Welcome to the new Standard keyboard layout for Narrator

We have made some changes to the way you interact with Narrator, the built-in Windows screen reader. We wanted to make it easier for you to learn and use Narrator, so we’re building on the knowledge you may have acquired using other screen readers. In this release, we’re introducing the new Standard keyboard layout for Narrator. When you're using Narrator, your keyboard will default to the Standard layout.

This article is just the starting point in telling you all about the changes. All our screen reader content is going to be updated over time, but that's going to take a little while. This article should tide you over until then.

Tip: It's possible to switch back to the old Narrator keyboard layout if you find yourself preferring it. To change back, press the Windows logo key+Ctrl+N. Press the Tab key until you hear: "Select keyboard layout, Standard." To change the layout to Legacy, press the Down arrow key once. You hear: "Legacy, selected." The new Narrator commands will not be available in the Legacy keyboard layout if keystrokes for legacy commands conflict with those used in new Narrator features.

Here are some highlights:

Narrator now lets you use either the Caps lock or Insert keys as your Narrator modifier key. So, from now on, we’ll refer to these modifier keys as the "SR key".
The Change View commands have been updated. They are now mapped to the SR key+Page up and Page down keys. You can also use Change View by pressing the SR key+Ctrl+Up and Down arrow keys. Move Next and Move Previous haven’t changed.
The Primary and Secondary Action commands in scan mode have changed. Primary Action can be executed by pressing Enter or Spacebar. You can complete Secondary Action by simply adding a Shift key to each of those keys (Shift+Enter or Shift+Spacebar). You’ll see this change regardless of the keyboard layout you select.
Narrator’s page, paragraph, line, word, and character commands have been changed in our new Standard keyboard layout. In addition, many of Narrator’s commands have been changed to be more mnemonic. Some have also been changed to align to keystrokes that are more familiar to screen reader users.
You can now use the numeric keypad to issue Narrator commands. We’ll talk more about this below.
We’ve added a few new commands for Narrator, including List of Links, List of Headings, List of Landmarks, and Narrator Find.
Several new scan mode keyboard commands for selecting text have been added.
Several of Narrator’s keyboard commands for moving to Links, Headings, and Tables have been deprecated from the Standard keyboard layout. These commands are still available in scan mode and Change View. We’ve also deprecated the ”Move to last item in containing area” command.

Notes:

New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.

In this topic

The upgrade experience
- The SR key
- Narrator settings changes
New Narrator keyboard shortcuts
- New general shortcuts
- New scan mode shortcuts
Using the numeric keypad with Narrator
The Standard keyboard layout

The upgrade experience

When you upgrade to this version of Windows and switch on Narrator, a dialog pops up that displays information about the changes we’ve made to the Narrator keyboard layout. To turn this off, check the Do not show this again box.

The SR key

We’ve made some changes to the Narrator modifier key. We’ll refer to it as the "SR key" throughout Narrator settings and in future documentation.

By default, the Caps lock and Insert keys will be available as your SR key. If you’re using a 106 Japanese keyboard, then the NonConvert and Insert keys can be used as your SR key. This is a change from prior releases where the Ctrl and Alt keys were used as Narrator’s modifier keys.

Narrator settings changes

We’ve added a new heading in Narrator settings called Choose keyboard settings. You can get to it in scan mode by using the H key to move to the heading. You’ll find the following settings there:

Select keyboard layout

This setting allows you to select your Narrator keyboard layout. By default, the Standard keyboard layout is selected. If you want to return to the keyboard layout from the April 2018 release, select the Legacy layout.

Select Narrator modifier key

This setting allows you to determine the keys used as Narrator’s modifier key (the SR key). The following options are available:

Caps lock and Insert (the default setting)
Insert
Caps lock

If you’re using a 106 Japanese keyboard, the settings are as follows:

NonConvert and Insert (the default setting)
Convert
Insert
NonConvert

New Narrator keyboard shortcuts

Several new features have been added to Narrator in this release. Some of these commands only work in scan mode, while others work anytime you’re using Narrator.

Note: When describing keystrokes for commands in the tables shown throughout this document, we’ll refer to the Narrator modifier key as the SR key. You’ll also notice this in the SR key+F1 dialog that shows all of Narrator’s commands.

