This wikiHow teaches you how to close and disable the built-in onscreen text reader feature on Windows computers.
Step
Part 1 of 2: Closing the Narrator Window
Step 1. Use a combination of keyboard shortcuts
If you have a special keyboard shortcut for Narrator (this setting is enabled by default), you can close Narrator while this feature is active by holding down Ctrl and Win while pressing Enter. After that, the Narrator feature voice will say " Exiting Narrator ".
If the keyboard shortcut doesn't work, continue with the next step in this method
Step 2. Close the Narrator window
If Narrator is enabled, you can exit the feature by clicking the “ Exit Narrator ” at the bottom of the Narrator window (or clicking the “ X ” in the upper right corner of the window).
Step 3. Force close Narrator
If Narrator doesn't stop reading the text displayed on the screen in sufficient time, but you can still do something about it, force close the feature through these steps:
- Press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+⇧ Shift+Esc to open the Task Manager program.
- Find and click the option “ Screen Reader ” in the list of programs in the “Processes” tab.
- Double click the button " End task ” in the lower right corner of the window.
Part 2 of 2: Disabling the Narrator Feature
Step 1. Open the “Start” menu
Click the Windows logo in the lower-left corner of the screen.
If the feature is still running, Narrator will announce various options when the “Start” menu is opened, including the name Cortana. You can trigger Cortana to listen to the voice input read by Narrator so it's a good idea to close/turn off the Narrator feature before this step
Step 2. Open the “Ease of Access Center” window
Type in ease of access, then click the option “ Ease of Access Center ” at the top of the “Start” window.
Step 3. Click the Use the computer without a display link
This link is just below the "Explore all settings" heading in the middle of the page.
Step 4. Uncheck the "Turn on Narrator" box
It's at the top of the window. With this step, you signify that the Narrator feature does not need to be activated every time you log on to your computer.
Step 5. Click Apply
It's at the bottom of the page. After that, the settings will be applied.
Step 6. Click OK
The changes will be confirmed and the menu window will close. Now the Narrator feature won't be re-enabled when you log in to your computer.
Tips
- Usually you can disable the Narrator feature using the Ctrl+⊞ Win+↵ Enter key combination.
- On a Windows tablet, press the Win key and the volume up key at the same time to close or exit the Narrator feature.
