Learn how to quickly and easily enable the new Math Reading feature for Narrator in Windows 11 using the Settings app and the Registry.
Quick steps: Open the Settings app, go to “Accessibility” > “Narrator,” and turn the “Math reading” toggle ON or OFF.
Windows 11’s Narrator is a pretty good and very useful accessibility feature. When the Narrator is enabled, it reads aloud what’s on the screen and lets you interact with the elements of the screen without using the regular mouse or keyboard. While Narrator is pretty good by default, it often struggles with math on the screen. That is, it cannot read it aloud properly. If you are a student or someone who regularly works with math, this can be a big issue. Thankfully, with build 26340.9354 (v26H2), Microsoft added “Math reading” to Narrator. When enabled, Narrator can properly identify and read aloud equations, formulas, expressions, and scientific notation.
In this quick Windows 11 guide, let me show you the steps to turn ON or OFF math reading for Narrator using Settings and the Registry. Let’s get started.
Before You Start
- You should be using build 26340.9354 (v26H2) or higher to follow the steps below.
Enable or Disable Math Reading in Narrator Using Settings
- Press “Windows key + I” to open Settings.
- Go to the “Accessibility” tab on the left sidebar.
- Click the “Narrator” option on the right panel.
- Turn ON the “Math reading” toggle to enable Narrator’s math reading feature.
- Turn OFF the “Math reading” toggle to disable Narrator’s math reading feature.
- Close the Settings app.
From now on, whenever you open Narrator, it can read the math on the screen, provided that the “Math reading” feature in Narrator settings is enabled.
Enable or Disable Math Reading in Narrator Using Registry
Important note: Editing the registry requires administrator rights. Before modifying the registry, please back it up. The backup is like your ‘go back to known good state’ switch.
First thing, press “Windows key + R“, type “regedit“, and click the “OK” button to open the Registry Editor. After opening the editor, go to the following folder by pasting the following path in the address bar or by manually navigating the left sidebar.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Narrator
Now, right-click the “Narrator” folder on the left sidebar. Select “New“, then “Key“. Name the key “MathReadingEnabled“.
Double-click the “MathReadingEnabled” key. In the ‘Edit Value’ dialog, set “Value Data” as follows and click the “OK” button to save the change.
- Set ‘Value Data’ to “1“: Enables math reading for Narrator.
- Set ‘Value Data’ to “0“: disables math reading for Narrator.
To complete the process, close the Registry Editor and restart your computer. After restarting, depending on how you configured the registry, the math reading for Narrator is enabled.
That’s it. Write down below any questions or comments you have. I’ll respond quickly.
Thank you, Vamsi.