New general shortcuts

These shortcuts work whether scan mode is on or off:

Command	Key
Read selection	SR key+Shift+Down arrow key
Spell selection	SR key+Shift+Down arrow key twice quickly
List of Links	SR key+F7
List of Headings	SR key+F6
List of Landmarks	SR key+F5
Narrator Find	SR key+Ctrl+F
Continue Find Next	SR key+F3
Continue Find Previous	SR key+Shift+F3

New scan mode shortcuts

In this release, you can select content while in scan mode and copy it to the Windows clipboard. The following shortcuts work while you’re using scan mode:

Command	Key
Select or deselect character at Narrator focus	Shift+Left or Right arrow key
Select or deselect word at Narrator focus	Ctrl+Shift+Left or Right arrow key
Select or deselect line at Narrator focus	Shift+Up or Down arrow key
Select or deselect paragraph at Narrator focus	Ctrl+Shift+Up or Down arrow key
Select to beginning or end of current line	Shift+Home or End
Select to beginning or end of document	Ctrl+Shift+Home or End
Select or deselect page	Shift+Page up or Page down
Mark block	F9
Select block	F10
Select all	Ctrl+A
Read selection	SR key+Shift+Down arrow key
Spell selection	SR key+Shift+Down arrow key twice quickly
Copy selection to clipboard	Ctrl+C
Paste selection	Ctrl+V
Cut selection	Ctrl+X

Using the numeric keypad with Narrator

The new Standard keyboard layout allows use of the numeric keypad for executing Narrator commands. We designed the numeric keypad to allow you to get to any object using one hand. All Narrator commands require the use of the SR key (most likely the Insert key when using the numeric keypad). The Up, Down, Left, Right arrow keys as well as Home, End, Page up and Page down keys act as they would when the SR key is not held down. Those keys are simply passed to your application. A full description of the numeric keypad layout is shown below:

Command	Key
Move to first item in window	SR key+Home
Move to last item in window	SR key+End
Read current line	SR key+Up arrow key
Read from cursor	SR key+Down arrow key
Read current selection	SR key+Shift+Down arrow key
Spell current selection	SR key+Shift+Down arrow key twice quickly
Change View	SR key+Page up
Change View	SR key+Page down
Move to previous item	SR key+Left arrow key
Move to next item	SR key+Right arrow key
Read current character	Numeric keypad 5
Read previous word	SR key+Ctrl+Left arrow key
Read next word	SR key+Ctrl+Right arrow key
Read item	SR key+Ctrl+numeric keypad 5
Read item spelled out	SR key+Ctrl+numeric keypad 5 twice quickly
Move Narrator cursor to system cursor	SR key+numeric keypad Minus (-)
Set focus to item	Numeric keypad Plus (+)
Read which row and column Narrator is in	Ctrl+Alt+Shift+numeric keypad 5

The Standard keyboard layout

The following sections tell you more about how Narrator’s new Standard keyboard layout differs from the previous keyboard layout (now called Legacy). We’ll review the most common keys used in Narrator throughout these sections.

Input learning mode in Narrator

Input learning mode helps you get to know the Standard keyboard layout. Press the SR key+1 to turn on input learning mode. From here, you can try keys on the keyboard to learn their new functions.

Providing feedback changed

The new keystroke to provide feedback is SR key+Alt+F. This will work both in the Standard and Legacy layouts.

Change View commands changed

The new ones are as follows:

Press these keys	To do this
SR key+Page up or Page down SR key+Ctrl+Up or Down arrow key	Change View

Some laptop keyboards position the Page up and Page down keys in awkward areas, so we’re providing an alternate method of changing Narrator’s view with the use of the Up and Down arrow keys.

Note: When changing Narrator’s view to either characters, words, lines or paragraphs the Read Current Item command will read the text of that specific view type more reliably.

