Narrator is a built-in Windows app and lets your computer read and speak text on the screen. This is undoubtedly a very useful feature, especially if you have vision problems or more simply if you want to do something else while listening to the text of an article.
However, if you don’t use the voice assistant, the enabled feature could cause some annoyance during normal computer use. In fact, many users have accidentally activated the voice assistant and no longer be able to disable it.
You can disable voice assistant on windows 10 and windows 11 in two ways: via keyboard shortcut or using the app “Settings”. In the following chapters you will find both procedures described in detail.
Disable voice assistant on Windows 10 and 11
As written earlier, you can turn off the voice assistant in two different ways. The procedures I am about to show you are valid on both Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Keyboard shortcut
The quickest and easiest way to turn off Narrator is to use a keyboard shortcut. To use it, just press the keys simultaneously CTRL + WIN + ENTER (I remind you that the key WIN is the one on the right of the button CTRL.
On some keyboards you will find the writing WIN in others you may find the Windows logo instead).
Once you press the previously mentioned key combination, Windows Narrator will be instantly disabled.
You can activate the voice assistant again at any time by pressing again from the keyboard CTRL + WIN + ENTER.
“Settings” app
If for any reason the keyboard shortcut doesn’t work, you can disable the voice assistant using the app “Settings”. In this case the steps to take vary slightly depending on the version of the operating system you are using.
On Windows 10
- Log in to “Settings” by pressing from the keyboard WIN + I or alternatively click on the Start button and then click on the gear icon;
- Click on the entry “Accessibility”;
- From the left side menu, click on the item “Voice Assistant”;
- Turn off the switch under the entry “Use voice assistant”.
On Windows 11
- Press from keyboard WIN + I to access the “Settings”. Alternatively, right-click on the Start button and then click on the entry “Settings”;
- Click on the entry “Accessibility”present in the left side menu;
- Click on the entry “Voice Assistant”;
- Turn off the switch next to the entry “Voice Assistant”.
After that, you can activate the voice assistant again, using the keyboard shortcut CTRL + WIN + ENTER or by accessing the settings and activating the switch seen above.
