How to Change Narrator Cursor Navigation Mode in Windows 10


Narrator is a screen-reading app built into Windows 10.

Narrator lets you use your PC without a display or mouse to complete common tasks if you’re blind or have low vision. It reads and interacts with things on the screen, like text and buttons. Use Narrator to read and write email, browse the internet, and work with documents.

Specific commands let you navigate Windows, the web, and apps, as well as get info about the area of the PC you're in. Navigation is available using headings, links, landmarks, and more. You can read text (including punctuation) by page, paragraph, line, word, and character as well as determine characteristics like font and text color. Efficiently review tables with row and column navigation.

Narrator also has a navigation and reading mode called Scan Mode. Use it to get around Windows 10 using just the up and down arrows on your keyboard. You can also use a braille display to navigate your PC and read text.

You can personalize Narrator's voice to adjust the speaking rate, pitch, and volume as well as install some third-party text-to-speech voices.

You can select the Narrator cursor navigation mode. Two modes are available: normal and advanced. Normal mode allows Narrator to move between various items such as links, tables, and other elements. Advanced mode lets you use the four arrow keys to move the Narrator cursor through a programmatic representation of an application.

This tutorial will show you how to change the Narrator cursor navigation mode for your account in Windows 10.


Contents

  • Option One: Change Narrator Cursor Navigation Mode in Settings
  • Option Two: Change Narrator Cursor Navigation Mode using a REG file






OPTION ONE

Change Narrator Cursor Navigation Mode in Settings


1 Open Settings, and click/tap on the Ease of Access icon.

Starting with Windows 10 build 21359, the Ease of Access category in Settings has been renamed to Accessibility.


You can also press the Win+Ctrl+N keys to directly open Narrator settings.


2 Click/tap on Narrator on the left side, and select Normal (default) or Advanced for what you want in the Select the Narrator cursor navigation mode drop menu on the right side under Use Narrator cursor. (see screenshot below)

3 You can now close Settings if you like.

Change Narrator Cursor Navigation Mode in Windows 10-narrator_cursor_navigation_mode.jpg






OPTION TWO

Change Narrator Cursor Navigation Mode using a REG file


The downloadable .reg files below will modify the DWORD value in the registry key below.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Narrator\NoRoam

NarratorCursorMode DWORD

1 = Advanced
2 = Normal


1 Do step 2 (normal) or step 3 (advanced) below for what you would like to do.


2 To use "Normal" Narrator Cursor Navigation Mode

This is the default setting.

A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Use_Normal_Narrator_cursor_navigation_mode.reg

Download



3 To use "Advanced" Narrator Cursor Navigation Mode

A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Use_Advanced_Narrator_cursor_navigation_mode.reg

Download


4 Save the .reg file to your desktop.

5 Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.

6 When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

7 You can now delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.


That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials



  • Windows 11 Tutorials