Changing Narrator’s voice settings

The following changes have been made to control Narrator’s speech settings:

Command	Key 1	Key 2
Increase voice volume	SR key+Ctrl+Plus sign (+)	SR key+Ctrl+numeric keypad Plus (+)
Decrease voice volume	SR key+Ctrl+Minus sign (-)	SR key+Ctrl+numeric keypad Minus (-)
Increase verbosity mode	SR key+V
Decrease verbosity mode	SR key+Shift+V
Toggle character reading	SR key+2

Scan mode changes

We’ve changed scan mode’s Primary and Secondary Action commands to make them easier for you to use. These are the new keystrokes to use with these commands:

Command	Key 1	Key 2
Primary Action	Enter	Spacebar
Secondary Action	Shift+Enter	Shift+Spacebar

General purpose commands

The following changes have been made to these commands:

Command	Key 1	Key 2
Toggle Search Mode	SR key+Ctrl+Enter
Read Current Time and Date	SR key+F12
Describe Image Using an Online Service	SR key+Ctrl+D
Toggle Developer Mode	SR key+Ctrl+F12
Mouse Mode	SR key+Alt+M
Pass keys to application	SR key+3
Move Narrator Cursor to System Cursor	SR key+Open square bracket ([)	SR key+numeric keypad Minus (-)
Set Focus to Item	SR key+Single quote (')	SR key+numeric keypad Plus (+)
Jump to Linked Item	SR key+A
Jump to Annotated Content	SR key+Shift+A
Navigate to parent (when structural navigation is provided)	SR key+Alt+Up arrow key
Navigate to next sibling (when structural navigation is provided)	SR key+Alt+Right arrow key
Navigate to previous sibling (when structural navigation is provided)	SR key+Alt+Left arrow key
Navigate to first child (when structural navigation is provided)	SR key+Alt+Down arrow key

General reading commands

The following commands have changed:

Command	Key 1	Key 2
Read Item	SR key+Tab	SR key+numeric keypad 5
Read Item Spelled Out	SR key+Tab twice quickly	SR key+numeric keypad 5 twice quickly
Repeat Phrase	SR key+X
Start reading document	SR key+Down arrow key	SR key+Ctrl+R
Move to beginning of text	SR key+B	SR key+Ctrl+Home
Move to end of text	SR key+E	SR key+Ctrl+End
Read Document	SR key+C
Read text from start to cursor	SR key+Shift+J	SR key+Alt+Home

Character, Word, Line, Paragraph and Page Reading commands

Here are the command changes:

Command	Key 1	Key 2
Read Current Character	SR key+Comma (,)	Num pad 5
Read Previous Character	SR key+M	Left arrow key (when editing text)
Read Next Character	SR key+Period (.)	Right arrow key (when editing text)
Read Current Word	SR key+K	SR key+Ctrl+numeric keypad 5
Spell Current Word	SR key+K twice quickly	SR key+Ctrl+Left arrow key
Read Previous Word	SR key+J	SR key+Ctrl+End
Read Next Word	SR key+L	SR key+Ctrl+Right arrow key
Read Current Line	SR key+I	SR key+Up arrow key
Read Previous Line	SR key+U	Up arrow key (when editing text)
Read Next Line	SR key+O	Down arrow key (when editing text)
Read Current Paragraph	SR key+Ctrl+K
Read Previous Paragraph	SR key+Ctrl+J
Read Next Paragraph	SR key+Ctrl+L
Read Current Page	SR key+Ctrl+I
Read Previous Page	SR key+Ctrl+U
Read Next Page	SR key+Ctrl+O

Table-reading behavior

We are unifying the table-reading behavior experience. Here are the new keystrokes for reading tables when you’re not using scan mode:

Command	Key 1	Key 2
Jump to Next Cell in Current Row	Ctrl+Alt+Right arrow key
Jump to Previous Cell in Current Row	Ctrl+Alt+Left arrow key
Jump to Next Cell in Current Column	Ctrl+Alt+Down arrow key
Jump to Previous Cell in Current Column	Ctrl+Alt+Up arrow key
Jump to First Cell in Table	Ctrl+Alt+Home
Jump to Last Cell in Table	Ctrl+Alt+End
Read Current Row Header	Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Left arrow key
Read Current Row	Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Right arrow key
Read Current Column Header	Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Up arrow key
Read Current Column	Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Down arrow key
Read Which Row and Column Narrator is in	Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Forward slash (/)	Ctrl+Alt+Shift+numeric keypad 5
Jump to Table Cell	Ctrl+Alt+Page up
Jump to Cell Contents	Ctrl+Alt+Page down

Technical support for customers with disabilities

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