narrator commands to keyboard shortcuts of your choice.

To start reading a document from the beginning, press Narrator + Ctrl + R or Narrator + Down arrow key. To read text from the beginning to where your cursor is, press Narrator + Shift + J or Narrator + Alt + Home. Read text line by line. To read the current line, press Narrator + I or Narrator + Up arrow key. To read the next line, Narrator + O.

Learn about Narrator, a screen reading app in Windows, including how to start and stop Narrator before and after you sign in to your PC.

Scan mode lets you navigate apps, email, and webpages using the arrow keys. You’ll also be able to use common keyboard shortcuts to read text and jump directly to headings, links, tables, and landmarks. To turn scan mode on and off, press Narrator + Spacebar. Tip: The Narrator key is a modifier key in the Narrator commands.

To open Narrator Find and search for a word or phrase, press Narrator + Ctrl + F. Then, to go to the first result (starting from your cursor position), select Find next or press Enter. The narrator will focus on the result and not on the search dialog.

For Narrator, the built-in Windows screen reader, there are a number of tips and tricks that you might find handy when you're using the Microsoft 365 for the web apps. To learn how to get started with Narrator, go to Complete guide to Narrator.

In Outlook, Narrator will read an email's status (unread, forwarded, etc.), who sent it, the subject line, and any other characteristics of the email that are important or unique. For example, Narrator will read if an email is flagged, but it won't read if an email is unflagged.