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I hate narrator. I realize it can be helpful for people that can't see well but I don't have that problem. I keep accidentally pressing whatever keys open it (I still haven't found out what it is) and losing focus on whatever program I had open. Is it possible to remove narrator from my computer forever?

Art Gertner
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Jon
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    check in the accessibility config panel and disable the shortcut key – ratchet freak Mar 28 '13 at 15:50
  • @and31415 Your question was `asked Feb 25 [2014] at 8:38` and mine was `asked Mar 28 '13 at 14:18` – Jon Mar 25 '14 at 00:21
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    @chipperyman573 All right, let me rephrase it. Related question: [How to block programs from running (Windows 7)](http://superuser.com/questions/721286/how-to-block-programs-from-running-windows-7). | Blocking `Narrator.exe` should be enough. This way you don't need to tweak permissions, nor delete/rename it. – and31415 Mar 25 '14 at 10:06
  • It's Windows/U btw which will switch it on [since XP & tested to 7 but not tried 8] but is not a toggle, it's an on switch only. – Tetsujin Jan 12 '15 at 18:51
  • go to `Control Panel > Ease of Access` run Narrator, select Narrator window (it run in background) go to settings and disable shortcut key, select save, select close... – Adam Silenko Nov 19 '16 at 05:43

6 Answers6

26

I deleted my Narrator.exe

I found it in the Windows\System32 folder. Before I deleted Narrator.exe I right-clicked the file, Properties. Then I took ownership and changed the permissions giving me full control.

Having changed the access control, I deleted Narrator.exe.

I checked in Control Panel - Ease of access, when I clicked on Narrator nothing happened, just what I wanted.

Guy Thomas
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    Seems a bit extreme. Surely there must be another way. Perhaps using AutoHotKey to eat the keystroke that starts it; I'll give that a try. – Steve Crane Feb 13 '14 at 09:35
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    Thanks for the idea, I just renamed mine to Narrator.exe.bak. Also @SteveCrane some of us want to kill it with fire. – csauve Mar 17 '15 at 20:19
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    works for windows 10. – Software Engineer Sep 14 '15 at 19:05
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    This is the best solution by far! I love deleting things. Now the stupid Narrator can never come back. Ever. – Ben Wilde Oct 02 '15 at 15:32
  • Thank you so much! My friends turned it on in the loginscreen when I'm away. Becouse I'm logged in with my microsoft live account for some reason it turns it on on all my Devices. It turned me crazy. When it is turned on in the login screen it can not be turned off. Now it can never be turned on. Great!! – botenvouwer May 19 '17 at 14:19
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    Deleting things you don't need is a sane attitude. That is better than leaving the thing installed and adding a setting to make sure it doesn't run. Still better would be to have a clean uninstall option. Or an optional install for those who need it. – Florian F Jul 28 '17 at 07:13
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    THIS ACTUALLY WORKED FOR THE LOCK SCREEN NARRATOR BUG!!! – tbone Mar 07 '18 at 21:07
12

One of following methods should work.

Method A

  1. Navigate to System32.
  2. Locate Narrator.exe.
  3. Disable execution permission.

Method B

  1. Open regedit.exe.

  2. Create the following key.

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\Narrator.exe

  3. In that key, create a new string value named Debugger and assign it the value %1.

Reference: Disabling Narrator.

Samir
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Skadoosh
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  • Method B (allegedly) has the problem of leaving a running `AtBroker.exe` process - check this answer at the duplicate question for more info http://superuser.com/a/577223/117002 – Richard Le Mesurier Apr 20 '16 at 07:09
  • My OS won't let me change any settings. It won't let me open explorer as an admin either. Windows 8 f*cking sucks – Alkanshel Nov 14 '16 at 01:05
  • Method B works when you're on a managed Windows 10 machine, but Group Policy disallows you from using other solutions on this page. – RyanS May 30 '18 at 17:16
  • @Amalgovinus That's not Windows 8; that's just not having an admin account. – wizzwizz4 May 23 '19 at 16:37
4

I disabled Narrator for a while on Windows 8 (by finding 'Narrator.exe' and adding an access-control entry to deny 'Read & execute' permission for the built-in principal 'Everyone'), because I hated it too. However, when I upgraded to Windows 8.1 Narrator became enabled again. It was then that I found a better solution to the problem of being annoyed by Narrator:

  • Open Narrator Settings (the modern version; search Start)
  • Enable Narrator using the slide-bar
  • Select voice 'Microsoft Zira'
  • Slide the pitch to minimum
  • Slide the speed to minimum
  • Disable Narrator using the slide-bar

Now, when I accidentally press Windows+Enter I can laugh at the funny voice, which means I don't get annoyed. The best part is pressing Windows+Enter again to disable Narrator. Slow Zira's valediction cracks me up every time.

Buster
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  • I think I'll try this. I'm leaving the other answer as accepted because that will probably help others but know that I laughed out loud when I read this. – Jon Mar 24 '14 at 21:20
  • Hazel with maximum pitch and minimum speed is quite good too – Andrew Spencer Dec 07 '15 at 16:23
2

For a less extreme alternative, follow Guy Thomas's answer, but instead of deleting narrator.exe just rename it, e.g. to narrator_REMOVED.exe. Now it's undoable.

Freewalker
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    why is it extreme to delete a piece of software that I'll never use, which is taking up space on my hard-drive, and which occasionally gets invoked by accident? I think you may need to check a dictionary definition of extreme. Deleting software you don't want, isn't extreme, it's sensible. – Software Engineer Sep 14 '15 at 19:06
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    (1) You'll ***never*** use it?  I wish you the best of health, of course, but vision can deteriorate — you might need narrator in the future.  (2) I don't know your personal situation.  If you share your computer with anybody, that person might need narrator in the future.  Or you might start a new relationship with a vision-impaired person.  (3) You might want to sell your computer some day, etc... – Scott - Слава Україні Sep 25 '15 at 17:03
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    1) It can be simply reinstalled as any other component. 2) When you sell your PC you don't sell your Windows license, you know? Sorry, but that's just absurd outlandish excuses against deleting obnoxious software that stuffed in your face regardless if you want it or not. I want MY PC to do what I want, not what whoever else decided "might be good". – Oleg V. Volkov Mar 20 '16 at 17:55
1

After several weeks of suffering with the persistent Narrator, I stumbled on this forum but was inspired to take an untried approach that worked for me, by doing the following:

  1. Go to Control Panel > Ease of Access > Ease of Access Center > Use the computer without a display to show the main Ease of Access config settings.
  2. In the Hear text read aloud section, turn off all Narrator / Audio Description settings.
  3. Exit Ease of Access / Control panel then go back to the Narrator main screen and simply exit.

Turning it on is the same process - just enable in Ease of Access.

Hope this is helpful for Windows 10 users - not sure if 8.1/8/7 have the same Ease of Access settings.

unbindall
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JohnC
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0

Suffering with the persistent Narrator on windows 10? Try this: 1.Go to `Control Panel > Ease of Access Centre > Change sign-in settings

2.Untick Hear text read aloud tick boxes, turn off/untick all Narrator / Audio Description settings you do not want. Press the Apply button.

3.Exit Ease of Access / Control Panel

Turning it on is the same process - just enable in Ease of Access Centre > Change sign-in settings.

Hope this is helpful for Windows 10 users - not sure if 8.1/8/7 have the same Ease of Access settings.

user562455
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