Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Settings in Windows

In this topic

• Open and search Settings

• Navigate the Settings window

Open and search Settings

1. To open Settings, press the Windows logo key +I. With Narrator and NVDA, you hear: "Settings window, search box, find a setting." With JAWS, you hear: "Search box, find a setting."

2. To quickly search for a setting, type your search term. The list of search results is updated as you type. When you stop typing, with Narrator, you hear "Suggestions available." With JAWS, you hear the number of search results. With NVDA, the results are not announced, but you can browse them normally. Use the Down and Up arrow keys to browse the search results, and then press Enter to open the selected Settings page.

Navigate the Settings window

1. To open Settings, press the Windows logo key +I. With Narrator and NVDA, you hear: "Settings window, search box, find a setting." With JAWS, you hear: "Search box, find a setting."

2. To navigate the Settings categories, press the Tab key or Down arrow key once. You hear the name of the first category on the Settings window. Use the Down and Up arrow keys to browse the categories available at the left side of the Settings window. When you've found the category you want, press Enter to select it. The subcategory pane opens to the right of the Settings window.

3. To navigate the subcategories pane, press the Tab key once and you hear "Breadcrumb bar item." Use the Tab key and Down and Up arrow keys to browse the subcategories. When you've found the subcategory you want, press Enter to select it. You hear its name, followed by the currently selected option or value.

4. Use the Tab key and Down and Up arrow keys until you find the setting you want to change, then do one of the following:

   • If the setting is selected from a drop-down menu, you hear: "Combo box." Press Spacebar to open the menu, use the Down and Up arrow keys to browse the options, and press Spacebar to make a selection.

   • If the setting can simply be toggled on or off, with Narrator and JAWS, you hear either "On" or "Off." With NVDA, you hear "Pressed" or "Not pressed." Press Spacebar to toggle the button.

   • If the setting is part of a group of related settings, you hear "Checkbox," followed by either "Checked" or "Not checked." Press Spacebar to select or clear the checkbox.

   • If the setting is selected from a group of mutually exclusive options, you hear the first option, followed by "Radio button." Press the Tab key until you hear the option you want, and press Spacebar to select it.

   • If the setting is controlled by a slider, you hear "Slider," followed by the current value. Use the Left and Right arrow keys to select the new value.

   • If the option is a link to another view where you can make selections, you hear: "Link." Press Enter to open the new view, and navigate and make your selections there as usual.

   • Finally, some options are not settings as such, but tools to help you set up Windows 11. Your screen reader announces them as "button," for example, "Troubleshoot, button." Press Enter to activate the option.

5. To return to the main Settings window, press the Tab key until you hear the name of the category you had selected, for example, "System."

See also

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate the Start menu in Windows

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Accessibility support for Windows