In this post, we will help you how to disable Narrator on Windows 11/10 computer. The Narrator is a built-in screen reader app for Windows OS that reads aloud the text visible on your computer screen, describes calendar appointments, reads a document, Start menu items, etc. It is very easy to enable and use Narrator and configure Narrator settings on Windows 11/10 computers. But for those who don’t use this screen reader feature and want to disable it temporarily or permanently, this post will help you using a Registry trick.
Once you have disabled the Narrator, you won’t be able to use its shortcut (Win+Ctrl+Enter) key, the Narrator button available under the Accessibility section in the Quick Settings panel of Windows 11, and the Narrator button present in the Settings app of Windows 11/10 to turn it on or off. When you toggle the Narrator button in the Quick Settings panel of Windows 11 or the Settings app of Windows 11/10, it won’t work. Do not worry; you can also enable Narrator in Windows 11/10 whenever needed.
How do I turn off Narrator on Windows 11?
You can turn on or off Narrator on Windows 11 using the Settings app. Here are the steps:
- Press Win+I hotkey. This will open the Settings app
- Click on the Accessibility category from the left section
- Click on the Narrator page available on the right-section
- Now you will see a toggle to turn on/off Narrator.
Another way to turn on/off Narrator is using the Win+Ctrl+Enter key. Apart from that, you can also open the Quick Settings panel (by clicking on the volume, battery, or Wi-Fi icon present in the system tray) of Windows 11, and access Accessibility to turn off Narrator.
How to disable Narrator in Windows 11 computer
The steps to completely disable Narrator on your Windows 11/10 computer arey easy to follow. But, as you are going to tweak the Windows Registry, it is good to have a Registry backup so that you can restore it if needed. Once it is done, you can follow these steps:
- Open Windows Registry
- Click on the Image File Execution Options key
- Create a narrator.exe Registry key
- Create a Debugger String Value
- Add 1 in the Value data of Debugger value
- Press the OK button.
Open the Search box of Windows 11/10 computer, type regedit, and press the Enter key. It will open Windows Registry.
Now click on the Image File Execution Options key. The path to access this key is as follows:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options
Under this key, create a new Registry key, and set the name as narrator.exe.
Under this narrator.exe key, create a Debugger name string value. For this, right-click on the right-hand section, use the New menu, and click on the String Value option. When the string value is created, name it Debugger.
Proceed further to set the value data of the Debugger value. Double-click on the Debugger string value and it will open an Edit String box. There, add 1 in the Value data field, and press the OK button.
The changes are added immediately for disabling the Narrator app. However, if for some reason, the Narrator is not disabled, then either sign out or sign in or simply restart your computer.
To enable Narrator in Windows 11/10 again, you can repeat the above steps, and then delete the narrator.exe Registry key. Finally, restart the computer (if changes are not applied).
Windows 11 narrator won’t turn off
If the Windows 11 narrator won’t turn off via Settings > Accessibility > Narrator page, you must edit the Registry. Create a Debugger name string value of 1 as described in this post.
Windows Narrator not working
If the Narrator is not working on your Windows 11/10 computer, first ensure that you have enabled and configured it properly, as mentioned here. If that does not help, run the System File Checker and the DISM Tool to repair potentially corrupted Windows system files.
How do I turn off the Narrator permanently?
There is a Registry trick that lets you turn off Narrator permanently on a Windows 11/10 computer. The steps to use that Registry trick are covered in this post above with a detailed explanation. Just carefully follow those steps, and then you can turn off or disable Narrator on your computer. You will also be able to turn on or enable Narrator when you want to use it.
I hope this helps.
Read next: How to Turn On or Off Diagnostic Data about Narrator usage.
